Labour will tomorrow (Tuesday, 29 March) force
a binding vote in Parliament to release key information
relating to the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of
Lords, after it emerged the Prime Minister may have overruled
security service advice warning against his appointment.
Through a Humble Address, Angela Rayner will call on the
Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster to submit all information
concerning the murky appointment of , the son and business partner
of an ex-KGB agent, in November 2020.
The Cabinet Office plays a central role in the vetting process of
Lords appointments. In Lord Lebedev’s case, Cabinet Office
security officials were responsible for relaying intelligence and
guidance to the House of Lords Appointment Commission, which
formed the basis for their objections to his appointment.
However, reports by the Sunday Times and a written statement by
the then Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister allege that he "cut
a deal" to provide the House of Lords Appointments Commission
with a "sanitised" version of the advice. The BBC has
corroborated these reports through a separate source.
, Labour's Deputy Leader
and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is
expected to say:
“This is an important matter of national security.
"The Prime Minister has allowed his friendship with the son and
business partner of an ex-KGB agent to blind his primary duty to
the British public – to keep them safe. The Prime Minister has
once again put personal interest before the public's, and this
time he's risked national security.
“The British public have a right to know if and how an
individual of apparent concern to our intelligence services was
granted a seat in the heart of our Parliament by , against security advice.
“This Government’s dangerous links to Putin’s oligarchs are
putting Britain at risk.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
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Wording of Humble Address motion
That, given the concerns raised about the appropriateness
of, and process for, appointing as a member of the House
of Lords and the role of the Prime Minister in that process,
an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty that she will
be graciously be pleased to give directions that there be
laid before this House, no later than 28 April,
a) any document held by the Cabinet Office or the Prime
Minister’s Office containing or relating to advice from, or
provided to, the House of Lords Appointments Commission
concerning the appointment of Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev as
a Member of the House of Lords; and
b) the minutes of, submissions relevant to and electronic
communications relating to, any meeting within the Cabinet
Office or the Prime Minister’s Office at which the
appointment of , or advice relating to
that appointment, was discussed
in a form which may contain redactions, but such
redactions shall be solely for the purposes of national
security.
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The Opposition Day debate on the Humble Address will
take place in the second half of Tuesday afternoon
