No 10 chief of staff’s position untenable amid lobbying claims, says Labour

Labour said Mark Fullbrook posed ‘not just a potential security risk but an ongoing threat to the credibility and prospects of UK diplomacy and ethical standards in government’. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Labour has claimed Mark Fullbrook’s position as Downing Street chief of staff is no longer tenable after it was revealed that before his appointment he tried to change UK foreign policy by arranging for two cabinet ministers to meet Fathi Bashagha, a Libyan politician with links to the Russian Wagner Group.

The Guardian had previously reported that Fullbrook, as chief executive of Fullbrook Strategies, had lobbied on behalf of Bashagha, but the Sunday Times alleged he arranged for Bashagha to come to London in June, where he met the then business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the education secretary at the time, Nadhim Zahawi.