{"id":7697,"date":"2022-03-13T12:53:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/13\/no-one-raised-security-concerns-over-lord-lebedev-with-me-says-michael-gove\/"},"modified":"2022-03-13T12:53:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:53:19","slug":"no-one-raised-security-concerns-over-lord-lebedev-with-me-says-michael-gove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/13\/no-one-raised-security-concerns-over-lord-lebedev-with-me-says-michael-gove\/","title":{"rendered":"No-one raised security concerns over Lord Lebedev with me, says Michael Gove"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Michael Gove said no one had raised security issues with him about Lord Lebedev after security services had reportedly had concerns about him for a long time.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Sunday Times claimed the head of MI6 was concerned about the Russian-born businessman and in 2020 concerns were raised about Boris Johnson. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the prime minister has denied he intervened to ensure Lord Lebedev’s peerage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Housing Secretary Mr Gove told the BBC the process for appointing colleagues was “rigorous”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said he had dinner with Lord Lebedev at Boris Johnson’s home ahead of the Brexit referendum but was aware of potential security concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister had “serious questions to answer” about the appointment and had asked the House of Lords’ Nominations Commission to release the review advice they had given Mr Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And at his party’s spring conference, Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for a full public inquiry into the Prime Minister’s decision to bestow a peerage on Lord Lebedev. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He told party members: “The cozy relationship between Putin’s oligarchs and the conservative political elite has been the dirty secret of the British establishment for far too long.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • I’m not a British security risk, says Russian-born Peer<\/li>\n
  • Johnson denies intervening because of Lebedev’s peerage<\/li>\n
  • Who are the mega-rich Russians facing sanctions?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    Lord Lebedev was knighted in July 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    He has denied posing a “security risk” to the UK and wrote in an article in the Evening Standard newspaper – which he owns – “I am not an agent of Russia.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The son of Russian bank billionaire and former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev, who moved to the UK as a child, has condemned President Putin’s actions in his newspaper, writing: “I urge you to stop the Russians from chasing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters to kill.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    And he has warned that it is “crucial that we do not fall into Russophobia during the war in Ukraine.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    An article in the Sunday Times last week claimed that security services had withdrawn their assessment that honoring Lord Lebedev posed a security risk after interference from the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The newspaper said that in March 2020 the commission that reviews peerage appointments advised the Prime Minister against granting the newspaper owner a seat in the House of Lords due to security concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    But Mr Johnson, who ultimately decides who gets a title of peerage, is said to have responded to the advice by claiming it was “anti-Russia”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The Prime Minister denied the report, saying it would be “obviously exceptional” if he had intervened, “but that is not the case”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    But in another Sunday Times article, the newspaper claimed the head of MI6 had worried about the businessman for a decade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    When asked about the reports on Sunday morning’s BBC program, Leveling Up Secretary Mr Gove said he was “unaware of the concerns that were raised until they appeared in the newspapers”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    He added: “Of course questions will be asked, but nobody has ever told me that there are any specific security concerns they have regarding Lord Lebedev.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The Government Minister also pointed to the fact that Lord Lebedev was a British citizen, adding: “I think it’s important between Evgeny Lebedev’s father, who obviously … worked for the KGB, and Lord Lebedev himself, who is somebody , to distinguish who is at home in this country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “There is a difference between the actions of the parents and the actions of the children.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    But Labor leader Sir Keir has written to the leader of the House of Lords’ Nominating Committee, Lord Bew, asking that the review information be made public and that he “commit to a review of the adequacy of Lord Lebedev’s place in the House of Lords”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, he said: “I think the Prime Minister has serious questions to answer. what did he know And did he override safety instructions?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “Let’s conduct a process to examine what actually happened, what the Prime Minister knew and what he did in response. I think that’s the least we’re entitled to in terms of this appointment.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Michael Gove said no one had raised security issues with him about Lord Lebedev after security services had reportedly had concerns about him for a long time. The Sunday Times claimed the head of MI6 was concerned about the Russian-born businessman and in 2020 concerns were raised about Boris Johnson. But the prime minister has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nNo-one raised security concerns over Lord Lebedev with me, says Michael Gove - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/13\/no-one-raised-security-concerns-over-lord-lebedev-with-me-says-michael-gove\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No-one raised security concerns over Lord Lebedev with me, says Michael Gove\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michael Gove said no one had raised security issues with him about Lord Lebedev after security services had reportedly had concerns about him for a long time. 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