The chair of the commission that advised on the appointment of the Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords has been summoned to give evidence to MPs when parliament returns next week.
Paul Bew, an Irish historian, will appear before parliament’s public administration committee on Wednesday to answer what its chair described as “very serious questions” about Downing’s Street’s role in the appointment.
“We will be holding an evidence session on the role of the House of Lords appointments commission with Lord Bew,” the committee’s Conservative chair, William Wragg, said in a letter to the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner. He said members would raise some of the issues regarding Lebedev’s elevation in the session.
Controversy has surrounded Lebedev’s peerage after it emerged that the commission expressed concerns about his elevation to the Lords and asked Downing Street to reconsider in March 2020, after advice from Britain’s spy agencies. The appointment went through only after it was resubmitted amid pressure from Downing Street. » | Dan Sabbagh | Wednesday, April 13, 2022
