Russian Donations to U.K. Ministers Are Above Board, Lewis Says

(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson’s government defended tens of thousands of pounds in donations to ministers from individuals and companies linked to Russia after a week of revelations about Moscow’s attempts to interfere in British democracy.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Russians who have become British citizens have a right to give cash to the prime minister’s Conservative party, and encouraged more to do so.

“I would encourage all British citizens to support the Conservative Party,” Lewis, whose own office received Russian money, told Sky News on Thursday. “They never asked anything of it, they’ve done it because they want to support a Conservative party in government.”

Lewis was responding to reports in the Times newspaper that 14 ministers, included six cabinet ministers, had received cash linked to Russia. The revelations came after a series of reports of Russian attempts to meddle in U.K. elections, disrupt institutions and hack networks of medical researchers.

A report into Russian interference by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee published Tuesday said Russian donations to political parties had been part of the state’s infiltration of U.K. society and politics, creating a “new normal” of Russian influence.

Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former finance ministers, paid 160,000 pounds ($204,000) to the party in exchange for a game of tennis against Johnson when he was mayor of London.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.