WESTMINSTER (Labour Buzz) - Boris Johnson found himself amidst a cronyism row on Friday as it emerged he’d appointed a host of friends and allies to the House of Lords. Among them was his brother, Theresa May’s husband and a collection of Brexit backers. However, it was his inclusion of the Russian Oligarch Mogul Yevgeny Lebedev which should really have heads banging into desks with frustration.
Lebedev, recently popped up in the recent and much delayed investigation into Russian influence. The report, which Johnson did his best to keep away from the public, cite a network of defacto Russian agents within British politics and the number of British politicians taking money from Russian Oligarchs.
Among them is Boris Johnson whose relationship with Ledvedev is so close that the first party he attended after his election victory at the weekend was at the Russian Mogul’s house.
Ledvedev should flash up all sorts of warning signs. He’s a media baron who owns the Independent and Evening Standard Newspapers; the sale of a 30% stake in the newspapers was investigated in 2019 by Theresa May’s Government. His father, Alexander, used to be in the KGB and it was his party which Johnson attended after the election.
Following on quickly from the US decision to withdraw troops from Germany it’s hard to escape the conclusion that, somewhere in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin is running bets about what he can get them to do next.
That Johnson would answer criticism about his ties to Russian Oligarchs by elevating him to the House of Lords speaks volumes about his contempt for democracy in the UK. That he’ll be able to get away with it, with little more than a token murmur of dissent from the press, speaks volumes about how complicit the press has become.
It’s not the fact that a sitting Prime Minister is taking favours and money from Russia that should worry us. It’s that he doesn’t feel the need to hide it.
(Written by Tom Cropper, Edited by Klaudia Fior)