THOUSANDS have signed a petition urging Britain to give back more than 30 tonnes of Venezuelan gold held in the Bank of England.

The gold currently has a value of £3.5 billion and has been held since 2015 after the US government instituted sanctions against the Latin American country.

The petition by Venezuela Solidarity Campaign comes amid calls from the Venezuelan government and civil society for the more than 1,000 economic sanctions against the country to be lifted.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German welcomed the campaign, saying: “[PM Sir Keir] Starmer has refused to condemn [US President Donald] Trump’s illegal regime change by kidnapping Venezuela’s head of state, along with the brazen theft of millions of barrels of the country’s oil.

“[He] is utterly complicit in it by holding on to the tonnes of illegally seized Venezuelan gold in the coffers of the Bank of England.”

General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) general secretary Gawain Little said: “Britain’s complicity in illegal economic warfare against Venezuela must come to an end.

“It is time for Britain to hand back illegally seized Venezuelan gold.”

The petition can be signed at change.org.