Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper tells that it was “irresponsible” and “unthinkable” for then-foreign minister Boris Johnson to attend such a meeting without officials present following the Novichok nerve agent assault in 2018.
Labour has stated that Boris Johnson’s secret meeting with an ex-KGB agent in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning revealed a “reckless contempt for national security.”
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said, Following the chemical attack on British territory, it was deemed “irresponsible” and “unthinkable” that Mr. Johnson, who was then foreign secretary, would attend such a meeting without officials present.
Mr. Johnson told MPs in April 2018 that he “definitely” met the former owner of the Evening Standard, a Russian oligarch named Alexander Lebedev, in Italy when he was alone. The opposition leader demanded a probe on many occasions.
Just one month had passed since the deadly Novichok nerve agent assault in Salisbury, which prompted international criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who denied Kremlin participation.
Ministers first told the House of Commons last week that Mr. Johnson had reported the meeting to officials “as required,” but minutes later issued a clarification stating that the prime minister “believes” he did so.
The incident has fueled opposition demands that the prime minister resigns immediately after resigning as Tory leader and not remain in Downing Street until his successor is elected.
Ms. Cooper said to Mr. Ridge, “I believe the problem is whether you have an individual that disregards national security concerns.” We do not know what transpired at this meeting, nor do we know if the prime minister declared it correctly or informed officials about it afterward.
She continued, “It’s unfathomable that a foreign secretary would meet with an ex-KGB agent, who has subsequently been sanctioned by Canada for close ties to Putin, at a time when there was a chemical assault on UK territory so serious that it prompted a NATO summit on how to respond to Russia.
“Holding this meeting at that time demonstrates a cavalier disdain for threats to national security. We need to know what happened and why he was so careless with our national security at the time.
Dominic Cummings, the former main adviser to Mr. Johnson, has also asserted that the prime minister met Mr. Lebedev in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 controversy, without officials present.
It comes as the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee investigates the appointment to the House of Lords in 2020 of Mr. Lebedev’s son, Evgeny Lebedev, proprietor of the London Evening Standard and stakeholder in The Independent.
The prime minister has denied multiple times that he intervened to ensure Lord Lebedev was awarded a peerage, despite warnings from British intelligence that the action could represent a security risk.
The peer, whose full title is Baron Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia, stated that he has “nothing to hide” and supported the publication guidance associated with his appointment.
