Chuck Darwin<p>MI5 refused to investigate ‘Russian spy’s’ links to Tories, says whistleblower </p><p>MI5 repeatedly refused to investigate evidence that an alleged Russian spy was attempting to cultivate influence with senior Conservative politicians <br>and channel illegal Russian funds into the party, a Tory member has alleged in a new complaint lodged with the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT).</p><p>Sergei Cristo, a Conservative Party activist and a former journalist with the BBC World Service, has lodged a complaint with the investigatory powers tribunal, <br>filing the case after corresponding with the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Conservative MP Julian Lewis, <br>who recommended he take the information to the authorities.</p><p>The committee’s Russia report claimed in 2020 that the security services had turned a blind eye to “credible evidence” of Russian interference <br>and Cristo’s allegations offer potentially explosive new evidence that confirms its findings. </p><p>Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said “allegations that the security services ignored evidence from a Conservative whistleblower exposing Russian infiltration at the highest levels of the party are truly shocking” <br>and claimed the “Conservative party’s Russia problem” was an ongoing threat to Britain’s national security.</p><p>Cristo says that it was reading the Russia report that made him “suddenly aware that maybe the story I had was more significant than I thought” <br>and, at Lewis’s suggestion, he wrote to Cressida Dick, then commissioner of the Met police.</p><p>He received a response from the counter-terrorism command (SO15) who said it was not a matter for the Met and advised him to take it to the IPT <br>– which oversees the security services <br>– which he has now done.</p><p>The allegations centre around the formation of a group called <br>🔸Conservative Friends of Russia 🔸in 2012, and its relationship with a Russian diplomat, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sergey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sergey</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Nalobin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nalobin</span></a>.</p><p>In August of that year, the Russian ambassador, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Alexander" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Alexander</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Yakovenko" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Yakovenko</span></a>, hosted a lavish launch party for the group in the gardens of his residence in Kensington <br>with guests who included the former minister of culture, media and sport, <a href="https://c.im/tags/John" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>John</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Whittingdale" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Whittingdale</span></a>, <br>and Boris Johnson’s now wife, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Carrie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Carrie</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Symonds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Symonds</span></a>. </p><p>The Russian government also funded an all-expenses-paid trip to Moscow <br>for a handpicked group of members including the future CEO of Vote Leave, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Matthew" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Matthew</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Elliott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Elliott</span></a>.</p><p>Cristo says his suspicions about Nalobin, who was the political first secretary at the embassy, had been aroused two years earlier <br>when he was approached by the diplomat and they met at the Carlton Club. </p><p>When Nalobin learned that Cristo was a volunteer with the treasurers’ department of the Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ), he said he could<br> “make introductions to Russian companies who would donate money to the Conservative party”.</p><p>“I knew straight away that what he was suggesting was illegal under UK law,” Cristo wrote in a letter to Lewis last year.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/21/mi5-refused-to-investigate-russian-spys-links-to-tories-says-whistleblower?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/politics/2023/</span><span class="invisible">jan/21/mi5-refused-to-investigate-russian-spys-links-to-tories-says-whistleblower?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>