Britain has had weeks to prepare sanctions. We knew this was coming. Russian troops have been on the border of Ukraine for months now. 

We were told the Government had it covered – they introduced legislation to lay the groundwork, they told us they would act swiftly and effectively. 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that ‘there can be nobody who thinks that they will be immune to those sanctions’.

And yet here we find ourselves. Russia has invaded Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has trashed commitments, rooted in international law, which he signed up to. 

Putin’s frankly, unsettling press conference on Monday made clear that he has no regard for the sovereignty of Ukraine – nor any of the other former Soviet republics.

So when Boris Johnson stood up in Parliament the next day to announce sanctions, I expected a suitably strong response.

A response that would make clear to Putin that we will not tolerate his actions any longer. 

One that went after Putin’s cronies who have sunk their roots deep into our economy, and our politics and that started to treat Russia based on its behaviour – as a rogue state.

Yet a strong response was the last thing we got. 

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Three individuals were named – all of whom were already sanctioned by the US some years ago – and five small banks. 

We can quibble about whether we want to put all our diplomatic measures on the table in one go, but this was undoubtedly the most meagre of rations. 

And now it has been suggested that the initial legislation was not sufficient, and more measures may need to be drawn up if we want to take tough action against Russian lawmakers who approved Putin’s terrible decision to invade.

While I welcome the Government’s rhetoric this morning, it is actions, not words, by which we in the UK will be judged. Liberal Democrats stand ready to support the severest of sanctions upon the complicit cronies of Vladimir Putin.

And compared to every single one of our allies, Britain’s response appears less and less substantial. Germany took the painful decision, but absolutely the right one, to cancel the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

They did what they were uniquely able to do.

So should we. We know that the UK has become a hotspot for dirty Russian money. There is a reason the capital is known in some quarters as ‘Londongrad’. 

The Conservatives should have immediately taken decisive action against Putin’s cronies who have been treating our country as their playground for far too long. Those of them here on golden visas should be kicked out, their assets should be frozen, and we should begin the process of seizing them. 

That is nowhere near as far as we can go – we’re not even getting into large-scale economic sanctions on the Russian economy. But it would be a start. 

Putin is a bully and it’s time the UK took a stand.

Will the Conservatives go this far? I’ll believe it when I see it. For it is not just these last few weeks, but for years now they have talked the talk on Russia, but again and again they have failed to walk the walk.

Six years ago, they promised to take action on lax property regulations, introducing a public register, which would make it much harder for kleptocrats to funnel money through London.

Over 2000 days on, we’re still waiting.

Transparency International UK have identified £1.5billion of property in this country bought by suspicious Russian wealth. 

The Conservatives desperately need to get serious about tackling Russian interference in this country. 

These individuals should have been sanctioned ages ago – and the necessary legislative measures, which the Government continues to promise will be brought forward, year after year, are so overdue. 

If we really want to stand with the people of Ukraine, that means hitting Putin and his associates where it hurts – in their wallets. 

Until we take comprehensive steps to do that, they will just continue to get away with it.

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