Ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich threatened with legal action over £2.3bn proceeds from sale of club
FORMER Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is being threatened with legal action over the £2.3billion proceeds from his sale of the club.
The cash was supposed to go on humanitarian projects in Ukraine.
But British government officials and Abramovich have failed to reach an agreement.
The money has been sitting in a bank account since the 58-year-old was forced to sell in 2022 due to his links with tyrant Vladimir Putin.
The Government has lost patience after three years of talks with the Russian oligarch failed to resolve the situation.
In a joint statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 'The Government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia's illegal full-scale invasion.
'We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.
'While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible.'
Pressure was growing on the Government for some time to take a harder line on Abramovich.
Charities like Save The Children and senior political figures like Lord Foulkes, a former chairman of Scottish club Hearts, urged first the previous Conservative administration and then the current Labour Government to find a way to end the deadlock.
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Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Why should we have to downsize?': How boomers became the victim generation
We're looking for readers in different generations to talk about change within their families, such as a grandparent and grandchild's experiences of buying their first home. To get involved, email us at money@ Baby boomers have nothing to complain about. Bumper pensions. Free university education. House prices that have gone through the roof. Some of them even got to see The Beatles. This, at least, is the idea that's caught fire over the last 20 years, a period in which the debate about inequality in Britain has been reframed as a tug-of-war between generations. Boomers – the post-war cohort born between 1946 and 1965 – are blamed for hoarding wealth after winning the economic lottery. The losers are said to be Generation Z and millennials – born between 1980 and 2009 – who face sky-high mortgages and record-breaking rents, stagnating wages, massive student debt and outrageous student loan repayments, plus an unstable jobs market. There is a stigma attached to being a 'boomer', which has become shorthand for greedy, entitled and out of touch. Boomers have been accused of 'stealing their children's futures' by taking more than their fair share. Many believe they are unfairly victimised – pilloried for their wealth, and told to downsize out of their house to make way for younger families. But are they right to feel that way? 'Divisive and harmful tensions in society' A report by the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee in February confirmed what many older citizens have experienced first-hand. It found 'clear evidence' of ageist stereotyping across British media, with debates about intergenerational fairness tending to pit younger and older generations against each other in a 'perceived fight for limited resources'. The report went on: 'Older people are also frequently stereotyped as wealthy 'boomers' living comfortable lives in homes they own while younger generations struggle on low incomes, unable to afford to enter the housing market and struggling with high rents.' These 'narratives', the committee said, have fuelled 'divisive and harmful tensions in society'. This resentment doesn't come from nowhere. Recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that boomers are by far Britain's richest cohort. The average wealth of households aged 65 to 74 is £502,500 – more than 30 times that of Gen Zs aged 16 to 24, who typically have £15,200. Boomers' wealth is also 4.6 times greater than those aged 25 to 34, who are mainly younger millennials, with £109,800. This may not seem very surprising given older people have had a lifetime to accumulate savings, homes and pensions. 'There's an extremely strong life-cycle component to wealth,' says Simon Pittaway, a senior economist at The Resolution Foundation think tank. 'Most people start working lives with very little, build it up through peak working years then run it down in retirement. 'This has been the case for a long time. But we're seeing that profile getting starker.' The gap between the generations has grown since the financial crisis, which is often blamed on the boomers, who, the argument goes, were steering the ship at the time. A Resolution Foundation study found that between 2006-08 and 2018-20, median wealth among Britons in their 60s rose by 55pc in real terms, but median wealth for those in their 30s fell by 34pc. At the same time, the share of Britain's wealth held by the under-40s has fallen from 7.5pc in 2010 to 4pc today. It's statistics like these that mean boomers are often implored to give away their hoarded wealth, or downsize into smaller properties to make room for young families. 'Older people aren't hoarding – they're just afraid of change' John Griffiths, 80, insists his generation is in fact supremely generous – and shouldn't be discriminated against for having done well. 