• The government must publish documents on how Evgeny Lebedev became a peer despite security concerns.
  • Conservative MPs abstained on Labour's binding motion after originally being told to vote it down.
  • Lebedev, a millionaire, criticised Labour for debating his peerage amidst rising cost of living and war in Ukraine.

The UK government must publish documents about the appointments process of Lord Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian-born newspaper proprietor son of a former KGB agent, after reports said he was made a peer by Boris Johnson overruling security advice advising against the peerage.

Labour's binding motion on the government to publish the documents by April 28 was passed despite criticism of the debate from Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia.

Conservative MPs did not oppose the motion after being whipped to abstain. They were originally instructed to vote the motion down, but in the face of a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs, the party leadership backed down. Tory MPs told Insider's Catherine Neilan of resistance to blocking the motion.

The debate followed reports in the Sunday Times alleging Johnson intervened after officials raised security concerns about Lebedev's peerage. The newspaper reported Johnson met Lebedev two days after he was initially rejected by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, which vets all nominees. The Commission later approved the peerage after the security advice was changed following pressure from Johnson, according to the Sunday Times.

Ahead of the debate, Lebedev said he had "nothing to hide" and that he would welcome the documents being published.

As the debate began in the House of Commons, Lebedev tweeted what he claimed was a text message from Labour leader Keir Starmer concerning his peerage.

Lebedev has not shared any of the conversations he may have had with Johnson over text message or WhatsApp. Other members of the House of Lords received the same message from Starmer upon their ennoblement, The Spectator reported.

Lebedev, who has never contributed to a debate in the House of Lords aside from his maiden speech, then criticised Labour for debating his appointment amidst rising cost of living and war in Ukraine.

SNP MP Brendan O'Hara said Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis had started his speech on the debate using the same "opening gambit" of criticising Labour's use of its opposition day to debate Lebedev's peerage amidst what Ellis had described as "a war in Europe" and "many pressing domestic concerns and issues".

Several of Lebedev's tweets were later read out in the Commons debate, marking some of his most recent contributions to Parliamentary democracy since his maiden speech in May 2021. Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said Lebedev was "tweeting furiously, implying the inappropriateness of this House to even have this debate".

The Deputy Speaker rebuked this claim, saying "that if it was inappropriate for any debate to be occurring in this Chamber, it would not be occurring."

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