Badenoch accuses Starmer of lying as Abramovich row erupts
Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of lying about her shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson amid a furious row about funds in Roman Abramovich’s frozen bank account designated for Ukraine.
Starmer took aim at Lord Wolfson, who has recused himself from offering the Tory leader advice on Ukraine and Russia due to his own legal duties, for “advising someone trying to escape sanctions”, referencing Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
But Badenoch launched an attack on the Prime Minister in a post on X as she said Starmer was attempting “smear a man defending our veterans in court against a Labour government”.
“I’m not allowed to say it in Parliament, but I can here: today the Prime Minister lied and lied and lied again,” Badenoch said.
“Labour have attacked everyone from farmers, to businesses, to veterans, so now they attack David Wolfson, a brilliant KC, to take the attention away from their terrible decisions.”
Badenoch defends Wolfson
Her post followed a letter from Wolfson to Starmer detailing his representation in a legal case involving Abramovich in Jersey.
The UK government sanctioned Abramovich under the previous Conservative government after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine while the proceeds of his £2.5bn sale of Chelsea FC, which were slated to be spent on victims of the war, remain frozen in aUK bank account.
Wolfson said he was not advising the oligarch on UK sanctions and the case had “nothing to do” with the frozen funds for victims of the war in Ukraine.
He also said he was not a member of the shadow Cabinet.
Instead, Wolfson is representing Abramovich in a data protection case against the Jersey government after it launched a criminal investigation into corruption and money laundering connected to Abramovich.
Wolfson is meanhwile defending UK veterans in a case around the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the government appealing a decision that could re-open investigations into crimes from the period as victims demand accountability.
A Tory spokesman said on Wednesday that the shadow attorney general’s non-involvement in advice to Badenoch on legal matters around Ukraine and Russia was “standard practice”.
The row involving Abramovich’s frozen bank account has rumbled on for years. Starmer has threatened to open legal action against the olgiarch if funds are not released for Ukrainians almost three years after Chelsea was sold to American private equity investors.
The funds have not been released over disagreements over the terms of recipients, with Mike Penrose, the humanitarian official who is charged with overseeing the charity once it is opened, previously blaming the EU’s involvement in the designation of funding for delays.
Justice minister Jake Richards said: “The Conservatives are tying themselves in knots over Lord Wolfson’s clear conflict of interest.
“If, as the Tories admitted for the first time today, Lord Wolfson has recused himself from advising the Tories on Ukraine, that shows they recognise he is compromised by being paid by Roman Abramovich.
“They can throw up as many distractions as they like, but they can’t deny the central facts: their top legal adviser has a sanctioned Russian oligarch as a client; as a result he cannot advise them on a key area of policy; and Kemi Badenoch is completely happy with this.”