Twickenham MP, Munira Wilson, has questioned Boris Johnson's decision to push for Evgeny Lebedev to be appointed to the House of Lords.

Lord Lebedev, who has a mansion in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, was appointed by the prime minister who, allegedly, went against 'serious reservations' from the security services.

The peer's official title is Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation.

Boris Johnson's handling of the decision to appoint Lord Lebedev – the son of a KGB agent – was raised by the Labour party today in an Opposition debate.

The debate was opened by Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who demanded that a report from the Security services on Lord Lebedev's appointment should be published.

During questions, the Twickenham MP asked whether Mr Johnson should have spent his time pushing for the peerage for his friend when the country had other priorities, mainly dealing with the pandemic.

She said: "According to some of the allegations in the Sunday Times reports, the prime minister went to visit the, now Lord, Lebedev about the advice he had been given by the security services and give him his assurance he wanted to give him this peerage."

She added: "At the time coronavirus was raging, businesses were being asked to close and schools were about to be asked to shut down – yet this was a priority for the prime minister when the rest of us were having to put our entire lives on hold."

The MP asked: "Does she think that is appropriate for the prime minister in the middle of a national and global crisis?"

Labour's deputy leader agreed that it was not a good use of the prime minister's time and suggested it was further evidence of a need to question Boris Johnson's attitude to the coronavirus lockdown and associated rules.

While the debate was being held, Lord Lebedev, issued several tweets insisting he has nothing to hide. And he even backed the calls for publication of the security advice.

The independent crossbench peer has previously acknowledged his father, oligarch Alexander Lebedev, was 'a long time ago' a KGB officer but denied being 'a security risk to this country'.

Lord Lebedev wrote on Twitter: "Openness and transparency are pillars of our democratic system, so I welcome the call for security advice about me provided to Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) to be released.

"I have nothing to hide."

In separate tweets, Lord Lebedev, pointed out that the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, had congratulated him when his appointment was first announced.

He questioned the validity of the debate, adding: "There's a war in Europe. Britain is facing the highest cost of living since the 1950s. And you choose to debate me based on no facts and pure innuendo. What's become of you @UKLabour £shadowofyourformerself."