Maajid Nawaz: Our Politicians Should Not Be Accepting Money From Russia Today

19 November 2017, 17:16

Call the Russian State broadcaster what it is - propaganda - and do not accept money from the Kremlin to appear on it, Maajid Nawaz has said.

It is unacceptable for the UK's elected officials to appear on Russia Today Maajid Nawaz has said.

He argued that by receiving money for media appearances on the Russian state's broadcaster, politicians are accepting payments directly from Putin's Kremlin.

The LBC presenter said it is typically acceptable to receive funding from friendly foreign governments but Russia's extraordinary hostility mitigated that fact.

He called out 11 politicians on air, demanding they cease their arrangements with RT.

He said: "RT folks, before you say it, is not the BBC. There is a difference between RT which has been created and backed by the Kremlin. RT is a state owned propaganda outlet.

"The BBC is not controlled by the government of the day. It is run by a trust, funded by the tax payer, not the state.

"Russia Today is a Kremlin-backed and owned organisation, it's not a media channel.

"So why on earth are our politicians accepting money from an outlet that is directly organ of the Russian state, set up precisely to influence and sway and disrupt our political debate?

"It's ridiculous folks.

"I say that on purpose, the Russian state. If you don't like it, sue me. The Russian state is paying your salaries. It is not an ally.

"We are receiving party-political broadcasts from Putin's Kremlin, without being informed that this is propaganda.

"So I beseech our government to bring in the same law the Americans have finally brought in, and then let's see how these politicians fare on this state outlet propaganda channel known as RT."

Watch the clip at the top of this page.