DOWNING Street has been warned that their decision to suppress a secret report into Russian interference in the UK’s election “pose a serious threat to our democracy”.

It was revealed yesterday that nine Tory party donors are named in the dossier on illicit Russia activities in Britain compiled by the cross-party Intelligence and Security select committee (ISC).

The document was supposed to have been released last week, but Number 10 said there was not sufficient time for the formal “sign-off process” before the election.

Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry believes the delay has more to do with Tory fears about “derailing their election campaign”.

She said: “I fear it is because they realise that this report will lead to other questions about the links between Russia and Brexit and the current leadership of the Tory party, which risks derailing their election campaign. What is Downing Street so worried about?”

While much of the detail of the contents of the committee report is still confidential, it’s understood that it looks at a wide range of activity, including on political interference in the UK.

EXCLUSIVE: I spent time with the Tory dark money donors – here's what I know

Over the course of 18 months the committee took evidence from a number of independent experts and also from the secret intelligence agencies, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

Among the Russians named are Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, a former ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

She has donated substantially to the Tories in recent years, and last year paid £20,000 at a fundraising ball for lunch with Ruth Davidson. In the last year alone she has donated more than £450,000.

Others in the list include Alexander Temerko, who has worked for the Kremlin’s defence ministry and has topped up Tory coffers by more than £1.2m over the past seven years. He was a supporter of Better Together and has described Johnson as a “friend”.

MPs on the ISC, were also briefed on Alexander Lebedev, the former KGB spy in London who owns the London Evening Standard newspaper.

READ MORE: Electoral Commission fines Tory trust over indyref donation

Lebedev’s son Evgeny invited Johnson to parties at the family’s converted castle near Perugia, Italy. The then Foreign Secretary reportedly travelled without the close-protection police officers that normally accompany senior ministers.

According to the Sunday Times, it is not known whether the Tory donors are named in the public section of the report, or whether they have been included in its confidential annex, which will remain classified indefinitely.

The SNP defence spokesman, Stewart McDonald, said: “Boris Johnson’s continued suppression of this report is unjustifiable and poses a serious threat to our democracy.

“What are the Tories so worried about? With a general election just over a month away, voters deserve to know the findings of the report and the impact of illicit Russian activities on our electoral process.

“The longer Boris Johnson delays the publication of this report, the more people will start to think this clamp down is politically motivated.”

A Tory spokesman said: “We cannot speculate on what may or may not be in a leaked parliamentary report.”