London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

No-one raised security concerns over Lord Lebedev with me, says Michael Gove

No-one raised security concerns over Lord Lebedev with me, says Michael Gove

Michael Gove has said no-one raised security issues with him about Lord Lebedev after reports security services had long-held concerns about him.

The Sunday Times claimed the head of MI6 was worried about the Russian-born businessman, and concerns were raised with Boris Johnson in 2020.

But the PM has denied he intervened to ensure Lord Lebedev's peerage.

Housing Secretary Mr Gove told the BBC the process for appointing peers was "rigorous".

He said he had dinner with Lord Lebedev at Boris Johnson's house before the Brexit referendum, but did not know of any possible security concerns.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM had "serious questions to answer" about the appointment, and has asked the House of Lords Appointment Commission to release the vetting advice they gave to Mr Johnson.

And speaking at his party's spring conference, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a full public inquiry into the PM's decision to give Lord Lebedev a peerage.

He told party members: "The cosy relationship between Putin's oligarchs and the Conservative political elite has been the dirty secret of the British establishment for far too long."

Lord Lebedev was given his peerage in July 2020.

He has denied posing a "security risk" to the UK, writing an article in the Evening Standard newspaper - which he owns - saying: "I am not some agent of Russia."

The son of billionaire Russian banker and former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev, who moved to the UK as a child, has condemned President's Putin's actions in his newspaper, writing: "I plead with you to stop Russians killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters."

And he has warned it is "crucial we do not descend into Russophobia" during the war in Ukraine.

Newspaper claims


An article in the Sunday Times last week claimed security services withdrew their assessment that giving the honour to Lord Lebedev posed a security risk after the PM got involved.

The newspaper said that in March 2020, the commission that vets peerage appointments advised the prime minister against granting the newspaper owner a seat in the House of Lords, due to security concerns.

But Mr Johnson, who ultimately decides who gets a peerage, is said to have responded to the advice by claiming it was "anti-Russianism".

The PM denied the report, saying it would "obviously be extraordinary" if he had intervened, "but that's not the case".

But in another Sunday Times article, the newspaper claimed the head of MI6 had held concerns about the businessman for as long as a decade.

Boris Johnson - pictured here with Lord Lebedev in 2009 - denied he intervened over security concerns with the peer


Asked on the BBC's Sunday Morning programme about the reports, Levelling Up Secretary Mr Gove said he was "not aware of any of the concerns that had been expressed until they appeared in the newspapers".

He added: "Of course there are questions that are going to be asked, but no one has ever said to me that there are any specific security concerns that they have about Lord Lebedev."

The government minister also pointed to the fact Lord Lebedev was a British citizen, adding: "I think it is important to draw a distinction between Evgeny Lebedev's father, who obviously... worked for the KGB, and Lord Lebedev himself, who is someone who has made his home in this country.

"There is a distinction to be drawn between the actions of parents and the actions of children."

But Labour leader Sir Keir has written to the chair of House of Lords Appointment Commission, Lord Bew, asking for vetting information to be made public, and for him to "commit to a review of the propriety of Lord Lebedev's place in the House of Lords".

Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge, he said: "I think the prime minister has got serious questions to answer. What did he know? And did he override security advice?

"Let's have a process to look into what actually happened, what did the prime minister know and what did he do in response to that. I think that is the least we are entitled to in relation to this appointment."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×