Sensitive Christian Grey
The Fisher King
The frog fukking up Britain again 
Brexit Is Teaching Britain A Lesson In Humility; Boris Johnson finalizes EU Exit Deal!
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Fast Money & Foreign Objects
BBC News
Labour promises free broadband for all by part-nationalising BT and taxing tech firms, if it wins the UK election.
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Labour pledges free broadband for all
Labour promises free broadband for all by part-nationalising BT and taxing tech firms, if it wins the UK election.
About this website
BBC.COM
Labour pledges free broadband for all
Jhoon
Spontaneous Mishaps and Hijinks
I’m sure there’s a candidate over here that wants Verizon to have a tithe paid to them.BBC News
Labour promises free broadband for all by part-nationalising BT and taxing tech firms, if it wins the UK election.
About this website
BBC.COM
Labour pledges free broadband for all
something like 55-60% of young voters turned out in 2017. If Labour can get that out it’s a big deal
Revealed: ex-KGB agent met Boris Johnson at Italian party
Revealed: ex-KGB agent met Boris Johnson at Italian party
Russian billionaire says there was ‘nothing unusual’ in meeting the then foreign secretary
Mark TownsendSun 17 Nov 2019 02.53 EST
Boris Johnson and his sister Rachel with Evgeny Lebedev at an Evening Standard event in 2012. Photograph: David M Benett/Getty Images
Boris Johnson met an ex-KGB agent during a highly controversial trip to attend a party two days after attending a high-level Nato summit that focused on Russia, the Observer can reveal.
The prime minister, who was foreign secretary at the time, met Russian billionaire businessman Alexander Lebedev, whose family owns Britain’s Independent and Evening Standard newspapers, following a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels staged in the wake of the poisoning of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal.
The two met in Italy in April 2018, a month after the attack using the novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, when Johnson, in what appears to be a highly unusual break with protocol, apparently left behind his personal security detail and flew to a lavish party at a palazzo near Perugia hosted by Lebedev’s son Evgeny.
While the meeting with Evgeny Lebedev was confirmed to the Guardian in September, Alexander Lebedev denied meeting Johnson.
However a spokesman has gone on to acknowledge that the meeting between Johnson and Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB officer, did take place, though he insisted there was nothing was out of the ordinary.
“He goes there [Italy] often to stay with his son. He is in Europe a lot and has met pretty much all Evgeny’s friends here over the years. So there is nothing particularly unusual about the meeting,” said the spokesman for Alexander Lebedev.
It is not known what was discussed or how long the meeting between Moscow-based Alexander Lebedev and Johnson lasted. When asked to comment, Downing Street declined.
The 59-year-old Russian is a high-profile media mogul who has argued that western sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine have been ridiculous and ineffective, and whose stint in the KGB is well documented.
The development arrives amid ongoing disquiet over why Downing Street last month elected to suppress a secret intelligence report on the threats posed to UK democracy by illicit Russian activities in Britain.
Johnson had been expected to approve publication of the 50-page dossier, compiled by the cross-party intelligence and security committee, before parliament was dissolved on 5 November. Senior Whitehall sources close to the committee have told the Observer that the reason the dossier was shelved may have been Johnson’s relationship to Donald Trump and what the report says about the US president’s relationship to Russia.
A source also described Downing Street’s decision to block the report as “startling” and said that every reason that No 10 had subsequently put forward to explain the decision was “absolutely bogus”.
The source added: “It was a real shock. We hadn’t anticipated these sensitivities. It was a very carefully produced, non-partisan report. Nobody expected Downing Street to react in this way. There is something in this report that has caused alarm but I honestly don’t know what it is.”
On Friday Johnson insisted there was “no evidence” of Russian interference in the UK democratic process as pressure mounted for him to publish the report on the subject ahead of the general election.
Yesterday, shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, joined the calls for the findings to be made public. She said: “He should simply publish the report in full. If not, the British public will be left to draw their own conclusions.”
A spokesman for the Evening Standard and Independent who is also a spokesman for the Lebedevs told the Observer that Alexander Lebedev was an “outspoken critic of Putin”, that there was no suggestion he had “any relationship at all with the Kremlin”, and that “when the Lebedevs bought the papers, of course they would have been thoroughly vetted at that time”.