'It's a gimmick in the financial media to blame the boomers,' he says. 'It's not our fault property went up the way it did in the 60s and 70s. [The house price rises] drove most of us out of London.' Griffiths was born shortly after VE Day in May 1945, putting him right on the cusp of the boomer bracket. 'I tend to count myself as one of them,' he says. After training as a chemical engineer, he spent 20 years in the gas industry and the North Sea designing and building offshore oil facilities. He went on to found his own marine energy consultancy, advising clean energy firms and governments on how to best harness the power of waves and tides. He retired five years ago at the age of 75. His successful career has allowed him to pass on lump sums totalling £500,000 to his three children, who are in their 40s and 50s and have children themselves. A large part of his financial security derives from property wealth. The house in Wimbledon that he bought with his wife Valerie in 2006 for £545,000 is now worth £1.3m. Homeowners aged 60 and over hold more than half of the nation's owner-occupied housing wealth, totalling an estimated £2.89 trillion, according to estate agents Savills. Two thirds (67pc) of homeowners aged 65 and over have two or more spare rooms in their property, even as a shortage of affordable housing prevents young families from buying their first home. The Tony Blair Institute think tank has called for larger properties to be taxed more to encourage owners to downsize. But Griffiths believes pressuring older people to vacate their homes is unfair. 'It doesn't sit well with me. I don't think older people are hoarding. They stay where they are because they're afraid of change. 'Many don't have supportive families to help them, and are stuck where they are.' The rise of boomer bashing Dr Jennie Bristow, a reader in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University, traces boomer bashing back to the collapse of traditional political frameworks at the end of the 20th century. 'From the 1990s, we started trying to explain societal problems that went beyond Left and Right,' she says. 'It's still playing out now in the culture wars.' It was a time when demographic anxieties were spreading across the Western world. Ageing populations mean relatively fewer younger workers supporting the swelling ranks of elderly pensioners through the welfare system. Old-versus-young became the salient faultline. 'The narrative that emerged was that the 2008 financial crisis was due to policy decisions, and also cultural individualism, that was personified by the baby boomer generation. These are the people who are hoarding wealth and will benefit from big pensions. 'For the Right, it's an argument for restructuring the welfare state. And for the Left, it's used as a reason for more welfare and less Thatcherite individualism. It brought those two opposites together.' Bristow believes anti-boomer sentiment peaked in 2010, the year that David Willetts, a former Tory MP turned public intellectual, published an influential book called 'The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Stole Their Children's Future'. She says the tendency to blame the boomers has turned into a 'frenzy' that ignores inequalities within generational cohorts. 'The boomers associated with the 1960s generation, born straight after the war, did reap a lot of the benefits of that time. There were a lot of possibilities, economic opportunities, and they ended up with good pensions. But not everyone was part of this. It was actually quite a narrow section of society. 'Younger boomers came of age in the far more pessimistic 1970s. Yes, people got grants for university, but only 7pc of the cohort went.' 'I get sick of boomers blaming young people' Richard Merry was born in 1955, putting him right in the middle of the boomer generation. After leaving school at 16, Merry joined the armed forces, eventually becoming a member of a special army unit that sent him all over the world during a 50-year career. He has worked hard to retire three years ago in relative comfort, but acknowledges that younger generations have a tougher ride in many ways. 'People just don't earn that sort of money any more,' the 69-year-old says. 'I get a little bit sick with the boomers saying that it's young people's own fault for not getting on the property ladder.' Merry bought a three-bedroom semi-detached house in south-east London for £77,000 in 1990. It is now worth over £1m. It was easily affordable on his salary of around £32,000, equivalent to £80,000 today. 'My children, both in their 30s, work incredibly hard and lead tough lives. You simply can't compare property prices and deposits now to what they were.' But it's not all plain sailing for his generation. Care costs, for instance, are 'crucifying' the boomers, he says. His own mother's old age care cost £320,000 over three years – money that would have gone to Merry and his sister. They had to sell their mother's home to pay for it. 'All the talk is that boomers are hoarding wealth, but we're going to be skinned alive when it comes to care costs.' On tax and earnings too, it hasn't been the easiest of rides. 