Boris Johnson has finally been open about a previous meeting he had with a former Soviet Union spy and his son.
Alexander Lebedev was a Russian spy in London towards the end of the Cold War in 1988.
He entered business and the media after the Soviet Union fell and has been transparent about his past, even writing a memoir about his career.
In April 2018, Mr Johnson announced that he had stayed overnight at a holiday home owned by Alexander’s son Evgeny, owner of The Independent and Evening Standard newspapers.
At the time, he did not clarify what he was doing in Italy and why.
But a photo revealed by The Guardian showed the then-foreign secretary at an Italian airport, looking as if “he had slept in his clothes.”
Passengers quoted by the outlet said Mr Johnson could not walk in a straight line and told them he had had a rough night.
Shortly after, the observer revealed that Mr Johnson had met Alexander during the trip. But this was not confirmed by Mr Johnson, but by a spokesman for Alexander.
The former independent owner’s representative said:[Mr Johnson] goes there [Italy] often stay with his son.
‘He spends a lot of time in Europe and has met just about all of Evgeny’s friends here over the years. So there is nothing special about the meeting.’
Mr Johnson was finally forced to admit the entire episode in House of Commons liaisons yesterday.
Labour’s Meg Hillier asked the Prime Minister directly about the weekend and he replied that he had “definitely met” Alexander.
When he insisted on whether Johnson had reported the party meeting to State Department officials, he said, “I think I mentioned it, yes.”
Mr Johnson’s relationship with the family has been under scrutiny since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee is currently investigating whether Mr Johnson will peerage Evgeny, despite MI5’s concerns at the time.
Canada has sanctioned Alexander for “immediately enabling” the Russian war, but no other Western powers have followed suit.
He has maintained that he is “not an agent of Russia” and is “proud to be a British citizen and consider Britain (his) home”.
In an article he wrote for the Standard, he said his family has a history of championing press freedom in Russia and campaigning against corruption.
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