Hain accuses Putin of ‘huge attacks’ on democracy

RELATIONS between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin came under strain yesterday when a leading British Cabinet minister criticised the Russian leader’s “huge attacks” on liberty and democracy.

Peter Hain, the outspoken Northern Ireland Secretary, indicated that relations with Moscow had hit a low as he exhorted President Putin to return to democratic processes.

His remarks did not appear to be sanctioned by Downing Street, which maintained a diplomatic silence last night while Scotland Yard investigated the death of a former KGB agent in London.

The British government has been treading carefully with Russia amid claims that the Kremlin ordered the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, who died on Thursday night.

The British Foreign Office has said little about the death besides acknowledging it has requested Moscow hand over any material which might assist the police inquiries.

But, in an interview with BBC1’s Sunday AM, Mr Hain agreed with the assertion that relations between the two countries were “tricky”. He went on to question President Putin’s commitment to democracy and raised the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Ms Politkovskaya was a prominent critic of the Russian President and her death was being investigated by Mr Litvinenko.

Mr Hain, a contender for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, said: “The promise that President Putin brought to Russia when he came to power has obviously been clouded by what has happened since, including an extremely murky murder of a senior Russian journalist.

“His success in binding what is a disintegrating nation together with an economy which was collapsing into Mafioso-style chaos ... his success in that must be balanced against the fact there have been huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy and it’s important he retakes the democratic road in my view.”

Tony Blair has sought to avoid any kind of public confrontation with Moscow over human rights concerns.

Mr Litvinenko’s friend, Alex Goldfarb, welcomed Mr Hain’s comments.

He said it was “long overdue” that Western governments raised concerns about “the twist of Russia towards an uncontrollable and unaccountable police state which poses a danger to the rest of the world”.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said last night: “While there is an ongoing police investigation and Health Protection Agency investigation, we don’t have anything to say on this.”

Meanwhile, customers at a restaurant and hotel visited by a poisoned ex-spy will be tested for the radioactive substance that killed him, health chiefs have confirmed.

The Health Protection Agency called for people who had been to the Itsu sushi restaurant or Millennium Hotel in central London on November 1 to come forward.