Boris Johnson has been accused of misleading MPs after he said Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is “already facing sanctions”.
The prime minister said out sanctions against five Russian banks and three wealthy Russian individuals in response to Vladimir Putin’s military incursion into Ukraine, but Mr Abramovich was not on the list.
Challenged by Labour MP Margaret Hodge on why dozens of others had not be targeted, Mr Johnson appeared to suggest Mr Abramovich was subject to sanctions – sparking claims he had misled the House.
Labour MP Chris Bryant said the prime minister’s claim was “untrue” and challenged him to quickly “correct the record” to clear up any confusion.
Ms Hodge had told MPs that she had received legal advice that there were “serious flaws” in the sanctions legislation which would allow many “close to Putin” to escape financial penalties.
She said most of the people on the so-called “Navalny’s list” – a list of 35 individuals compiled by opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny’s foundation – would not be hit by the UK’s sanctions regime.
Mr Abramovich is one of those on Navalny’s list. “Will the prime minister look again at the sanctions regime so in the words of the foreign secretary, nothing is off the table?” Ms Hodge asked.
Mr Johnson replied: “I believe she’s in error in what she says, because we can certainly target members of the Duma [Russian parliament]. Abramovich is already facing sanctions.”
Mr Abramovich does not appear on the government’s full, official list of Russia-related sanctions.
Raising a point of order in the Commons, Mr Bryant said: “The prime minister said that Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned. As I understand it, that is not true.”
The MP, chair of the standards committee, added: “I’m sure the PM was completely inadvertent in giving a false indication. It would be helpful if he could correct the record.”
The senior Labour figure also tweeted: “The PM told the House that Roman Abramovich has already been sanctioned. He hasn’t. It’s untrue.”
Replying to Mr Bryant’s request that the record be corrected, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “If a correction is necessary, I’m sure it will be forthcoming.”
The government’s sanctions were dismissed as “feeble” by MPs within moments of being announced by the prime minister on Tuesday.
Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: “These are not the biggest banks. I’d like to see this go much further and much faster.”
As well as hitting major Russian banks and three individuals, the government has also vowed to sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted to recognise the independence of separatist areas of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson has signalled Russia should be stripped of hosting this year’s Champions League final following the “renewed invasion” of Ukraine.
The PM told MPs there is “no chance” of holding football tournaments in a Russia that “invades sovereign countries”.
