Boris’s blonde at No10 ...and the questions he won’t answer

‘Heavy innuendo’

BORIS Johnson yesterday refused to answer questions about whether he had an affair with a pole-dancing ex-model as new revelations emerged about the public money she received.

The Prime Minister repeatedly declined to clarify his relationship with vivacious American entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri, 34.

But when asked about the lucrative grants awarded to her when he was Mayor of London, he insisted there was ‘utter propriety’.

Miss Arcuri received more than £26,000 of public money for her tech firms, and today a fourth grant can be revealed. One of her firms, Innotech, shared a £12,447 City Hall handout to several companies to help them fund a trade mission to South Africa in 2013.

It is also claimed she was given preferential treatment to ensure she could join three trade delegations led by Mr Johnson, even though her initial applications to take part were refused.

The then married Mr Johnson, 55, used to find time in his busy mayoral schedule to pop round to Miss Arcuri’s flat in fashionable Shoreditch, a Sunday Times investigation revealed.

Yesterday, as he flew to New York, he was asked by a journalist: ‘The Sunday Times has heavy innuendo that you’re in a sexual relationship with Jennifer Arcuri – considering public funds were involved, can you clarify your relationship with her?’ The PM was also asked: ‘There is a clear allegation of abuse of public funds – wouldn’t it be best to settle this with a public inquiry?’

Finally, a reporter said: ‘ You had an opportunity to deny it. You’re not going to. Is that the position?’ Mr Johnson replied: ‘ I’m going to talk about what we’re doing at the UN.’ In total, he ducked six questions about the matter.

Last night on Sky News, he was again pressed about doing favours for Miss Arcuri. Mr Johnson said: ‘I can tell you that everything we did to promote London and the interests of London, London business, was done in a completely normal way and with utter propriety.’

Mr Johnson, who was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, forged a close relationship with the young American businesswoman, who was in her 20s when they met. She has posted numerous photographs of them together at various business events she organised.

Mr Johnson – who can command sixfigure appearance fees – gave speeches for free, and his office repeatedly intervened to ensure his flamboyant blonde friend was able to go on overseas visits with him, despite her failing companies not meeting the criteria.

The PM is under increasing pressure to explain the nature of his daytime visits to her apartment – which had a dancing pole fitted in the living room – and whether there was any conflict of interest in him helping her businesses. The Government is also investigating £100,000 of taxpayers’ money given earlier this year to one of her tech firms. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is probing whether the correct information was given when her UK-registered company Hacker House applied for the grant from a fund designed to train people in cyber-security.

Miss Arcuri, who lives in California with her British husband Matthew Hickey, has said all the grants she received and trade mission trips she took part in were fairly awarded.

Her husband, who runs Hacker House with her, said he had ‘no idea’ what she was doing in 2013, before they met, and added: ‘To insinuate she had special favours from DCMS when we went through the process fairly is disgusting behaviour from the Press – printing smears and innuendos which are baseless.’ The couple declined to comment further, but more details began emerging about Miss Arcuri, who arrived in Britain as a business student in 2011.

The Mail can reveal she also forged a close working relationship with a white-collar criminal called Tom Hayes. In July 2012, she and Hayes set up a technology company called Title X. Five months later, Hayes was arrested and charged with manipulating the Libor rate in his previous job as a currency trader at Citibank.

Miss Arcuri – who was at this time receiving patronage from Mr Johnson’s office – publicly defended Hayes, but he was convicted two years later and sentenced to 14 years in prison.