The prime minister is coming under the spotlight quite a bit this weekend. The suppression of the report into Russian interference which he has personally blocked is starting to take centre stage. The Mail on Sunday reports allegations that Johnson was 'compromised' by a Russian businessman in 2018. I suspect this is Evgeny Lebedev who has a castle near Perugia in Italy which Johnson visited in July last year while he was Foreign Secretary and which was reported in The Guardian at the time.
It follows several recent reports by CNN, which seems to be taking a very active role, that the Intelligence and Security Committee was warned "Moscow built up a network of friendly British diplomats, lawyers, parliamentarians and other influencers from across the political spectrum. One witness described the development as 'potentially the most significant threat to the UK's institutions and its ways of life,' according to testimony seen by CNN".
This is not calculated to play well during an election campaign, particularly not when the man at the centre of the allegations is the one blocking release of the official report.
It comes as we are also told Johnson's pledge to hold an inquiry into alleged Islamophobia in the Conservative party is being watered down to a general inquiry covering prejudice of all kind. There's nothing quite like spreading the blame as thinly as possible is there? This comes on top of an announcement concerning the Jennifer Arcuri affair. The independent police watchdog has delayed a decision on whether the PM should face an investigation into possible criminal misconduct until after the election.
The Byline Times piled in with a wide ranging story on the same topic but including stuff from the DCMS Committee published in February this year and highlighting numerous connections between figures and organisations in the leave campaigns (Matthew Elliot, Dominic Cummings, Nigel Farage, UKIP, etc). They particularly note the involvement of Sergei Nalobin, first secretary in the Russian embassy’s political section, who was:-
"reaching out to rebuild ties with the Conservative Party. According to the Observer, he was keen to get involved in fundraising for the Conservative Party and wanted to know of the rivalry between David Cameron and Boris Johnson."
The prime minister is already seen by many as untrustworthy, mendacious, and dishonest without a moral compass and not a shred of integrity. If the accusations had been made against (say) John Major or Tony Blair they would have been seen as totally ridiculous and unbelievable. But against Johnson? They all look like pieces of a puzzle fitting snugly together.
He is a sociopath, with not the slightest interest in anybody's well being apart from his own, a moral bankrupt and serial philanderer. The Russians could not have chosen a better target if they wanted to gather 'kompromat' on someone well placed in political circles. Johnson was the ideal man and had a good chance of becoming prime minister - especially if given financial help from the Russian state via semi-legitimate businessmen like Lebedev and Alexander Temerko. Mr Temerko has given over a £1 million to the Tory party including nearly £34K to our MP Nigel Adams, a close chum of Boris Johnson.
It is all reminiscent of Trump's unlikely rise to power, another man congenitally unsuited to good governance and who seems to be giving Russia a free run in the middle east at the moment. One has to ask what's in it for him?
Calls to make the ISC report on Russia public will continue to grow and it is a topic that is likely to be brought up again and again as the campaign hots up.
Fingers crossed.
