A Russian oligarch praised by Vladimir Putin has amassed a UK property portfolio under the veil of secretive offshore trusts, The Ferret can reveal. Anti-corruption campaigners say our investigation is a “shocking indictment” of the UK’s “dirty money” defences.
The UK Government has publicly announced that sites in Scotland are being considered for new munitions factories, just a day after The Ferret revealed secret details of the plan.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in May it would build at least six new munitions factories across the UK but had not previously told the public where they might be located.
But yesterday defence secretary John Healey confirmed at Westminster that potential sites in 13 areas around the UK had been identified, with “construction and diggers in the ground due to start next year”.
They include locations in Grangemouth, Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire, the MoD has said.
The Ferret first revealed sites under consideration earlier this week, after emails showing that Grangemouth and Ardeer in Ayrshire were being examined were released in error following a botched freedom of information response by the MoD.
Blacked-out text that the ministry meant to hide could be uncovered simply by copying and pasting into a new document.
However, the leaked material made no reference to a site in Dumfriesshire, so it is unclear which location there the MoD is referring to.
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The new factories would produce explosives and propellants used in weapons such as guns and artillery and are viewed by some as necessary to make the country less dependent on US firepower.
Healey said the sites were needed to raise the “warfighting readiness” of the army, with the MoD adding in a press release that they would enable the UK’s “continued support to Ukraine”. Healey added that the government wanted to make defence the “engine for economic growth” and that the factories would help bring back jobs to industrial areas.
The closure of the iconic refinery at Grangemouth in April was described as a “hammer blow” to the community and although alternative proposals for the site have been put forward, both the Scottish and UK governments have been accused of abandoning workers in the town.
Ardeer, meanwhile, was formerly home to the ICI Nobel explosives factory, once the world’s largest, which was opened in 1871 by the inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel. It was deserted in the 1990s and parts of the site are now derelict.
Arms companies have been invited to put forward proposals to produce the munitions.
The government committed £1.5bn to explosives manufacturing in its strategic defence review in June. It included plans for the six new factories during this parliament and an “always on” munitions pipeline.
In response to our story, critics questioned why the government can always find money for new weapons while “frontline services are under immense pressure”. They also queried the safety of siting explosives manufacturing at Grangemouth – next to petrochemical facilities.
The Scottish Government told us it was “not aware” of the plans for Scottish sites and was “engaging urgently” with the MoD.
The Ferret has published details of the correspondence leaked to us by the MoD in line with our commitments to transparency and making our sources available where possible. However, we have redacted all personal information of officials accidentally named. You can find all of the documents here.
Paul is an investigative journalist with a focus on the environment, energy and climate change. His work has been featured by Channel 4 News and the UK’s leading newspapers. When not Ferreting he can be found walking and listening to podcasts.
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