The Lord Speaker has called for a more “robust” appointment process for peers after the SNP called for Lord Lebedev’s parliamentary pass to be revoked.
In a letter on Tuesday, Lord McFall said “there is a case for examination of the appointments process” to ensure that “new appointees are able to make a worthwhile contribution to the important work of the House”.
His comments comes after The Sunday Times claimed the head of MI6 was worried about Russian-born businessman Lord Lebedev and that the concerns were raised with Boris Johnson in 2020.
The prime minister has denied he intervened to ensure Lord Lebedev was offered a peerage.
Lord McFall wrote in response to a letter from the SNP’s Westminster Leader Ian Blackford that called on the parliamentary authorities to revoke Lord Lebedev’s parliamentary pass and access to the estate after the reports that the prime minister granted him a peerage despite being warned the move could pose a security threat.
In the letter to the Lord Speaker, Mr Blackford said it is clear that Lord Lebedev is “not a fit and proper person to act as a legislator nor a lobbyist in this democracy.”
“There is growing and genuine public concern regarding the appointment, the position and the ongoing security status of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia,” the SNP’s Westminster leader wrote.
“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.”
He continued: “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…
Source : skynews
