Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, Member of Parliament for Solihull West & Shirley, has welcomed the news that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has agreed a financial package for Ukraine funded by frozen Russian assets. However, he has called for the Government to go further.
Dr Shastri-Hurst MP has been vocal in calling for using the entire principal of the assets and not just the appreciation on them.
In the UK alone, there are £26bn in frozen Russian central bank assets - funds Ukraine desperately needs for reparations Russia surely owes but will never willingly pay.
Dr Shastri-Hurst said:
The Chancellor’s announcement of a £2.26bn bilateral loan agreement with Ukraine is a welcome one. For the first time, the money from the interest on frozen Russian assets in Britain will be utilised for military purposes.
However, we must go further. Seeking to distinguish between the appreciation on the assets and the assets themselves is a false distinction. We must release the $300bn in frozen Russian central bank assets as a downpayment for the reparations Ukraine is rightly due.
There will always be arguments, both legal and political, for and against pursuing a course of action. No course is without risk. However, ultimately it comes down to a choice.
But, to mitigate risk, there will need to be a collective will. As Rishi Sunak recently highlighted, “if the financial centres of Europe, North America and democratic Asia act together, the risk that seizing the assets causes financial upheaval can be contained."
History will judge us on how we act at moments of peril. Whether we allow ourselves to shape events or sit back and allow others to do so for us.
