Senior Labour MPs ‘asked questions in parliament planted by ex-spy’

Three senior Labour MPs, including a cabinet minister, have been accused of asking planted questions in parliament after being lobbied by a former MI6 officer. Sir Chris Bryant, Liam Byrne and Dame Anneliese Dodds allegedly raised concerns about individuals conducting espionage, having secret ties to Russian spy agencies and having illicit financial dealings. Most commented 1 Forgotten particle may hold key to how universe survived big bang Science 251 comments 2 Lily Allen: ‘I felt I was a vehicle for male pleasure — not my own’ Music 255 comments 3 ‘We got a call yesterday. Birth mum’s had another baby’ Parenting 34 comments 4 Doctor Who and me — Russell T Davies on his life in TV Books 26 comments 5 Budget 2026 predictions: when is it and what could be announced? Economics 235 comments However, several of the allegations were later found to be inaccurate and in some cases, the questions directly benefited paying clients of Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who famously alleged Russian interference in Donald Trump’s winning 2016 campaign. Christopher Steele in 2023 Chris J Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images The claims, some of which date back more than ten years, were first reported by The Telegraph. It said that in 2013, Byrne, a former minister and the current chair of the business select committee, called for a parliamentary debate on the alleged links between the Kremlin and Fraser Perring, a British financier whom he described as a “not infrequent visitor to Moscow”. This comment was based on a briefing from Steele. Top stories 1 16 of the best safaris in Africa Africa Documents suggest that Steele was working with a private intelligence agency, which was acting on behalf of one of Perring’s business rivals. Perring claims never to have been to Moscow. Advertisement Meanwhile, in 2018, Bryant accused Christopher Chandler, whose company backs GB News, and his brother Richard of taking money from “decidedly dodgy sources” and then attempting to conceal this through “money laundering”. Top stories 1 Prepare now for the inheritance tax mess coming for your pension Tax These allegations were also based on a briefing by Steele and were later found to be false. Dodds , a former foreign minister, raised questions in parliament in 2022 about a Tory donor after a briefing by Steele. She claimed a donation was made by a businessman with links to Russia. The Electoral Commission later dismissed the allegations. A spokesman for Dodds said that she had “raised questions in the Commons based on information taken in good faith”. Bryant, Byrne and Steele declined to comment. After spending more than two decades working for the British secret services, Steele now runs Orbis Business Intelligence, a private-investigation firm specialising in Russia. He is also a director at Walsingham Partners, a management consultancy. Advertisement A source close to Steele explained that Orbis Business Intelligence had commercial clients and was contracted by them for their benefit, which was “entirely normal and proper in business”. Trump-Russia dossier: sex, spies and videotape They said that Walsingham Partners was run on a not-for-profit basis and funded by donors who did not gain from its work, or from engagement with parliamentarians or others, adding that all of Walsingham’s donors in recent years had been British citizens.