Dominic Raab insisted he has “never overruled” intelligence advice as he was forced to defend Russian-born businessman Evgeny Lebedev’s appointment to the House of Lords.
The Deputy Prime Minister told MPs it is “sheer nonsense” to suggest that Boris Johnson had asked anyone in the security services to revise, reconsider or withdraw their assessment of Lord Lebedev.
The Prime Minister’s former aide, Dominic Cummings, said he was in the room when Mr Johnson was told by Cabinet Office officials that the “intelligence services and other parts of the deep state” had “serious reservations” about the PM’s plan to appoint the media mogul to the Lords.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner repeatedly pressed Mr Raab during Prime Minister’s Questions over Lord Lebedev’s elevation to the Upper House and raised reports that the head of MI6 held security concerns over the appointment.
Labour MP Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) later channelled his inner Mrs Merton when he asked Mr Raab: “What first attracted the Prime Minister to the billionaire Russian oligarchs?”
During an appearance on The Mrs Merton Show in the 1990s, Caroline Aherne famously asked TV star Debbie McGee: “What attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”
Communities Secretary Michael Gove has previously said there is a “distinction to be drawn” between Lord Lebedev and his ex-KGB father, oligarch Alexander Lebedev.
Lord Lebedev acknowledged last week that his father was “a long time ago” a KGB officer but denied being “a security risk to this country”.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Rayner said: “(Mr Raab) was foreign secretary on March 17 2020 when British intelligence reportedly warned against the granting of peerage to the Prime Minister’s close friend and now Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia.
“Forty-eight hours later the Prime Minister visited Lebedev at his home in London; details of that meeting have never been released.
“In July 2020 Lebedev’s appointment as peer was announced. So can he tell the House what changed between the security warning and the appointment?”
Mr Raab said: “(Ms Rayner) knows full well all individuals nominated for a peerage are done so in recognition of what their contribution is to society.
“And, I should say, that includes those of Russian origin who contribute brilliantly to our nation, many of whom in this country are critics of the Putin regime.
“Life peerages are vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission for matters of probity and, frankly, I think she should know better.”
Ms Rayner continued to press, asking: “The Deputy Prime Minister oversaw our foreign intelligence services as foreign secretary.
“So, can he confirm if at any time he overruled or ignored direct advice from the British security services?”
Mr Raab replied: “Can I say to (Ms Rayner) what she suggests is nonsense. She’s talking about the House of Lords Appointments Commission. They have a vetting process. I have never overruled intelligence advice and I wouldn’t comment on the details of it.”
Ms Rayner also told the Commons: “There are now widespread reports that the Prime Minister did not accept warnings from our own intelligence services, granting a Russian oligarch, the son and business partner of a KGB spy, a seat here in this Parliament.
“It shouldn’t matter if such a warning was about a close personal friend of the Prime Minister. It shouldn’t matter if he gave the Prime Minister thousands of pounds of gifts. And it shouldn’t matter how much champagne and caviar he serves.
“There is no ifs or buts when it comes to the safety of the British people. So I ask the Deputy Prime Minister, can he guarantee that the Prime Minister never asked anyone to urge the security services to revise, reconsider or withdraw their assessment of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia?”
Mr Raab replied: “The suggestion she’s making is sheer nonsense.
“But if she wants to talk about national security, then I remind her that she and her shadow cabinet colleagues not so long ago wanted the honourable member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn)… a man who wanted and talked about abolishing the Army, pulling out of Trident – she voted for that.
“Has there ever been a more ridiculous, reckless, naive moment to call for unilateral nuclear disarmament and pulling out of Nato?
“A Labour government would put at risk our security. We’re doing everything we can to protect it.”
I am not a security risk to this country, which I love
Lord Lebedev, who owns the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers, has previously said in a statement on the Evening Standard website: “I am not a security risk to this country, which I love.
“My father a long time ago was a foreign intelligence agent of the KGB, but I am not some agent of Russia.”
The Moscow-born media mogul has long held ties to the British establishment.
In addition to the Prime Minister, Lord Lebedev has long-standing friendships with A-list celebrities in the UK.
Mr Cummings, now one of the Prime Minister’s fiercest critics, suggested Mr Raab may have inadvertently misled the Commons because of “duff lines” given to him by No 10.
In response to Mr Raab’s “sheer nonsense” comment, Mr Cummings wrote on his website: “This is false.
“I know it’s false because I was in the room when the PM was told by Cabinet Office officials that the intelligence services and other parts of the deep state had, let’s say serious reservations, about the PM’s plan.
“I supported these concerns and said to the PM in his study explicitly that he should not go ahead.
“He was very cross and as he does when cross he blustered nonsense.
‘This is just … You’re just … (pause) ANTI-RUSSIAN!’
“He did his usual trick when I told him not to do something dumb. He stopped talking to me about it and got a stooge to creep into the Cabinet Office labyrinth and cut a deal.”
