Labour has accused the Conservative shadow attorney of a “conflict of interest” after it emerged he is acting as a lawyer for Roman Abramovich, despite UK sanctions against him.
Justice minister Jake Richards told Sky News Lord Wolfson needs to “do one or the other” – serve Kemi Badenoch on her shadow front bench or work for Mr Abramovich.
The Russian businessman is caught up in a legal battle with the Jersey government after it launched an investigation into the source of more than £5.3bn in assets linked to him which are held there.
According to several reports, the legal action is said to be delaying the release of funds from Mr Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC, which the UK Government wants to see used to help rebuild Ukraine after the war ends.
The Tories said Lord Wolfson is not instructed on the matter of Chelsea FC and branded Labour’s attack “pure politics”.
But speaking to Sky’s political correspondent Mhari Aurora, Mr Richards said the story “stinks to high heaven” and Ms Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, “should be taking action rather than just ignoring it”.
He said: “We have a situation where the shadow attorney general, one of the senior members of the shadow cabinet… is working for Roman Abramovich.
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“Abramovich, as many of your viewers will no doubt know, has a lot of money and we, the government, are trying to take action to recover some of those assets which were gained from Putin’s Russia to help with the Ukrainian war effort.
“We think it cannot be right that the shadow attorney general on the one hand is advising Kemi Badenoch about this issue and on the other hand is getting paid by Roman Abramovich to do the same. There’s a clear conflict of interest.”
The Conservatives have argued that lawyers take on cases regardless of who their client is, pointing out that Labour’s attorney general, Richard Hermer, has previously represented Shamima Begum and Gerry Adams.
However, Mr Richards said Labour “are nor criticising Lord Wolfson for taking on this case, we’re saying he can’t take on this case and serve as a shadow attorney general”.
He said: “We have an attorney general at the moment who has represented lots of clients in the past but he’s now serving as a frontline politician so he doesn’t do both at the same time.
“Lord Wolfson has to choose one or the other. Is he working for the Conservative Party and His Majesty’s opposition or is he working for Roman Abramovich? He shouldn’t be able to do both.”
This comes after Mr Richards wrote to Ms Badenoch asking whether Lord Wolfson had recused himself from any party policy regarding the former Chelsea owner’s assets.
He also asked her to clarify whether the opposition was aligned with the government position that Mr Abramovich must transfer more than £2.5bn to benefit the people of Ukraine.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “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.”
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They added: “And it’s a bit rich from this government. Labour should stop throwing mud. Their own Attorney General has acted for Gerry Adams and involved himself in the Shamima Begum case. This is rank hypocrisy.
“The Conservative Party led the way on supporting Ukraine and we remain committed to their cause. To suggest anything else is just Labour sinking to new depths.”