'People at the bottom benefitted from increases in the minimum wage, but middle earners like me have had the stuffing kicked out of them.' Boomers have 'rigged the game in their favour' On the contrary, Angus Hanton, of the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, believes boomers have 'heavily rigged the game in their favour' over decades by repeatedly voting in governments that have given them a good deal. 'Boomers have fought tooth and nail to protect their interests,' he says. 'We can see that most starkly in how the tax system is structured – what's taxed heavily is earned income. Younger working people pay income tax at a high rate from a low level of earnings, plus National Insurance and student loan repayments, which is basically a tax. 'But unearned income is taxed very lightly – money in Isas and Sipps, and capital gains tax is half the rate of income tax.' Hanton, a boomer himself, rejects the idea that the focus on competing age groups squeezes out other factors from the conversation – like class, race or gender. 'Generational inequality is a really important lens and we shouldn't refuse to look through it just because there are other lenses available.' Evidence suggests that many younger people are looking at the world – and their claim on the material wealth of their elders – through this lens. Research by Moneyfarm, an investment platform, found that two in five millennials fear their parents were frittering away 'their' inheritance, while a fifth said their 'spendthrift' parents were selfish for failing to consider their children or grandchildren's economic wellbeing. Meanwhile, 61pc of Gen Z feel they have to work harder than their parents did, according to YouGov polling. The reality is that many young people will benefit indirectly from the economic success of their parents and grandparents. A much-cited report from estate agents Knight Frank found that millennials are set to become the 'richest generation in history', thanks to the steep rise in the value of property assets accumulated by the generations before them which will be passed on when they die. Yet Bristow points out that even if millennials as a group are in line for a huge windfall, the only ones who will actually benefit are those with well-off parents who rode the property wave. Boomers, too, all tend to be tarred with the same brush. 'You can look at it two ways, generationally,' she says. 'Not all older people are wealthy. So saying boomers have stolen their children's future doesn't stack up.'
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Swordsman accused of murdering schoolboy ‘became psychotic after taking cannabis'
A man who murdered a 14-year-old schoolboy with a Japanese sword experienced psychotic episodes after taking cannabis, a court has heard. Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, believed 'he was in a battle against evil forces' when he allegedly stabbed Daniel Anjorin as he walked to school in Hainault, north-east London, on April 30 last year. He is said to have 'moved quickly like a predator' behind Daniel before inflicting a 'devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury' to his face and neck. The Spanish-Brazilian national, from Newham, east London, is also accused of attacking four others, including two police officers, during a 20-minute rampage. He has denied eight of the 10 charges against him, including murder. A trial at the Old Bailey heard on Wednesday that Mr Monzo's mental state had been 'materially altered' by cannabis use and, at the time of the alleged attack, he had 'developed a cannabis induced fully fledged psychotic episode characterised by reality distortion symptoms'. Tom Little KC, prosecuting, said Mr Monzo was 'informed by his delusional beliefs that he and his family were in mortal danger, and that he was engaged in a battle against evil forces at a time of revelation or Armageddon'. He said cannabis was identified in Mr Monzo's urine and blood samples after the incident and a 'large amount' of cannabis was also found in a search of his house along with a 'skinned and deboned cat'. Mr Little, quoting forensic psychiatrist Prof Nigel Blackwood, who will later be called by the prosecution, said: 'In Prof Blackwood's opinion, cannabis misuse appears to have been the principal driver of his mental state deterioration at this time. 'The violence would not, in Prof Blackwood's opinion, have happened in the absence of such voluntary substance misuse.' Mr Monzo appeared in the dock wearing a bright green jumper with short, cropped hair and stubble. He looked furtively around the court at times and spoke often to security guards sitting on either side of him. Daniel's family were also in the court. Mr Little said Mr Monzo had left his home just before 6.30am in his van, wearing a yellow Quiksilver hoodie, black trousers, and black shoes. He said the attack started at about 6.51am when he drove his van into Donato Iwule, a pedestrian in Laing Close, causing him to be 'catapulted some distance into a garden'. Video footage of the incident was played to the jury, in which Mr Iwule, who had been walking to a Co-Op store where he worked, can be heard screaming in pain. Mr Monzo allegedly then left the vehicle and approached Mr Iwule with a samurai sword. Mr Little said: 'Donato Iwule shouted at him 'I don't know you' and the defendant said 'I don't care, I will kill you'. 