THIS FEBRUARY Labour Lord Peter Goldsmith took a “leave of absence” from the House of Lords, because he did not want to give the details of his foreign clients.

Goldsmith, who was a key minister in Tony Blair’s government, is a lawyer running a firm with many Russian clients. Goldsmith “personally provided services” to the Russian government in 2021, according to the Register of Lords’ Interests.

Last May Goldsmith also represented Sberbank, the Russian state-owned bank. Sberbank is seen as so close to Putin’s government that it was sanctioned in Britain, the US and EU after Putin launched his bloody war on Ukraine.

When taking his “leave of absence,” Lord Goldsmith gets to keep his title and can still use the House of Lords offices and stationery but can’t take part in debates. But he does become exempt from updating his Register of Lords’ Interests, which under new rules would include showing how much his foreign — including Russian — clients pay.

Goldsmith told the Daily Mail “I am sorry to have to take leave of absence, but felt it was the only option open to me given the choice between that or revealing privileged and confidential information.”

Goldsmith is a Queen’s Counsel who served as Tony Blair’s attorney general from 2001 to 2007. He now helps run law firm Debevoise and Plimpton. They are very keen on advertising his lordship and his former job as one of Blair’s ministers, which no doubt impresses clients, including the many attracted through their large Moscow office.

Goldsmith has given much-criticised legal advice in the past. As attorney general he first gave Blair legal advice that he would need more authorisation from the UN to launch the Iraq war, but then was somehow persuaded to come up with new legal advice saying Blair could have a war without UN backing.

Goldsmith also helped persuade officials not to investigate arms firm BAE over their sleazy, corrupt dealings with the Saudi regime. So perhaps it is not unsurprising he would have a post-government career that includes advising the Putin regime and its associated businesses.

But this isn’t just about one Putin-friendly ex-Labour minister. There is no doubt that the Conservatives are more involved with oligarchs and tycoons who have business links to Putin and the Russian ruling class — but there are also too many New Labour figures swimming in the same pond.

Take Lord Mervyn Davies, the banker who was a Labour trade minister from 2009-10. Since 2015 Davies has been a director of investment firm LetterOne Holdings, first as deputy chair, now as chairman. LetterOne was founded by Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman and his partner Petr Aven. Post-Ukraine EU sanctions lists described Fridman as “a top Russian financier and enabler of Putin’s inner circle” and Aven as “one of Vladimir Putin’s closest oligarchs.”

With Davies on the board, LetterOne acted as an investment vehicle for Fridman, Aven and other oligarchs, buying up Western firms like high-street health chain Holland and Barrett. Following their sanctioning by the EU at the end of February, Fridman and Aven stood down from LetterOne’s board.

Davies himself rejected calls to resign from the oligarch-founded firm. Davies says the sanctioned oligarchs won’t get any financial benefits now and that they may not get them in the future. However, the possibility that LetterOne will return these assets to the oligarchs should sanctions stop is still there.

Davies is close to the current Labour leadership. His wife, Lady Jeanne Marie Davies, gave £25,000 to David Lammy “towards paying for an additional member of staff for my office” last November.

Goldsmith and Davies are arguably following Tony Blair’s lead. Blair actually backed Putin before he became Russia’s leader. The Guardian reported prime minister Blair singling out Putin in 2000.

Their report reads: “Tony Blair arrived in St Petersburg last night on a hastily arranged and controversial private visit designed to personalise ties with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s new strongman, who looks likely to be the country’s next long-term leader.”

Blair continued to support Putin after his election, ignoring the gross human rights abuses — like the destruction in the second Chechen war. Blair wanted to promote British oil business in Russia and Russian investment in the West — and was happy to get close to Putin to do it.

Even after Blair left office, members of Blair’s circle kept close to the Russian government. Blair adviser Tim Allan set up lobbying and PR firm Portland Communications. In 2011 the Russian government became a major Portland client. In 2012 Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell joined Portland, which still represented the Russian government.

Peter Mandelson, the former minister who helped plan Blair’s New Labour project, was also drawn to Russian business. From 2014 to 2017 — after the annexation of Crimea — Mandelson was a director of Sistema, Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s business conglomerate.

Yevtushenkov’s Sistema is one of Russia’s biggest firms and includes some weapons manufacture, so he has meetings with Putin in the Kremlin.

New Labour’s closeness to Putin mirrored City and big business approaches. The British financial and political establishment saw Putin’s Russia as a both a good source of investment money and a good place to invest.

As has happened so many times before, the City and Westminster elites were happy to deal with a repressive autocrat, because they thought it was easier dealing with a “strongman” who could guarantee business than a messier democracy. As has also happened so many times before, this blew up in their faces.

The big business and political links with Putin’s Russia, rather than left-wing scepticism about Western foreign policy, were what gave Putin room to consolidate his power as his government took an increasingly repressive and militaristic turn.

For all the attempts to paint the left as somehow Putin’s pal, it was the centre — both Blair’s gang and Cameron’s crew — that came close to the Russian leader and his oligarch friends.