Tory urged to return donation over fears for security

A FORMER Government Minister has been challenged to return a donation from a company that the Ministry of Defence has “serious national security concerns” over.

Sir Simon Clarke, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, accepted a £5,000 donation from Aquind Ltd, only two days after the MoD’s concerns about the firm’s plans for an electricity link between England and France had been made public.

It’s the second donation Sir Simon has accepted from the firm so far this year. Since 2018, he has received a total of £35,000 from either Aquind or Alexander Temerko, one of its directors.

Mr Temerko, a Ukrainianborn British citizen, is one of the Conservative Party’s largest donors, having donated more than £700,000 to individual Tory MPs since 2012. Aquind, meanwhile, has donated £1m to the party.

After moving to Moscow, Mr Temerko became a prominent supporter of former president Boris Yeltsin and eventually held a number of positions in the Russian defence ministry in the 1990s.

He fled to the UK after being accused of forgery and of stealing shares. However, a judge ruled against extraditing him to Russia on the grounds his prosecution was politically motivated. Mr Temerko has long been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.

The Government’s previous decision to refuse permission for Aquind’s proposed interconnector was overturned in the High Court last year.

In March, the MoD wrote to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, with whom the planning decision now rests, to ask IT to establish a secure channel through which to raise its security concerns about Aquind.

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Sir Simon’s seat, Luke Myer, wrote to him yesterday outlining his concerns about the donation.

“It is wholly inappropriate to continue to accept money from Aquind and its owners given the serious concerns that have been raised about the project,” he wrote.

He asked if Sir Simon would “return the donations from Aquind Ltd and those associated with it”.

Sir Simon was approached for comment.