Johnson avoids probe over Arcuri – despite their ‘close association’
PM IN CLEAR: ‘NO EVIDENCE HE AIDED US BUSINESSWOMAN’
BORIS JOHNSON has avoided a criminal investigation over allegations he used his position as London mayor to get favourable treatment for businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri – despite a police watchdog finding evidence of a possible “intimate relationship”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it would have been wise for Mr Johnson to have declared their “close association” as a conflict of interest.
The Prime Minister welcomed the development and criticised the “vexatious claims” that he helped aid and reward the American when she received thousands of pounds of public money and access to foreign trade trips he led as mayor.
Reviewing whether he should face a misconduct in public office investigation, the IOPC found that officials were influenced in their decision making because they thought there was a “close relationship” between the pair.
IOPC director general Michael Lockwood said: “We found no evidence to indicate Mr Johnson influenced the payment of any sponsorship monies to Ms Arcuri or that he influenced or played an active part in securing her participation in trade missions.”
He added: “While there was no evidence that Mr Johnson influenced the payment of sponsorship monies or participation in trade missions, there was evidence to suggest that those officers making decisions about sponsorship monies and attendance on trade missions thought here was a close relationship between Mr Johnson and Ms Arcuri and this influenced their decisionmaking.”
The IOPC recommended that City Hall considers whether Mr Johnson breached the code of conduct for failing to declare his relationship.
“Our review established there was a close association between Mr Johnson and Ms Arcuri and there may have been an intimate relationship,” the watchdog said.
Under the Nolan Principles of Public Life “it would have been wise for Mr Johnson to have declared this as a conflict of interest”, it added.
The IOPC said its investigation had been hindered by “the fact Mr Johnson’s Greater London Authority email account had been deleted by the GLA”, as had the accounts of his appointees.
But there was evidence to suggest the pair were friends from 2012 onwards, though it was not clear whether they were in an intimate or sexual relationship before November 2014, the report said.
A trip to New York in 2015 required the closest scrutiny from the IOPC, with evidence they may have been in an “intimate/sexual relationship” at the time, Mr Lockwood wrote.
And he added: “It is clear from the evidence that Ms Arcuri’s company was not eligible to participate in this mission”.
Mr Lockwood said an account given by the PM’s solicitor that he had not been expecting her attendance was undermined by evidence from an individual identified as Mr I, who said Mr Johnson has been briefed on the guest list.
This knowledge did not amount to misconduct, Mr Lockwood said, but the PM was “unwise” not to have declared their relationship at that stage and ensured she was not being given favourable treatment.
A spokesman for the PM said the months-long exercise “was a waste of police time”.
“We welcome the fact that this politically motivated complaint has been thrown out,” he added. “Such vexatious claims of impropriety in office were untrue and unfounded.”
After the IOPC ruling, the London Assembly swiftly said it would resume its own investigation, which it adjourned when the watchdog launched its review.