Labour has been indulging in a ritual bout of moralising over the Tories’ Russian connections. Having first tried to exploit the issue of wealthy British Russians donating to the party, now the opposition has turned its guns on a new target instead. Step forward ‘friend of the stars’ Evgeny Lebedev, the bearded proprietor of the Evening Standard and Independent. Rich, well-connected, the son of a former KGB agent, Lebedev was an obvious target for those probing Kremlin connections in the UK.
In their eagerness to get the government on the back foot, Labour has today tabled a Humble Address motion on Lebedev. If successful, it will force the government to publish information on the decision to give Lebedev a seat in the House of Lords in 2020. Advice issued by the Prime Minister’s private office to the House of Lords Appointment Commission (HOLAC) is normally kept confidential, but Labour is seeking to force it into the open in Parliament.
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