Fury as UK Government blocks Bill aimed at seizing Russian assets in order to help rebuild Ukraine

The UK Government has prevented a Bill aimed at seizing Russian assets in order to support Ukraine from getting a second reading in the Commons.

Rhondda MP’s Sir Chris Bryant said he was “astounded” and “ furious at the Government’s decision to object to his private members Bill.

Responding to the objection, the former Labour Minister said: “I am genuinely astounded by the way the Government has responded and called down this Bill today. To be frank I am not just astounded I am furious about it.

“But just in case the Russian Federation were to think that this House, this Parliament, or this country is wavering in 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 in relation to this war?”

After claiming he would “continue to press this”, Sir Chris claimed the Government would “end up introducing something very similar, very soon”.

Inappropriate

The Rhondda MP’s comments raised the hackles of Tory grandee, Sir Christopher Chope, who said: “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.”

Point of order

Raising a point of order at the start of a Friday sitting, Sir Chris Bryant had told the Commons: “I gather that the Government’s briefing to the press overnight says that the reason that they might object is because it is not suitable for such a measure to be introduced in a private member’s Bill, even though it has cross-party support from lots of Conservative members and chairs of two prominent select committees, both of whom are Conservatives.”

Sir Chris called on the Deputy Speaker to clarify the Bill was “perfectly in order” and that such Bills had been used to introduce similar measures in the past.

Deputy Commons Speaker Dame Rosie Winterton said the Bill was “orderly” and added: “It is not appropriate for me to offer a view about whether a private member’s Bill is an appropriate vehicle for his objectives, that is a matter for the House. But I can confirm that such Bills have been used for a variety of purposes as he describes and obviously, we will wait to see what happens later.”