The new Conservative Party chairman has stated he believes a Russian spy tried to recruit him over a pint of beer in a London pub.
The cupboard minister stated he met the person who he now believes was a undercover agent on the Seven Stars pub in Fulham, whereas he had been searching for election as Tory MP.
Mr Hands, who was elected MP for Chelsea and Fulham in 2010, claimed the person first launched himself as a Russian Embassy employee throughout a Conservative occasion.
He stated the person requested for a gathering shortly afterwards and, on the pub, probed Mr Hands for details about Iran’s nuclear programme.
Speaking with Channel 4 for a Dispatches documentary, Mr Hands stated: “First he’d stated he needed to speak about street-sweeping cleansing or bin assortment.
“Then suddenly he asked me to get him a document about the Iranian nuclear programme from the House of Commons Library.”
Mr Hands stated he declined to assist, including: “I was very suspicious.
“I assumed he was a Russian intelligence officer getting a soon-to-be British member of parliament to do one thing for the Russian state.”
Mr Hands said he believed it was an “espionage approach”, adding: “You get someone to steal one thing, or get you, a doc that’s simple to get… the thought is to check someone’s willingness to do one thing for you. That’s basically what the approach is.”
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Mr Hands stated two years later, MI5 officers informed him that his quantity had appeared on the telephone of a Russian intelligence operative.
He stated the officers informed him there was a “real problem” with individuals who had been “very, very active” in making an attempt to infiltrate British politics.
Mr Hands was appointed Tory Party chairman earlier this week in Rishi Sunak’s cupboard reshuffle.
Channel 4 has stated the Russian Embassy declined to touch upon the allegations made of their movie.
Strippers, Spies And Russian Money: Dispatches investigates how Russia sought to affect British politics within the years earlier than the invasion of Ukraine. It airs on Sunday at 10pm.
Source: information.sky.com”