Since Blair left, Labour have always had a blind spot for national security:
Member of a terrorist organisation given access to the Parliamentary estate weeks before being arrested by counter terrorism police. Surely they vet these invitees and that goes through police and security services intelligence?
Absolute amateur hour over the last few months It really is...
Labour MP hosted man charged with being part of banned PKK group in parliament
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, has been a proscribed organisation since 2001 for its advocation of Kurdish self-rule through both political and armed struggle.news.sky.com
www.lemonde.fr
Love a good spot of whataboutery. I agree Johnson had a bit of a blind spot there, although there is a huge difference in dealing with someone that is not on any US, EU, UN or UK proscribed list (nor is his father incidentally) and dealing with someone that is suspected of being a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation (and was arrested on that basis a few weeks later).The dubious relationship between Boris Johnson and the Lord of Siberia
The former British prime minister appointed Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a former KGB officer turned oligarch, to the House of Lords, against the advice of the intelligence services, who were convinced of links between the Lebedev family and the Kremlin.
So he ignored the advice of the nation’s security experts, but had his “eyes open” as he met without aides present. He can’t seem to recall if he discussed government business and has obfuscated his way through attempts to get to the bottom of what actually happened - but it’s all fine because he knew what he was doing?
So he ignored the advice of the nation’s security experts, but had his “eyes open” as he met without aides present. He can’t seem to recall if he discussed government business and has obfuscated his way through attempts to get to the bottom of what actually happened - but it’s all fine because he knew what he was doing.
It's pretty WTF, I'd say. The photos of him at the airport the next day looking particularly hungover (even for him) suggest he may well not have been in full control of his faculties throughout the evening detailed below - although, to be fair, he rarely was while holding any government office.
Boris Johnson fails to provide further details of meeting with ex-KGB agent Alexander Lebedev
The prime minister said "as far as I'm aware" he did not discuss government business with Alexander Lebedev while at a party at the Russian's son's house in Italy, but he could not say for certain.
Some cultures are just better than others.
I doubt the security services actually had a very strong view on Lebedev. The yanks didn't sanction Lebedev junior or senior and neither did the EU or UK. That suggests that whatever the background of snr, nobody that we should care about from an intelligence perspective actually thinks he is close to Putin or his inner circle. However I've no doubt security services advised on balance it would be wiser not to grant him a peerage. I doubt they advised against socialising or interacting with him. He was a British citizen after all and owner of a variety of prominent news outfits. The current government will have to have some form of relationship with Lebedev.So he ignored the advice of the nation’s security experts, but had his “eyes open” as he met without aides present. He can’t seem to recall if he discussed government business and has obfuscated his way through attempts to get to the bottom of what actually happened - but it’s all fine because he knew what he was doing?
It's pretty WTF, I'd say. The photos of him at the airport the next day looking particularly hungover (even for him) suggest he may well not have been in full control of his faculties throughout the evening detailed below - although, to be fair, he rarely was while holding any government office.
Boris Johnson fails to provide further details of meeting with ex-KGB agent Alexander Lebedev
The prime minister said "as far as I'm aware" he did not discuss government business with Alexander Lebedev while at a party at the Russian's son's house in Italy, but he could not say for certain.