{"id":681099,"date":"2026-01-08T00:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T00:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681099\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T00:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T00:53:12","slug":"shadow-attorney-general-steps-back-on-ukraine-over-abramovich-link-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681099\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadow attorney general steps back on Ukraine over Abramovich link | Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

The shadow attorney general, David Wolfson, has recused himself from giving advice to Kemi Badenoch<\/a> on Ukraine and Russia because he is representing the under-sanctions Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in a court case, the Conservatives have announced.<\/p>\n

This would prevent him from offering advice on the possible deployment<\/a> of UK troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.<\/p>\n

Lord Wolfson, who is a senior KC and a Tory peer, is part of the legal team representing Abramovich as he attempts to recover billions in frozen assets he owns in the Channel Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking at prime minister\u2019s questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer criticised Wolfson\u2019s role, telling Badenoch: \u201cHow can someone sit in her shadow cabinet, advising someone trying to escape sanctions, and pretend that their policy is to support us on sanctions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch was challenged on the subject during prime minister\u2019s questions on Wednesday. Photograph: UK PARLIAMENT\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asked about this, Badenoch\u2019s spokesperson said Wolfson did not sit in the shadow cabinet, and that because Jersey was a different legal jurisdiction the case had no bearing on the release of \u00a32.5bn from Abramovich\u2019s sale of Chelsea football club, which the UK government wants to use to help rebuild Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Wolfson \u201chas recused himself from legal advice on Ukraine and Russia, [which] as you know is standard practice\u201d, the spokesperson said, adding that Badenoch was delighted with Wolfson\u2019s performance in his role.<\/p>\n

The official confirmed that this would mean Wolfson could not advise on the possible deployment of UK troops but said this was not yet relevant because there were as yet no details of how this might happen. He added: \u201cHe has recused himself from advising her [Badenoch] on anything related to Ukraine because of this court case.\u201d<\/p>\n

This would not be a problem, the spokesperson said, as there was \u201cplenty of legal advice\u201d among shadow ministers, citing Robert Jenrick, a former corporate law solicitor, Victoria Atkins, who was a barrister specialising in fraud, and Helen Grant, a former solicitor who is shadow solicitor general.<\/p>\n

Labour has criticised Wolfson, arguing that his work for Abramovich while he is a shadow minister creates an unacceptable conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

Roman Abramovich owned Chelsea football club before Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Photograph: Paul Marriott\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The Conservatives have repeatedly criticised<\/a> the attorney general, Richard Hermer, for cases he took on as a barrister, including the former Sinn F\u00e9in leader Gerry Adams and Liberty, which was a party in the case of Shamima Begum, who has been barred from the UK after travelling to Turkey when she was 15 to join up with Islamic State.<\/p>\n

Asked why Badenoch and others had done this and maintained that Wolfson\u2019s work for Abramovich was not a problem, the Tory leader\u2019s spokesperson claimed that Hermer had often campaigned for the wider causes behind cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is obviously a difference between cases and causes, and what Lord Wolfson is doing is he is taking a case. You haven\u2019t seen him campaigning or anything like that,\u201d he said. \u201cLawyers represent cases, not causes. What Richard Hermer has done is represent causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he could give an example of the causes Hermer had embraced, he replied: \u201cI don\u2019t have any to hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Conservatives have also criticised Starmer<\/a> for cases he took on as a barrister. The spokesperson said this was because he had, like Hermer, taken on causes rather than cases.<\/p>\n

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