The pressure on the UK government to seize the assets of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has ramped up further after Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, asked prime minister Boris Johnson "why on earth" the 55-year-old is yet to be included in the list of Russian businessmen facing sanctions.
At the beginning of their weekly question session in parliament, Starmer said: “Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club and various other high value assets in the United Kingdom.
"He is a person of interest to the Home Office because of his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices.
"Last week the prime minister said that Abramovich is facing sanctions and later corrected the record to say he isn't. Why on earth isn't he?"
In reply Johnson said: “It is not appropriate for me to comment on specific cases at this stage" but "the vice is tightening [on people associated with Vladimir Putin] and it will continue to tighten."
Abramovich vehemently denies any direct links to Russian president Putin but the decision to step back from decision-making was made to protect the club's reputation because of an increased focus on the 55-year-old after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine.
His spokeswoman claimed on Monday that Abramovich had been asked to help advocate for peace talks but would not elaborate on the scale of his involvement, though one Ukrainian source said it was "limited".
MPs including Chris Bryant and Dame Margaret Hodge have used parliamentary privilege to call on Abramovich to face sanctions. The club says he has done nothing to deserve sanctioning.
His spokeswoman has not responded to a request for comment.
