The bestowal of titles of nobility has been controversial since pre-modern times, when monarchs favored their favorites to consolidate their political power, but also for their own enrichment.
After the Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George's scandal in 1922, while legislation against 'money for honours' was introduced, hardly any list of traditional honors and orders is published without the appointments being questioned or allegations of corruption would be raised.
More recently, think of Labor Prime Minister Harold Wilson's 'Lavender List', so named for the color of the paper on which Wilson's political secretary listed the candidates proposed for ennobility upon his resignation;
Gina Thomas
Features correspondent based in London.
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Two years ago, when Boris Johnson made Yevgeny Lebedev, son of former KGB officer Alexandr Lebedev, a baron for his services to philanthropy and the media, a murmur went through the country.
This not only raised the question of how the owner of the London Evening Standard and the Independent, who has made a name for himself as a party animal, deserves the honor.
Even then, his appointment as baron fueled growing concerns about the influence Russian oligarchs were building with their billions in Britain.
Security services warning?
Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the issue has come to the fore again.
The Sunday Times wants to know that Boris Johnson ignored warnings from the security services that classified Lebedev as a possible security risk.
Johnson's connection to Lebedev dates back to his time as mayor of London, when support for the Evening Standard came in handy.
Since then he has often been a guest at Lebedev's home, including at his country castle in Umbria.
On the evening of his election victory in December 2019, he accepted an invitation to a celebration organized by Lebedev for his father's sixtieth birthday.
The prime minister, citing unnamed sources, is said to have dismissed the objections as "anti-Russianism" and prompted the security services to tell the body that reviews nominations to the House of Lords that they no longer thought the nod was problematic.
Johnson's former chief strategist Dominic Cummings, who never misses an opportunity to discredit his former boss, confirmed this account.
He was there when Johnson was informed of the reservations and advised not to proceed with the appointment.
Cummings contradicted Deputy Prime Minister Raab, who described the allegations as "blatant nonsense".
In the House of Commons, Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner wanted to know if Raab could guarantee that the Prime Minister had "ever asked anyone" to pressure the security services to reverse their assessment.
She knows that all nobility are a recognition of the nominee for their contribution to society, said Raab.
This also includes people of Russian origin who have made “a brilliant contribution to our nation” and of whom “many are critics of the Putin regime in this country”.
With Lebedev, the question arises as to what his “brilliant contribution” is and what qualifies him to be a member of the second chamber.
In the Chamber, the Baron of Hampton and Siberia has so far made no use of his influence.
Except for his maiden speech, he has not spoken in a debate or taken part in a vote.
In the Evening Standard, Lebedev appealed to Putin to stop the Russians from killing Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
The Baron said he was proud of his British citizenship and denied it posed a security risk.
The Sunday Times reported that Lebedev originally wanted to call himself Baron of Moscow.
The newspaper probably wanted to suggest its proximity to the Kremlin.
On Wednesday, Russian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Moratov defended Lebedev and his father.
The former editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta said that the independent newspaper would not have survived without the support of Alexander Lebedev.
The Lebedevs advocated independent journalism at personal risk.
Instead of focusing on the Lebedevs, target the real criminals and supporters of the Kremlin.