UK Parliament told Viceroy Research has Russian spy links, attacked UK submarines.

A high-profile British parliamentarian has told the Parliament that the business group 'Viceroy Research' and its leader Fraser John Perring have links with the Russian state and President Putin.

The Labour MP Liam Byrne while participating in the Business Question time demanded that there should be a proper debate in the Parliament regarding the Russian links of the Viceroy Research and its chief executive Fraser Perring.

Directing his questions to Tom Tugendhat MBE, the Minister for Security, the Labour MP said a debate in the parliament was necessary 'on the activities of short-selling attack group Viceroy Research and its leader Fraser Perring'.

Liam Byrne said he had been told that Viceroy Research 'works hand in glove with Boatman Capital, which launched the short-selling attack on Babcock International while it was overhauling our nuclear submarines'.

Liam Byrne raised questions about visits of Fraser Perring to Russia on a frequent basis. He said, 'Mr John Fraser Perring is a not infrequent visitor to Moscow, and is now targeting Home REIT, which provides homelessness services, including to homeless veterans. 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 Kremlins, we need to know.'

Viceroy's methods and ethics have long been called into question over several years. They have been the subject of allegations of plagiarism in the past and successfully sued for fake and defamatory statements. Commissioned by Business Leadership South Africa, Intellidex had reported that Viceroy's Steinhoff report was substantially plagiarised from a report produced by hedge fund Portsea Asset Management. The Intellidex report had said that Viceroy's reporting varies wildly in quality and credibility and appears to interweave false statements into purported facts.

In two major...