Prime minister faces third sleaze inquiry
Boris Johnson is facing a third sleaze investigation after being reported to the parliamentary authorities for failing to declare who paid for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.
The prime minister insisted yesterday that he had done nothing wrong, and claimed the concerns over who paid for work were a ‘‘farrago of nonsense’’.
‘‘I don’t think there’s anything to see here or worry about.’’
But in a formal complaint to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Dame Margaret Hodge, the former chairwoman of the public accounts committee, said Johnson had ‘‘repeatedly broken’’ rules that require MPs to declare their financial interests.
Hodge asked Kathryn Stone, the commissioner, to establish whether Johnson either directly or indirectly received benefit from the Conservative Party donor Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row.
Under parliamentary rules, if Brownlow’s or Conservative Party funds were used to pay for the refurbishment works it should have been declared by Johnson in the register of members’ interests.
A deliberate failure to declare any payment in the register would be a breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act.
An inquiry by the commissioner is particularly problematic for Johnson as he is already on a ‘‘last warning’’ from the Commons standards committee after numerous previous breaches of the rules.
Two years ago he was found to have withheld details of a property that he part owned in Somerset. This followed an investigation the previous year when he was found to have been late in registering his financial interests four times involving nine payments.
At the time the standards committee, which can impose penalties for MPs breaching the rules including suspension from the House, warned Johnson that any further infringements would result in ‘‘serious sanction’’.
They concluded at the time: ‘‘These two investigations by the commissioner in rapid succession demonstrate a pattern of behaviour by Johnson. Should we conclude in future that Johnson has committed any further breaches of the rules on registration, we will regard this as a matter which may call for more serious sanction.’’
Stone is already investigating Johnson’s failure to declare the correct details of who paid for his luxury holiday to Mustique in 2020 that was declared as coming from the Tory donor David Ross. Senior Conservatives are understood to be concerned Johnson could be reprimanded over his failure to register the involvement of the Mustique Company, which owns the exclusive island resort.
In her letter to Stone, Hodge urged her to establish the facts of the case given Johnson’s unwillingness publicly to declare ‘‘exactly where the upfront costs for this redecoration came from’’.
‘‘If a party political donation or gift to a member of parliament is hypothecated to a particular purpose, as was the case here, then it should be declared in the register of members’ financial interests. To date it has not been declared.’’
Any sanctions against Johnson would be considered by the standards committee. If it finds Johnson has breached the declaration rules intentionally it could result in the Electoral Commission expanding its probe to include the prime minister. – The Times