‘Nonsense’ to Suggest PM Pressed Security Services Over Peerage for Russian Tycoon: UK Minister

‘Nonsense’ to Suggest PM Pressed Security Services Over Peerage for Russian Tycoon: UK Minister
Evgeny Lebedev attends the launch of the Centrepoint Awards at the HSBC private bank in London, on Nov. 19, 2015. Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Alexander Zhang
Updated:

It is “sheer nonsense” to suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson pressured the security services to alter their assessment of a Russian businessman’s suitability for a seat in the House of Lords, a senior British minister has said.

British–Russian media mogul Evgeny Lebedev, whose father worked as a KGB agent, was made a lifelong member of the upper house of Parliament in July 2020.