Boris Johnson is suspected of blocking publication of an inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections, because of the "embarrassing" links it reveals between the Russian secret service and donors to the Conservative party.
The prime minister feared that the revelations would be weaponised by opposition parties during the upcoming general election campaign, sources involved in the decision to block its publication told the Times.
The revelation comes as an investigation published this week found that there has been a surge in donations from Russian oligarchs, who have links to the Kremlin, to the Conservative party in the past year.
Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee submitted their report on Russian interference in UK elections to Downing Street two weeks ago. However, Johnson's government have insisted that it is not "publishable" prior to the election.
"When the prime minister has concluded that the report is publishable he will publish it," the Foreign Office Minister Christopher Pincher, told members of Parliament on Tuesday, adding that it could take months to emerge.
However, sources who have seen the report told the Times believe it has been suppressed because it highlights the connections between London-based Russian oligarchs who fund the Conservative Party and Russia's Federal Security Bureau.
"What makes it interesting is just how close some of these people are to the FSB are or have been," one source told the paper.
Sources told the paper that Russian figures with connections to the Kremlin "have contacts right across British society, whether it's business or in some cases the House of Lords." However, they add that there is no evidence of "systematic wrongdoing."
The report also risked damaging relations between Downing Street and Donald Trump, the Times reports, due to the involvement of Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent behind the dossier on the president's contacts with Moscow.