'That comment from the defendant tells you, you may think, everything you need to know about his intention that morning.' Mr Monzo is alleged to have swung his sword at Mr Iwule's neck and torso, but he was able to roll away and escape over a fence. 'If he had not managed to escape, it seems inevitable that he too would have been killed,' said Mr Little. Mr Monzo is then said to have driven further down Laing Close before exiting the vehicle. At this time, the court heard that Daniel had left his home and was walking to school wearing sports clothes, his backpack, and headphones. Mr Little said: 'The defendant had obviously seen him and the defendant then moved quickly like a predator behind Daniel Anjorin. 'He lifted the sword above his head and then swung it downwards towards Daniel's head and neck area. 'Daniel instantly fell to the ground. The defendant then leant over him and used the sword again to injure Daniel.' He added: 'The force used was extreme. It involved a devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left-hand side of Daniel's face and neck'. Mr Monzo is then said to have taken off Daniel's backpack, dragging the schoolboy's body along the road in the process. The court heard that emergency services had been called to the scene at this time. Mr Monzo is said to have then attacked Pc Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield, who pursued him down a series of alleyways behind residential properties while he was still armed. He is then alleged to have entered a nearby house where he attacked a couple in their bedroom. Mr Little said the couple's lives had been spared only because 'their four-year-old child woke up and started crying'. He said there were many police officers in the area at that time, and that Mr Monzo then became 'surrounded in a garage area nearby to the other attacks', where he attacked another police officer. Mr Monzo was finally disarmed and detained after he climbed onto the roof of the garage, he said. Asked about the attack in a police interview, Mr Monzo said his personality switched and that 'something happened, like a game happening', and it was like 'the movie Hunger Games'. Mr Little said: 'He said that one of his personalities is a professional assassin.' In court last month, Mr Monzo denied eight of the 10 charges against him but admitted two counts of having an offensive weapon – a katana sword and a tanto katana sword. He also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Mr Iwule, Sindy Arias, Henry De Los Rios Polania and Pc Mechem-Whitfield as well as wounding Insp Moloy Campbell with intent. Mr Monzo denied aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife. The trial continues.
The Sun
13 minutes ago
- The Sun
IKEA is shutting ANOTHER UK store in just a fortnight's time after ‘lessons learned' amid customer backlash
YET another IKEA store has announced it's shutting its doors and saying farewell - or farväl - to customers. Retail giant IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943, and opened its first UK branch in Warrington, Cheshire, in 1987. The next Swedish store to pull the plug is the Aintree Plan and Order Point store in Liverpool. Set up in December 2022, the Aintree Racecourse Retail Park store was the first 'test and trial format' in the UK. The smaller Plan & Order Point store was dedicated to kitchen and bedroom planning, and offered customers home furnishing advice. IKEA explained the closure was 'a result of valuable learnings which will take the conceptual format in a direction to better suit the needs of UK customers'. A spokesperson for the retail giant expressed: 'There has been an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, something which, owing to the space available, the current location is unable to offer. 'To better service its customers, future Plan and Order Point openings, including in Dundee, Hull and York will offer these services. "IKEA also remains committed to trialling new formats including its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in Chester later this year.' Customers will be able to collect any purchases from Tesco Extra Birkenhead, Tesco Superstore Old Swan, the Warrington store or the upcoming smaller new Chester store. The disheartening retail news comes after the closure of IKEA Stockport in Merseyway Shopping Centre, which opened just two years ago. The retailer has confirmed that both Plan and Order points will be closing on June 16. The Sun takes a trip inside the new Ikea Oxford Street Other Plan and Order points, such as the ones in Dundee, York and Hull, will be adapted to meet those new demands and also include a small range of home furnishing accessories to buy. The news comes after IKEA opened its own hotel in the Canary Islands. Boasting cheap rooms, a swimming pool and breakfast, it also offers some of their most popular homeware items. Las Dunas de Santa Catalina Boutique House is a new two-star hotel owned by the interiors brand in Gran Canaria. Rooms start from £105 a night, which includes a continental breakfast, and works out to just over £50 a night for two people. 2 Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
