Boris Johnson has “serious questions to answer” about the appointment of newspaper publisher Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader called for transparency on Lebedev’s appointment after fresh questions were raised about the Prime Minister’s decision to nominate him for a peerage.
Johnson has been accused of brushing off security concerns, raised by the House of Lords appointments commission, to press ahead with nominating Lebedev as a Tory peer.
The Sunday Times reported that the security services had concerns about Lebedev, whose father was a KGB agent, as far back as 2013, when the then head of MI6, John Sawers, refused to meet him.
According to reports Johnson had developed a close relationship with Lebedev, attending parties at his Italian castle, including when he was Foreign secretary.
Speaking on Sky News Starmer said: “The media today are saying there were further reservations by the security and intelligence services which were known before this appointment was made and we know that concerns were raised apparently with the Prime Minister.
“In light of the further revelations today, I think the Prime Minister has got serious questions to answer: What did he know? And did he override security advice?”
Starmer called for a “process” to take place, looking into Lord Lebedev’s appointment.
He said: “Let’s have a process to look into what actually happened, what did the Prime Minister know and what did he do in response to that. I think that is the least we are entitled to in relation to this appointment.”
Starmer has said while Boris Johnson has “lost the moral authority to lead”, his focus was currently on Ukraine rather than forcing the resignation of the Prime Minister.
The Labour leader has previously called for Johnson to quit in the wake of the partygate revelations.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove defended the Lords appointment and added that no one had previously raised concerns with him about Lebedev.
He said: “I have met Lord Lebedev, in public, and nobody has ever suggested to me that that was wrong.”
“He’s made clear through the pages of the Evening Standard, the newspaper of which he is a proprietor, that he wholeheartedly disapproves of this conflict. He’s been critical of Vladimir Putin’s actions.”
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