BORIS Johnson has said he does not know how many Russian oligarchs have given "serious money" to the Conservative Party.

The Prime Minister has also dismissed as "nonsense" claims that the Conservatives offered peerages to senior Brexit Party figures in a bid to get them to stand aside in the General Election.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, the Tory leader insisted there was "absolutely" nothing to hide in a report by the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) into possible Russian interference in the UK democratic process, which will not be released before the December 12 election.

Asked if media reports were correct that about nine Russian oligarchs were donating "serious money" to the Tories, Johnson said: "I don't know. They have all been properly vetted.

"They all ... and, it's open to ... these, these donations are all open to challenge if people think that they are not fit and proper persons, then they are not allowed to donate. That's the rule.

"But, I don't think that we should be hostile to people simply because of the country that they come from. It is very important that we show balance and fairness in this."

The PM added: "All donations to the Conservative Party are properly vetted and properly publicised.

"I think all donations to the Conservative Party, and indeed, any other party, are properly vetted, and properly publicised, and I leave it to your teams of researchers to bring that fact before us. It is all there in the public domain."

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Pressed on why the ISC report had not yet been published, Johnson said: "Because I see absolutely no reason to change the normal procedures for publishing ISC reports, just because there is an election.

"Because they are not normally published at that pace and ... there is no reason to change the procedures."

Asked if there was anything to hide in the report, the Tory leader said: "Absolutely not."

Probed about the possibility of Russian interference in the UK democratic process, Johnson said: "There is no evidence for that and I think that you have got to be very careful before you simply cast aspersions on everybody who comes from a certain country just because of their nationality."

The Prime Minister also rejected claims Brexit Party figures had been offered peerages.

Nigel Farage has claimed he had repeatedly been offered a seat in the House of Lords in an attempt to persuade him to "go quietly".

He said that, when that failed, people working "deep inside Number 10" had tried to bypass him, going directly to senior Brexit Party figures and suggesting eight of them could be made peers if they could persuade him to withdraw more of his candidates.

Asked during a 5 Live phone-in about the claims, the Johnson acknowledged that there may have been "conversations" between senior Tories and people in the Brexit Party.

However, he flatly denied there had been any offers of peerages, saying that was "just not the way we operate".