Need to know
Everything you need to know after it emerged one of the Tories’ frontbenchers is acting as a lawyer for Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich
Everything you need to know
- The Tories are under fire after it emerged one of their frontbenchers – shadow attorney general David Wolfson – is acting as a lawyer for Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Labour’s justice minister Jake Richards wrote to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on Monday raising concerns about a conflict of interest and demanding answers from her.
- Lord Wolfson has been instructed in Abramovich’s legal battle with the Jersey government, which is probing the source of more than £5.3billion in assets linked to him which are held there.
- Separately, the Government is pursuing Abramovich for more than £2.5billion from the sale of Chelsea club, which would be used to benefit the people of Ukraine. It is understood Abramovich has argued the transfer of assets to help Ukraine cannot happen until proceedings in Jersey have concluded.
- Mr Richards said he agrees with Lord Wolfson’s previous comments that a surgeon should not be judged by their patients, nor a lawyer by their clients. But he said the issue is not about him representing Abramovich, per se, but that he is doing so while advising Ms Badenoch on the Tories’ Russia-Ukraine position.
- He said there is a “clear conflict of interest” and called for Lord Wolfson to step down from his shadow cabinet role if he continues to represent Abramovich. He called the Conservative response “pathetic” and said Kemi Badenoch’s “desperate defence” of the issue showed her opinion and leadership is “really weak”.
- The Tories have branded Labour’s attack “pure politics”, saying: “Lord Wolfson is instructed in on-going legal proceedings in Jersey. He is not instructed on the Chelsea FC matter. Jake Richards’ comments are pure politics, and they show Labour still does not understand how the Bar works. Barristers act for clients, not causes.”
- Abramovich sold Chelsea football club in 2022 after he was sanctioned by the UK over his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine. The money was intended for humanitarian causes linked to the Ukraine war but it remains frozen in a UK bank account due to a standoff between Abramovich’s lawyers and the Government. The oligarch, who made his money in oil and gas, wants it to be used for “all victims of the war” – meaning Russians could benefit.
- The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC) yesterday voiced its alarm over Lord Wolfson’s role and called on the Government to pass emergency legislation to prevent sanctioned individuals from “exploiting the UK legal system to delay accountability”. It said: “The rights of victims of Russian aggression must come before the privileges of oligarchs.”
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