In the midst of a manhunt for friends of Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is overtaken by his ties to Yevgeny Lebedev. The two men have been friends since Boris Johnson became Mayor of London in 2008. Evgeny Lebedev is the “son” of Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent who became a billionaire thanks to his closeness to the Kremlin. In 2020, the head of state appoints his friend to the House of Lords.
Today, that appointment is returning in Boris Johnson because the reputation of the Russian journalistic tycoon, who owns two newspapers in the United Kingdom, The Independent and The Evening Standard, is troubling to say the least.
However, two years ago, the famous MI6, the British foreign intelligence service, nevertheless issued a note warning the Prime Minister against this appointment. The Sunday Times reports. But then Boris Johnson dismissed this objection and nevertheless appointed Lebedev to the House of Lords. This title in the upper house of the British Parliament in 2020 – awarded for life – allowed Yevgeny Lebedev to settle a little more in the heart of good British society, when he was already regularly appearing next to elected officials and movie stars.
War in Ukraine: Boris Johnson’s unwieldy friendship with the son of a Russian billionaire. History of Richard Place
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Today, Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition in the United Kingdom, is dealing with this issue. “The more the media digs, the more it seems that the special services’ reservations were serious, and the more the choice of the prime minister should be questioned,” he argues, “well, this appointment took place … This is a matter of national security.” “Let’s set up a process to understand what happened: what did Boris Johnson know? What did he do in response to this information?” the politician accuses.
Were all precautions taken before his son’s appointment to the House of Lords? “Mr Lebedev… Lord Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, is a British citizen,” responded Minister Michael Gove, a heavyweight in the government, claiming that “Lord Lebedev denounced Mr Putin’s decisions on the front page of his newspaper. … You have to make a distinction between what parents do and what children do.”
In this column, published March 11 in his free daily newspaper, Yevgeny Lebedev wrote the following: “I do not risk the security of this country that I love,” elaborating that “it was important not to fall into Russophobia.” “.