A top Tory has defended handing a peerage to Russian-born businessman - as he has never voted in the Lords.
Boris Johnson made Evgeny Lebedev, the media mogul and son of billionaire ex-KGB agent Alexander, Lord Lebedev of Siberia at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
But the decision has come under fresh scrutiny after claims that intelligence officials had raised concerns about the appointment leading the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) to advise against it.
A source told the Sunday Times that the Prime Minister personally intervened - meeting Lebedev in person while he was dithering over a lockdown - and that “particular quite damning bit of advice” was later withdrawn.
But Mr Johnson denied overriding security concerns in this case, branding the claim "simply incorrect".
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said it was irrelevant that Lord Lebedev's dad was a former KGB agent and sought to compare the situation to his own father being a former chartered surveyor.
And Mr Cleverly defended the appointment of the businessman - who never voted in the Lords and only spoken once - as there are "lots of members of the House of Lords who are not active members".
"He is here as a British dual national, he is a businessman, he has been an effective businessman," Mr Cleverly told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Asked why the son of a former KGB agent had been granted a seat in Parliament, Mr Cleverly said: "My father was a former chartered surveyor, but I'm not. So what your father did for work is, I'm not completely sure totally relevant."
Pressed on claims Boris Johnson personally intervened in the process despite reservations from the security agencies, Mr Cleverly said: "There is always due diligence done on people that are recommended for the House of Lords, there are people from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds in the House of Lords, it is what makes this country cosmopolitan, effective.
"I think we need to be a little bit careful, suggesting or implying that everyone of Russian origin is somehow inappropriate to step into public life."
Lord Lebedev has spoken only once and never voted in Parliament, but Mr Cleverly said: "There are lots of members of the House of Lords who are not active members of the House of Lords.
"It rather flies in the face of this accusation that somehow he is distorting British politics if he is not voting on British laws."
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the PM needed to inform the powerful Intelligence and Security Committee of what his role had been in the appointment.
In a letter to Mr Johnson on Sunday, she said: "As you will agree, it is the first duty of the Prime Minister to protect national security.
"Given that Mr Lebedev is still a member of the House of Lords, it is in all our interests to ensure that these allegations can be thoroughly investigated."
The PM is said to have insisted that Lebedev’s peerage “go through” and complained: “This is anti-Russian-ism."
The source said: “Initial advice was that they considered that there could be a threat to national security.”
But following the PM’s intervention, the source claimed: “What the intelligence would say was, that with the extra information it got, they felt it wasn't as big a threat as they had initially thought.”
Boris Johnson denied the claims when speaking to reporters at an RAF base on Monday.
"That is simply incorrect," he said. Mr Johnson said it would "obviously be extraordinary" if the security services had deemed Lord Lebedev to be a risk and the Prime Minister had intervened "but that's not the case".
But he sidestepped a question about whether he met Lord Lebedev in March 2020. Official records show Mr Johnson personally met Lebedev’s firm Lebedev Holdings on 19 March 2020, only days before he announced the first Covid lockdown.
According to the Sunday Times, Mr Johnson met the tycoon personally at his home - and it was two days after the initial rejection of the businessman’s gong.
Mr Johnson has attended parties hosted by Lord Lebedev over the years, including when he was London Mayor.
Last year Mr Johnson overruled HOLAC to put billionaire City tycoon Peter Cruddas in the Lords. Lord Cruddas gave the Tories £500,000 days later.
Lord Lebedev, who has dual British citizenship, pleaded personally to Vladimir Putin to stop the war last week through the Evening Standard newspaper, which he owns.
He wrote: “As Europe stands on the brink of another world war, and the world on the brink of a possible nuclear disaster, I plead with you to use today’s negotiations to bring this terrible conflict in Ukraine to an end.
"As a Russian citizen I plead with you to stop Russians killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters. As a British citizen I ask you to save Europe from war."
Asked why the PM intervened in the Lebedev case, a spokesman for the PM said: “All peerages are vetted by the House of Lords appointment commissioned and as you know HOLAC seeks advice from Government departments and agencies where appropriate.
“You have heard the Deputy PM [ Dominic Raab ] set out yesterday that this was done entirely properly and correctly and we have procedures and systems in place to ensure that it is.”
Asked about Lord Lebedev’s record in the Lords, he said: “You’ll be aware that unlike MPs, peers are not full time and salaried legislators and only a proportion of them attend on a daily basis.
“Many have roles in wider society outside Parliament.”
It is understood HOLAC does seek advice from government departments and agencies where appropriate.
A spokesperson for Lord Lebedev’s office declined to comment.
