Under pressure: Labour MP Liam Byrne
A Labour MP is under mounting pressure to withdraw allegations linking a City financier to the Kremlin.
Liam Byrne, a former chief secretary to the Treasury, claimed that Fraser Perring, head of short-selling firm Viceroy Research, was ‘a not infrequent visitor to Moscow’.
He also accused him of working ‘hand in glove’ with another firm, Boatman Capital, to launch a short-selling attack on UK defence group Babcock.
He added last month: ‘We must ensure that short-selling groups are not another weapon in Putin’s arsenal. Where there are links between short-selling attack groups and the Kremlin, we need to know.’ Byrne’s comments are protected by Parliamentary privilege, meaning he cannot be sued.
But the statements set off a blazing row with Perring, who has denied the allegations and challenged Byrne to repeat his statements outside the House of Commons, and thus without legal protection. The matter has since escalated with Perring’s local MP, Sir Edward Leigh, wading into the spat.
In an email seen by the Mail, Sir Edward’s office said he had written to Byrne ‘asking him to withdraw his remarks and clarify his statement in the House.’ It added the Speaker’s office had been informed of the situation in the hope an ‘amicable solution’ could be found.
Byrne has so far failed to present any evidence for his claims that Perring is linked to Russia. The short-seller has also hit back by claiming the MP was paid to ask questions to discredit him. Byrne has branded these allegations ‘patently false.’ Perring has denied any Russian connection, saying he has never been to Moscow and has no such links to the Kremlin. He has also called for Byrne to officially retract his comments on the Parliamentary record.
Byrne, an MP since 2004, was chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown before Labour were voted out of office in the 2010 general election. He garnered widespread attention when he left a note behind saying there was ‘no money left’.
Aside from claims Perring had been involved in a short attack on Babcock, Byrne also said Viceroy had targeted homeless landlord Home REIT, which is being investigated by the National Crime Agency amid allegations of bribery.
Perring has also denied working with Boatman Capital to attack Babcock and stated Home REIT was not targeted by Viceroy.
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