Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
D-day for PM on probe into claims he gave Arcuri special treatment
Criminal investigation decision today
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson will today learn if he is to face criminal investigation into claims he gave special treatment to his alleged mistress while he was Mayor of London.
US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri joined Mr Johnson on three official trade missions and her companies received
£126,000 in public money after the pair became close friends.
The Independent Office of Po li c e
Conduct has been carrying out an “assessment” of the allegations against Mr Johnson for eight months and will today announce if it will launch a criminal investigation.
The IOPC was asked to intervene as Mr Johnson was the head of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime at the time – a position equivalent to a Police and Crime Commissioner. Friends claim Ms Arcuri, 35, began a sexual relationship within months of meeting Mr Johnson, 55, in 2012. He was then in his second marriage to lawyer Marina Wheeler, the mother of four of his six children.
The couple have since divorced and Mr Johnson’s 32-year-old fiancee Carrie Symonds recently gave birth to their son Wilfred.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly refused to answer questions about his relationship with Ms Arcuri but insists that there was “no interest to declare”.
Ms Arcuri has said: “I had every right to be on those trips as a legitimate businesswoman and stand by everything that happened because these allegations are completely false.”
Mr Johnson is also facing a standards investigation by the London Assembly’s oversight committee.