Former British spy ‘surprised and disappointed’ at Theresa May snub over Russia dossier
A former British spy who wrote a dossier on Donald Trump said he once spent hours with then home secretary Theresa May, briefing her on the Russia threat.
Christopher Steele also revealed he had been asked by a UK official to review sensitive government documents on Russia just days before his dossier, which alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow in the 2016 US election, became public.
It meant he was left feeling “surprised and disappointed”, he said, when Mrs May, as prime minister, then appeared to play down his links to the government.
Christopher Steele claims he met Theresa May at her home
“It was quite galling to have announcements made… to the effect that this was nothing, we were nothing to do with the government, we hadn’t worked with or for the government for years and so on,” the former senior MI6 officer said in an exclusive Sky News interview.
He was referring to remarks by Mrs May in January 2017 after the dosser ignited a political firestorm in the United States, drawing furious denials from then president-elect Trump.
“It is absolutely clear that the individual who produced this dossier has not worked for the UK government for years,” she said at the time.
Yet Mr Steele said staff from Whitehall’s Joint Intelligence Committee had been sitting in his office about 10 days before news of the dossier broke because of the unrelated request for him to review “highly sensitive government papers on Russia”.
He also said that Mrs May would have known who he was because he had met her with his business partner, Christopher Burrows, another former intelligence officer, at the house of a mutual friend back in 2010 when she had just become home secretary.
The friend had suggested, “that we should get together and talk about some of these issues so that she got off to a good start and understood the sort of playbook and MO (modus operandi) of some of these Russian actors,” Mr Steele said.
Theresa May downplayed links to Steele when his controversial dossier emerged
As for what they discussed, Mr Steele said: “There wasn’t really a lot of evidence of electoral meddling as such in 2010. But what we did say is that when you look at Russia, you can’t just take organised crime, oligarchs, government separately. You have to see them as a sort of plasma cloud that is linked in together and they are all operating with each other and for each other. And it’s a diffuse threat.”
In late 2016, before it became public, Mr Steele said he shared his work, investigating possible links between the Kremlin and Mr Trump, with senior British officials out of concern about what his sources were claiming.
He said he thought security officials had handled it correctly but he was not so sure about government ministers, noting how the focus had understandably been on delivering Brexit and adjusting to the unpredictability of an incoming Trump presidency.
“The overall impression I had was that this was a problem they didn’t want to face up to,” he said.
Christopher Steele spoke to Sky’s Deborah Haynes at Farnham Castle
A spokesperson for former prime minister Mrs May did not respond to a request for a comment.
Lord Mark Sedwill, who was her national security adviser, pushed back on Mr Steele’s assertion.
“Just because people outside government can’t necessarily see action, particularly when it relates to matters of intelligence and security, they shouldn’t assume that the action isn’t happening and it isn’t being dealt with seriously,” he said in an interview.
“Now, of course, the British government, as both Theresa May and Boris Johnson have said, has to have a good relationship with the president of the United States, whoever that is.
“But because he didn’t see action at the time that he was hoping to see does not mean it wasn’t taken seriously and any allegation of that kind is, of course, investigated properly and professionally.”
Politics
Rachel Reeves turning around UK’s finances ‘like Steve Jobs did for Apple’, claims minister
Rachel Reeves will turn around the economy the way Steve Jobs turned around Apple, a cabinet minister has suggested ahead of the upcoming spending review.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle compared the chancellor to the late Apple co-founder when asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips where the £86bn for his department is coming from.
Politics Live: Winter fuel payment cut to be dealt with ‘in run up to autumn’
Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs, who died in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Chancellor Rachel Reeves
The package, confirmed ahead of the full spending review next week, will see each region in England granted £500m to spend on science projects of their choice, including research into faster drug treatments.
Asked by Trevor Phillips how the government is finding the money, Mr Kyle said: “Rachel raised money in taxes in the autumn, we are now allocating it per department.
“But the key thing is we are going to be investing record amounts of money into the innovations of the future.
“Just bear in mind that how Apple turned itself around when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, they were 90 days from insolvency. That’s the kind of situation that we had when we came into office.
“Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod.
“Now we are starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future, some of the high-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We’re investing in our space sector… they will create jobs in the future.”
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The spending review is a process used by governments to set departmental budgets for the years ahead.
Asked if it will include more detail on who will receive winter fuel payments, Mr Kyle said that issue will be “dealt with in the run-up to the autumn”.
“This is a spending review that’s going to set the overall spending constraints for government for the next period, the next three years, so you’re sort of talking about two separate issues at the moment,” he said.
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‘So we won’t get an answer on winter fuel this week?
Scrapping universal winter fuel payments was one of the first things Labour did in government – despite it not being in their manifesto – with minsters saying it was necessary because of the financial “blackhole” left behind by the Tories.
But following a long-drawn out backlash, Sir Keir Starmer said last month that the government would extend eligibility, which is now limited to those on pension credit.
Read more: Spending review 2025 look ahead
It is not clear what the new criteria will be, though Ms Reeves has said the changes will come into place before this winter.
Mr Kyle also claimed the spending review will see the government invest “the most we’ve ever spent per pupil in our school system”.
However, he said the chancellor will stick to her self-imposed fiscal rules – which rule out borrowing for day-to-day spending – meaning that while some departments will get extra money, others are likely to face cuts.
Politics
Minister dismisses US misgivings over Chinese ‘super embassy’ in London – as Tories warn of ‘espionage base’
A minister has dismissed reported US misgivings about plans for a Chinese “super embassy” near London’s financial districts.
Peter Kyle told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that security concerns will be “taken care of assiduously in the planning process”.
Politics live: Winter fuel payment cut to be dealt with ‘in run up to autumn’
There have been protests against the new Chinese embassy. Pic: Reuters
According to The Sunday Times, the White House has warned Downing Street against the proposed massive embassy at Royal Mint Court.
The site is between financial hubs in the City of London and Canary Wharf and close to three data centres, raising concerns about espionage risk.
Asked for the government’s view on the risk, Mr Kyle said: “These issues will be taken care of assiduously in the planning process.
“But just to reassure people, we deal with embassies and these sorts of infrastructure issues all the time.
“We are very experienced and we are very aware of these sorts of issues constantly, not just when new buildings are being done, but all the time.”
He added that America and Britain “share intelligence iteratively” and if they raise security concerns through the planning process “we will have a fulsome response for them”.
However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he shared the US’s concerns.
He told Trevor Phillips: “I agree with the United States. We think it is a security risk in the government.
“The Conservatives were very clear. We should not be allowing the Chinese to build the super embassy. It is likely to become a base for their pan-European espionage activities.”
He added that underneath the sites are cables connecting the City of London to Canary Wharf and these could be intercepted.
Sky News has contacted the Chinese embassy for comment.
Read More: Diplomatic win for UK hosting US-China trade talks
China has been attempting to revise plans for the Royal Mint building, opposite the Tower of London, since purchasing it in 2018.
The proposal for the embassy, which would be China’s largest in Europe, was previously rejected by Tower Hamlets council in 2022.
However, Beijing resubmitted it in August after Labour won the election, and the plans were “called in” by Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary.
It means that an inspector will be appointed to carry out an inquiry into the proposal, but the decision ultimately rests with central government rather than the local authority.
Two large protests were held at the site in February and March, which organisers claimed involved thousands of people.
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