Oligarchs may f ind democracy can be very ruthless too

IT IS very important that justice is not just done but very thoroughly seen to be done.

This is the basis of the witty and clever plan put forward by the Cabinet Minister Michael Gove. He proposes that the British Government seizes the huge London homes of Russian oligarchs who have been friendly to Vladimir Putin – and uses them to house Ukrainian refugees.

The planned takeover would be temporary, for as long as the oligarchs are sanctioned and for as long as those refugees need roofs over their heads.

These grotesquely wealthy businessmen have obtained their riches through dubious methods and by prostrating themselves before the despotic power of the Kremlin. They have in almost all cases been careful to stash their wealth out of Putin’s reach, in a free law-governed country quite unlike the one where they made their fortunes.

Well, now they may find out that democracy can be ruthless too, especially when faced with greed in alliance with aggression. No doubt there will be legal problems to surmount. That is quite proper in a law-governed country such as we are – and such as Russia is not.

The aim of the scheme is not to expropriate or nationalise these properties. It is to do something practical and just with them, as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians seek decent shelter, many of them in this country.

Imagine for the moment how such a refugee family might feel if, instead of being placed in a bleak hotel or a church hall, they were installed amid the high ceilings and gold-plated bath taps of some Russian plutocrat. And imagine also how the billionaires might feel, to see their palaces handed over to the deserving and suffering victims of a regime they have until now supported.

It might cause them to rethink their allegiance. The idea may seem outrageous at first sight but it deserves careful consideration.