Russia spied on UK politicians for decades, dubbed Boris Johnson unprincipled & Farage as ‘gamble’, secret dossier shows

Russia spied on British politicians for decades and profiled them in a bid to cultivate them as assets or use them politically. The Russian campaign targeted politicians across the political spectrum and zeroed in on some of them well before they entered politics, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

These findings have been revealed in The Telegraph's report on 'Project Fish', a secret dossier prepared by former MI6 Russia desk chief Christopher Steele.

The dossier says Russia began spying on Johnson during his university days. It also says Russia spied on Nigel Farage, the leader of the far-right Reform UK party, who is widely seen as a potential future prime minister; Dominic Cummings, a leading Brexit campaigner and a senior aide to Johnson in Downing Street; and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has publicly echoed Russian talking points for years.

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The spying campaign was led by the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service.

To be sure, the dossier does not say the SVR turned Johnson or others into assets or informants. Instead, it shows that Russia tracked them for decades and built detailed profiles on them. For example, Johnson's file described him as an “eccentric, odd man, full of wit, charm and brilliance”, but said he was unprincipled and lacked any ideological commitment. Similarly, the dossier says Russian officials cheered when Corbyn was elected.

While the dossier does not say Corbyn is a Russian asset, the former Labour leader remains a fixture on Russian state media and has promoted Kremlin talking points on issues ranging from European affairs to West Asia.

Boris Johnson showed 'startling flashes of instability': SVR

Even as a student at Oxford University, the SVR concluded that Johnson “was highly active in his educational and social activities and showed signs of a political career that might be useful to us”.

But the Russian spies were careful to note that Johnson was “likeable but not trustworthy”. Later, they concluded that his “unusually optimistic, feel-good behaviour is often allied with no principles” and that his “irresponsible attitude” meant he had “no major unbreakable affiliations to any one idea or ideology”.

Johnson's file also said he was “attentive to logical argument and facts” but “could be easily manipulated”.

According to the dossier, Russian officials described Farage, who has also echoed Kremlin talking points over the years, as a “gamble” that might not pay off. They also believed Cummings was secretly working for MI6.

The dossier noted that Corbyn had previously been accused of having contact with a Czech intelligence officer in the 1980s, but said there was “no indication that he has ever had direct contact with RIS [Russian intelligence services] ... or that he has ever acted wittingly as an agent of influence on behalf of any foreign intelligence service”, according to The Telegraph.

The dossier's author, Steele, is a former Russia desk chief at the British foreign intelligence agency MI6. He now runs the private intelligence firm Orbis Business Intelligence and the consultancy Walsingham Partners. Steele was also the author of the infamous 'Steele dossier', which alleged Russian interference in President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. The dossier was a raw, incomplete document that was leaked without his permission and published by BuzzFeed News.