As the British parliament was dissolved last week as the country prepares for the December 12 general election, questions have been raised over a major report examining Russian influence in British politics.
A row has broken out over an apparent delay to its publication, with critics arguing the Conservative government is “sitting on the report” because of fears it could damage its prospects at the polls.
On Sunday, the Times claimed that nine Russian business people who gave money to the Tory Party are named in the report in what is the first major leak from the publication.
It forced government ministers on to the back foot and to blame the “machinery of government” for the delay.
What is the report?
The parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee oversees the work of the agencies – MI5, MI6 and GCHQ – and in the course of its work has access to highly sensitive intelligence material. Most recently, the committee has been examining alleged Russian interference in the UK democratic process. Its reports are submitted to the government before publication to ensure no sensitive information is inadvertently made public.
Dominic Grieve, the chairman of the committee, has said the report was sent to the prime minister for approval on October 17. The former attorney general, who now sits as an independent after losing the Tory whip, has said the process was normally completed within 10 working days and has accused the government of “sitting on the report”. However, the timescale was disputed by government sources who said that it usually took six weeks.
It now looks unlikely to be published before the general election. Parliament, which has to be sitting for the report to be published, broke up in Wednesday to enable a six-week general election campaign. Last week, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “There are processes reports such as this have to go through before publication. The committee is well-informed of these.”
What is the report likely to say?
On Sunday, according to The Times, Russian business people with links to the Conservative Party are named in the report.
According to the paper, oligarchs and wealthy Tory donors are included in the 18-month inquiry.
The paper claims Alexander Temerko, who formerly worked for the Kremlin’s defence ministry, is named after donating more than £1.2m to the party and describing Boris Johnson as a “friend”.
Meanwhile, major Tory donor Lubov Chernukhin, wife of former Vladimir Putin ally Vladimir Chernukhin, is also said to be included in the report.
Chernukin has handed the party over £450,000 in the past 12 months, and famously paid £160,000 during a Conservative fund raising event to play a tennis match with Johnson.
What do critics say?
The Labour Party claimed the delay had come because Johnson feared the revelations risk “derailing their election campaign”.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said: “I fear it is because they realise that this report will lead to other questions about the links between Russia and Brexit and the current leadership of the Tory party, which risks derailing their election campaign. What is Downing Street so worried about?”
Last week, the former head of MI5 Lord Evans of Weardale, who held the position until 2013, argued ministers should explain why they do not want it to be made public.
He said: “If the government have a reason why this should not be published before the election, then I think they should make it very clear what that reason is.”
What does the government say in response?
The government had argued that more time was needed to redact information.
On Sunday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blamed the “machinery of government” for the delay.
Shapps said at the time of an election, the government of the day is “not allowed to publish things which are seen as controversial in any way”.
Shapps admitted he was “not close” to the report, but believes the fact that the report is delayed is “just the usual way that purdah works”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics, when asked why the report had not been published, he said: “Let me just explain how these things work within government at this moment in time as you come up to an election.
“I wanted to publish some very trivial information, which was certainly not of any great, huge public interest, and I was blocked from doing so by the civil service machine because come an election you are not allowed to, into purdah, publish things which are seen as controversial in any way.
“So I suspect it’s just the machinery of government.”