The British Labor opposition has asked the government to investigate the veracity of a report published Sunday by the weekly ‘Daily Mail’ about a possible Russian wiretapping of former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss before coming to office, which allegedly was aware of the then president Boris Johnson.
According to the weekly, the then acting prime minister hushed up the incident to the media with the complicity of his chief of staff, Simon Case, when they were informed of it last summer, while Truss, then foreign minister, was preparing her campaign to lead the Conservative party after Johnson’s resignation.
Again according to the newspaper, alleged Russian spies acting on the orders of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had access to sensitive information, such as certain conversations with Ukrainian officials on the development of the war, as well as private criticisms against Johnson formulated by Truss and her choice for the Finance portfolio, Kwasi Kwarteng, which left the door open to a possible blackmail.
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that the media report, which quoted her own sources without giving further details, «highlights immensely important questions about the country’s national security in the wake of this attack by a hostile state».
Cooper also demands explanations as to «why and how it has now been leaked» before calling on the government of the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to «recognize the gravity of the situation».
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran has also called for an investigation into not only the leak, but the news blackout allegedly ordered by Johnson and his chief of staff, «because if it turns out that this information was withheld to protect the Truss campaign, we are in an unforgivable situation».
A spokesman for the British government has refused to comment on «the security arrangements of officials» in the country and has limited himself to assuring that the Executive «has robust protection systems in place to defend itself against computer threats».
