Russian representatives “should not be welcomed on to the parliamentary estate” after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, British MPs and peers are reminded.
LONDON — British lawmakers have been reminded not to bring Russia’s ambassador to the U.K. or any of the country’s other diplomats onto the parliamentary estate amid reports of a security breach.
Joint messages from House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the House of Lords John McFall, reported by the Guardian, read: “With a number of new members joining the house recently, I would like to take this opportunity to remind colleagues of the ongoing arrangements which have been in place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“As the formally accredited representative of the Russian government, the Russian ambassador should not be welcomed on to the parliamentary estate until further notice.
“This applies to all other Russian diplomats and officials at the Russian embassy accredited to the U.K.”
It comes after the paper reported that Russian diplomats accessed a private area of parliament in a security breach just before Christmas. The group is said to have joined a public tour of the Houses of Parliament, but then broke off to enter part of the House of Lords that was out of bounds. They were found by security and removed.
“We suspect they were just wanting to crow to the Kremlin that they had infiltrated the British parliament. It’s not ideal but they were caught before any damage was done,” the Guardian cited “a parliamentary source” as saying.
