A top Tory has defended handing a peerage to Russian-born businessman - as he has never voted in the Lords.
Boris Johnson made Evgeny Lebedev, the media mogul and son of billionaire ex-KGB agent Alexander, Lord Lebedev of Siberia at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
But the decision has come under fresh scrutiny after claims that intelligence officials had raised concerns about the appointment leading the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) to advise against it.
