Shadow attorney general steps back on Ukraine over Abramovich link
The shadow attorney general, David Wolfson, has recused himself from giving advice to Kemi Badenoch on Ukraine and Russia because he is representing the under-sanctions Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in a court case, the Conservatives have announced.This would prevent him from offering advice on the possible deployment of UK troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.Lord Wolfson, who is a senior KC and a Tory peer, is part of the legal team representing Abramovich as he attempts to recover billions in frozen assets he owns in the Channel Islands.Speaking at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer criticised Wolfson’s role, telling Badenoch: “How can someone sit in her shadow cabinet, advising someone trying to escape sanctions, and pretend that their policy is to support us on sanctions?”Asked about this, Badenoch’s spokesperson said Wolfson did not sit in the shadow cabinet, and that because Jersey was a different legal jurisdiction the case had no bearing on the release of £2.5bn from Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea football club, which the UK government wants to use to help rebuild Ukraine.
Wolfson “has recused himself from legal advice on Ukraine and Russia, [which] as you know is standard practice”, the spokesperson said, adding that Badenoch was delighted with Wolfson’s performance in his role.The official confirmed that this would mean Wolfson could not advise on the possible deployment of UK troops but said this was not yet relevant because there were as yet no details of how this might happen.He added: “He has recused himself from advising her [Badenoch] on anything related to Ukraine because of this court case.”This would not be a problem, the spokesperson said, as there was “plenty of legal advice” among shadow ministers, citing Robert Jenrick, a former corporate law solicitor, Victoria Atkins, who was a barrister specialising in fraud, and Helen Grant, a former solicitor who is shadow solicitor general.Labour has criticised Wolfson, arguing that his work for Abramovich while he is a shadow minister creates an unacceptable conflict of interest.
The Conservatives have repeatedly criticised the attorney general, Richard Hermer, for cases he took on as a barrister, including the former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Liberty, which was a party in the case of Shamima Begum, who has been barred from the UK after travelling to Turkey when she was 15 to join up with Islamic State,Asked why Badenoch and others had done this and maintained that Wolfson’s work for Abramovich was not a problem, the Tory leader’s spokesperson claimed that Hermer had often campaigned for the wider causes behind cases,“There is obviously a difference between cases and causes, and what Lord Wolfson is doing is he is taking a case,You haven’t seen him campaigning or anything like that,” he said,“Lawyers represent cases, not causes.
What Richard Hermer has done is represent causes.”Asked if he could give an example of the causes Hermer had embraced, he replied: “I don’t have any to hand.”The Conservatives have also criticised Starmer for cases he took on as a barrister.The spokesperson said this was because he had, like Hermer, taken on causes rather than cases.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
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‘Shadow fleet’ ships moving sanctioned oil reflagged to Russia at rising rate
Forty ships accused of belonging to a large “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil for Venezuela and others were reflagged to Russia last year in an apparent attempt to gain Kremlin protection from American seizure.Analysis by the shipping intelligence publication Lloyd’s List suggests that of those, at least 17 suspicious vessels joined the Russian registry over the past month, compared with 15 ships in the previous five months of 2025.The sudden flurry of activity appears to be linked to Donald Trump’s announcement last month of what he called a US “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers in and out of Venezuela.The term “shadow fleet” is defined by Lloyd’s List as ships for which deceptive practices are used in order to allow them to transport goods – including oil and gas – in violation of sanctions and price caps.On Thursday, a ship subjected to sanctions by the US over concerns it had been involved in distributing illicit Russian oil was identified as sailing through the Channel under a false name and Cameroonian flag
Software firm belonging to Tory donor Frank Hester pays out £50m dividend
The software company belonging to the Tory donor Frank Hester, a major contractor to the NHS, has paid a £50m dividend after sales and profits surged.TPP Group, which was founded by Hester in 1997 as The Phoenix Partnership, specialises in healthcare technology and provides its SystmOne software to the NHS. The company says it is used by 7,800 NHS organisations, including more than 2,600 GP practices and a third of acute mental health trusts, with 61m electronic health records stored in its database. It has also expanded abroad, including to China, the Middle East and the Caribbean.The company, which is owned by Hester and based in Leeds, had a turnover of £97
AI tool Grok used to create child sexual abuse imagery, watchdog says
Online criminals are claiming to have used Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool to create sexual imagery of children, as a child safety watchdog warned the technology risked bringing such material into the mainstream.The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law.The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law
Commons women and equalities committee to stop using X amid AI-altered images row
The Commons women and equalities committee has decided to stop using X after the social media site’s AI tool began generating thousands of digitally altered images of women and children with their clothes removed.The move by the cross-party committee places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children generated by its AI tool, Grok.Sarah Owen, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said that given preventing violence against women and girls was among its key policy areas, “it has become increasingly clear that X is not an appropriate platform to be using for our communications”.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, has called the imagery “appalling and unacceptable in decent society” and urged Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, to take whatever action is needed.Speaking on Wednesday, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said that “all options remain on the table” for Ofcom, which has the power to impose huge fines or to restrict access to a site
Sack the vibe: goodbye Bazball and hello England’s search for a cricketing soul | Barney Ronay
It seemed fitting, as the final moments ticked down at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as the day, the match, the tour seemed to ooze and melt a little at the edges under a hard white January sun, that Ben Stokes should finish this Ashes series still standing, but only just.It was at least a suitably slapstick final session in front of a scattered, holiday-ish crowd. Australia custard-pied their way to a victory total of 160, narrowly avoiding falling pianos, dangling off giant clocktowers along the way.It felt fitting too that the endgame should revolve around England’s tried and trusted short-and-wide masterplan, a series that will remain fixed in the mind as an endless looping meme of an English seamer being square-cut to some distant crowing boundary.In the middle of this Stokes spent the day wedged in at first slip, nursing his newly acquired groin injury, a cricketer who is by this stage basically a hat, a collection of splints nailed together and a grimace
England’s Ashes humbling was more a series of letdowns than ‘series of our lives’ | Ali Martin
It was billed as “the series of our lives” by Brendon McCullum but as he and Ben Stokes looked over towards the podium to watch Steve Smith and Pat Cummins lift the crystal Ashes trophy under an azure sky, the optimism that preceded this failed campaign felt a lifetime ago.They landed in Perth two months ago with what they and many thought was an aggressive, dynamic England side, finally ready to challenge Australia’s ageing champions after three miserable tours. Cue a 4-1 humbling, offset by one maelstrom win in Melbourne but with the Ashes already lost in 11 days.This was the final day of English regret, the last rites only salt in wounds when at 2.30pm, Alex Carey iced the target of 160 with a succulent cover drive, five wickets down
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