A Labour MP could barely contain his fury after his bill aimed at seizing Russian cash frozen in UK bank accounts and using it to rebuild Ukraine was blocked.
Sir Chris Bryant had appealed for cross-party support for his proposed legislation on the first anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion.
But he voiced his anger after it was denied a second reading in the Commons.
Sir Chris’s Seizure of Russian State Assets and Support for Ukraine Bill was aimed at ensuring that Russian assets frozen in the UK, were used to support Ukraine.
If passed it would have given ministers a 60-day deadline to come up with plans for seizing the cash.
But the Government frontbench objected to it, and MPs are unlikely to debate it again before the current session of Parliament ends in the autumn.
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Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
An angry Sir Chris told MPs: “I’m genuinely astounded by the way the government has responded and called down this bill today.
“To be frank I’m not just astounded and furious about it.”
But he urged Russia not to view it as a sign of weakness.
Sir Chris said: “But just in case the Russian Federation were to think that this House, this Parliament, this country is wavering its determination to see Russia fail in its illegal war – or just in case Putin thinks this signals a lack of determination by this House or this country to make Russia pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine, is it in order for me to assert that we are all on the same side in this House?”
He said he would “continue to press this”, and claimed the Government would “end up introducing something very similar, very soon”.
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SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
After leaving the chamber, Sir Chris wrote:” As I feared, in an ill judged and poorly timed move, the government objected to my seizure of Russian assets and support for Ukraine Bill.
“However we are all on the same side in wanting Putin to fail and I don’t doubt they will end up introducing a similar measure soon.”
He was heckled as he shared his outrage, with Tory grandee Sir Christopher Chope saying: “I don’t think I have ever heard such an inappropriate comment from a senior Member of this House.
“He knows jolly well what the rules are. He only printed his Bill on Thursday. There is no explanatory notes in relation to it, and he is expecting his Bill to be able to take priority over all the other Bills just because he thinks a lot of himself and he thinks he has got a good cause.
“Lots of us have got good causes but we don’t argue the toss with the rules.”
Ministers have previously insisted that seizing frozen Russian assets would be difficult to enact.
A cross-party group of MPs urged the Government to adopt its proposals to repurpose cash from Russian oligarchs while debating the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in January.
At the time, security minister Tom Tugendhat stressed he had had “long conversations” with representatives from other western governments about seizing the Russian cash, but no country had yet come up with a legally sound solution for how to claim it.