According to his Instagram account, Alexander Lebedev had been in Russian-occupied Crimea – he has been a vocal proponent of Russia’s occupation of the peninsula – a few days before travelling to Italy where he met Johnson.
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Revealed: ex-KGB agent met Boris Johnson at Italian party
Russian billionaire says there was ‘nothing unusual’ in meeting the then foreign secretary
Mark TownsendSun 17 Nov 2019 02.53 EST
Boris Johnson and his sister Rachel with Evgeny Lebedev at an Evening Standard event in 2012. Photograph: David M Benett/Getty Images
Boris Johnson met an ex-KGB agent during a highly controversial trip to attend a party two days after attending a high-level Nato summit that focused on Russia, the Observer can reveal.
The prime minister, who was foreign secretary at the time, met Russian billionaire businessman Alexander Lebedev, whose family owns Britain’s Independent and Evening Standard newspapers, following a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels staged in the wake of the poisoning of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal.
The two met in Italy in April 2018, a month after the attack using the novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, when Johnson, in what appears to be a highly unusual break with protocol, apparently left behind his personal security detail and flew to a lavish party at a palazzo near Perugia hosted by Lebedev’s son Evgeny.
While the meeting with Evgeny Lebedev was confirmed to the Guardian in September, Alexander Lebedev denied meeting Johnson.
However a spokesman has gone on to acknowledge that the meeting between Johnson and Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB officer, did take place, though he insisted there was nothing was out of the ordinary.
“He goes there [Italy] often to stay with his son. He is in Europe a lot and has met pretty much all Evgeny’s friends here over the years. So there is nothing particularly unusual about the meeting,” said the spokesman for Alexander Lebedev.
It is not known what was discussed or how long the meeting between Moscow-based Alexander Lebedev and Johnson lasted. When asked to comment, Downing Street declined.
The 59-year-old Russian is a high-profile media mogul who has argued that western sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine have been ridiculous and ineffective, and whose stint in the KGB is well documented.
The development arrives amid ongoing disquiet over why Downing Street last month elected to suppress a secret intelligence report on the threats posed to UK democracy by illicit Russian activities in Britain.
Johnson had been expected to approve publication of the 50-page dossier, compiled by the cross-party intelligence and security committee, before parliament was dissolved on 5 November. Senior Whitehall sources close to the committee have told the Observer that the reason the dossier was shelved may have been Johnson’s relationship to Donald Trump and what the report says about the US president’s relationship to Russia.
A source also described Downing Street’s decision to block the report as “startling” and said that every reason that No 10 had subsequently put forward to explain the decision was “absolutely bogus”.
The source added: “It was a real shock. We hadn’t anticipated these sensitivities. It was a very carefully produced, non-partisan report. Nobody expected Downing Street to react in this way. There is something in this report that has caused alarm but I honestly don’t know what it is.”
On Friday Johnson insisted there was “no evidence” of Russian interference in the UK democratic process as pressure mounted for him to publish the report on the subject ahead of the general election.
Yesterday, shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, joined the calls for the findings to be made public. She said: “He should simply publish the report in full. If not, the British public will be left to draw their own conclusions.”
A spokesman for the Evening Standard and Independent who is also a spokesman for the Lebedevs told the Observer that Alexander Lebedev was an “outspoken critic of Putin”, that there was no suggestion he had “any relationship at all with the Kremlin”, and that “when the Lebedevs bought the papers, of course they would have been thoroughly vetted at that time”.
According to his Instagram account, Alexander Lebedev had been in Russian-occupied Crimea – he has been a vocal proponent of Russia’s occupation of the peninsula – a few days before travelling to Italy where he met Johnson.
Since you're here...
… we have a small favour to ask. More people, like you, are reading and supporting the Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism than ever before. And unlike many news organisations, we made the choice to keep our reporting open for all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay.
The Guardian will engage with the most critical issues of our time – from the escalating climate catastrophe to widespread inequality to the influence of big tech on our lives. At a time when factual information is a necessity, we believe that each of us, around the world, deserves access to accurate reporting with integrity at its heart.
Our editorial independence means we set our own agenda and voice our own opinions. Guardian journalism is free from commercial and political bias and not influenced by billionaire owners or shareholders. This means we can give a voice to those less heard, explore where others turn away, and rigorously challenge those in power.
We hope you will consider supporting us today. We need your support to keep delivering quality journalism that’s open and independent. Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable. Support The Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
