Eddie Mair pushes John Whittingdale on why government won't release Russia report
12 November 2019, 09:29 | Updated: 12 November 2019, 09:54
John Whittingdale insisted he is "not necessarily" concerned about Russian donors influencing the government after they sat on an intelligence report into it.
The Conservative candidate claimed he knows a couple of Russian donors to the party and they are as anti-Putin as you could imagine.
Eddie Mair questioned whether he wanted the report to be released.
"I haven't seen it," the former Minister responded.
But Eddie told him: "No, no-one has, that's the problem."
Eddie then asked if it concerned him that reports suggest nine Russian businessmen who donated to the Conservative Party are named in this report.
Mr Whittingdale responded: "I don't know if they are or not.
"Does it concern me? Not necessarily.
"I know one or two people of Russian origin. I know one in particular who has supported the Conservative Party. He's one of the fiercest critics of Putin that I know."
