Ian Blackford has called for Boris Johnson’s publishing pal, Lord Egveny Lebedev, to be banned from parliament.
The SNP Westminster leader has written to the parliamentary authorities to revoke Lord Lebedev’s pass and access to the estate.
Johnson is under pressure over the appointment of the Evening Standard newspaper owner, who is the son of a former KGB agent, to the House of Lords despite concerns raised by the security services.
The Prime Minister has denied reports the security services withdrew their assessment that granting Lord Lebedev a peerage posed a potential security risk after he got involved and approved the appointment.
In a letter to the Lord Speaker, Blackford warned that since the House of Lords Appointments Commission has not yet responded to requests to publish the vetting advice it provided Lebedev should be banned,
Blackford said it was clear that Lord Lebedev is “not a fit and proper person to act as a legislator nor a lobbyist in this democracy.”
He added: “There is growing and genuine public concern regarding the appointment, the position and the ongoing security status of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia.”
“It has been extensively reported that the Prime Minister learnt that the security services warned against granting Lord Lebedev a peerage on national security grounds. Despite this advice, it appears Boris Johnson forced through the appointment of his friend.
“It is obvious that whilst these security concerns remain, Lord Lebedev is clearly not a fit and proper person to act as a legislator nor a lobbyist in this democracy. He should not therefore be in a position to maintain privileged access to the parliamentary estate.
“Until such time as full transparency, clarity and certainty is established regarding his national security status, I believe this is the only course that will act to protect our democracy.”
Lebedev, has insisted he is not a security risk and has condemned the invasion of Ukraine and called on Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops.
Lebedev, who joined the House of Lords in November 2020 as a cross bencher, said he was “not a security risk to this country, which I love” and that while his father had been a KGB agent, he was “not some agent of Russia”.
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