Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
A peer who has repeatedly echoed Kremlin talking points in the House of Lords has joined a new parliamentary group formed to fight “disinformation in the public discourse”. Last week Lord Balfe was named vice chair of the new Fair Elections APPG, a cross-party group that also seeks to tackle “dark money and undemocratic influence” in UK politics. A Tortoise analysis of Balfe’s statements in the upper chamber shows the Conservative peer has mirrored arguments made by Russian president Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at least a dozen times since Crimea was invaded in 2014.
While describing himself as “bitterly disappointed that [Russia’s] categorical denials of any intention to invade Ukraine have been torn up,” Balfe has also:
- said the war was “undoubtedly illegal, but it was not unprovoked”, and urged colleagues to “maybe understand the context in which it happened”;
- blamed the invasion on Ukrainian “provocation”, for example by attempting to “outlaw” the Russian language in Crimea;
- claimed Ukraine was the “creation” of Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and that locals believe they are Russian; and
- argued against NATO expansion, the use of Storm Shadow missiles and the use of sanctions imposed on Russians.
He has tabled multiple questions on the conflict, including:
- seeking an estimate of British fatalities in the Russia-Ukraine war
- challenging the decision to revoke the broadcast licence for RT, formerly Russia Today
- questioning the UK’s approach to sanctions, and
- urging the government to encourage “peace talks” between Russia and Ukraine.
Last month, Balfe told fellow peers that Andrey Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the UK who has been banned from the parliamentary estate, was a “nice chap”, about whom he had “warm words to say”.
Balfe was complaining about a Sunday Times report revealing that he and fellow peer Lord Skidelsky had attended Kelin’s Russia Day celebrations last June. He argued: “What is one person’s reputational damage is another person’s legitimate political expression of belief.”
He has also frequently given interviews to Russian news outlets such as TASS and Izvestia, telling the former: “President Putin is right, of course. The easiest way to end the ongoing conflict is to stop the proxy war waged by Western powers, especially the United States, by ceasing to arm Ukraine.”
Contacted by Tortoise, Balfe accepted that he, President Putin and Lavrov had said "similar things". He called Ukraine "a mess of a country" and repeated his view of Ambassador Kelin as "a nice chap", adding that Kelin would be "welcome in my kitchen". (The ambassador has been banned from the parliamentary estate since 2022.)
Balfe told Tortoise: "It is true that President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov have said similar things to me. So have Donald Trump and his new pick for National Security Adviser Tulsi Gabbard." He added that Ukraine "a mess of a country" and repeated his view of Ambassador Kelin as "a nice chap", adding that Kelin would be "welcome in my kitchen". (The ambassador has been banned from the parliamentary estate since 2022.)
Balfe added: "On joining the Lords I decided I was not going to use it to make money or indulge in any activity for financial gain but I was going to speak my mind. That I have done and in the case of the Russian Federation thoroughly annoyed everyone."
Kuchma is closely associated with the retreat of democracy and the spread of corruption and censorship in Ukraine in the late 1990s. Yanukovych was a staunch Kremlin ally who was removed from office by the Ukrainian parliament and fled to Russia after the Euromaidan protests of 2014.
No one from the Fair Elections APPG responded to requests for comment.
