Labour has called for Evgeny Lebedev to publish messages between himself and Boris Johnson after the peer shared a text from Sir Keir Starmer congratulating him on his peerage.
Lord Lebedev, the son of a Russian oligarch and owner of the Evening Standard and Independent, hit back after Labour pushed for the publication of security advice linked to his appointment.
He insisted he has “nothing to hide” as Labour used opposition time to try to force the publication of documents about Boris Johnson’s involvement in his peerage, amid accusations he overruled security advice to do so.
The peer said he supported the publication of advice, adding “in the spirit of transparency” that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had messaged him to congratulate him on his appointment.
Sources close to Sir Keir told i the message was one of several similar texts the Labour leader sent to people who had recently been appointed to the Lords, and dismissed any suggestion of a close relationship between the two.
They also said it was usual for opposition leaders to reach out to newspaper proprietors and argued there was no comparison between this and claims the PM dismissed security concerns to appoint the Russian-born peer.
“It was Boris Johnson who secretly overruled the security services to give Lord Lebedev a seat in our parliament. None of this was publicly known at the time,” they said.
Opposition MPs are calling on the Cabinet Office to put all relevant information provided to the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) before the Commons.
Lord Lebedev, who has denied being “a security risk to this country”, wrote on Twitter: “Openness and transparency are pillars of our democratic system, so I welcome the call for security advice about me provided to Holac to be released. I have nothing to hide.”
In separate tweets, Lord Lebedev added: “And in the spirit of transparency here is a text to me from Keir-Starmer: ‘Congratulations on your elevation to the House of Lords. All best wishes, Keir.’”
He went on: “There’s a war in Europe. Britain is facing the highest cost of living since the 1950s. And you choose to debate me based on no facts and pure innuendo. What’s become of you UKLabour.”
Labour’s press office replied: “Now let’s see the PM’s messages?”
