Member

The noble Lord, Lord Alton, mentioned money from Chelsea and Roman Abramovich. I suspect he knows this but it is worth placing on record, given that he has raised it: on 17 December, the Prime Minister formally announced that the United Kingdom will issue instructions to transfer £2.5 billion from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC to humanitarian causes in Ukraine. The funds that we are transferring have been frozen in a UK bank account since 2022. Although the Government have tried to negotiate a way forward, the said Roman Abramovich has now been given three months to establish a foundation and transfer the funds before the Government consider further options, such as pursuing the matter in court. It is an important signal from the Government as a whole.