There’s nothing to see here except a farrago of nonsense, says Johnson over flat fiasco
Prime Minister declares admiration for retailer John Lewis amid inquiries into refurbishment works
BORIS JOHNSON yesterday declared he “loves” John Lewis, as he called questions about the funding of his Downing Street flat refurbishment a “farrago of nonsense”.
The Prime Minister sought to distance himself from criticism of the British retailer and insisted there was nothing to “see here or to worry about” regarding the refit of his No11 living quarters.
Last night the prospect of a fourth inquiry into the works commissioned on the flat loomed over him, however.
Labour sources disclosed that the party has asked Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, to investigate whether Mr Johnson should have declared any benefit – including a loan or credit arrangement – linked to the refit.
Three probes are already under way on the funding behind the renovations.
The Electoral Commission announced this week that it had launched a formal inquiry, while Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, is overseeing an internal probe and Lord Geidt, Mr Johnson’s new adviser on ministerial interests, is also investigating.
It has been claimed that the Conservative Party made a payment to the Cabinet Office to fund the refurbishment of the flat last year, which Mr Johnson was now repaying.
Reports also stated that a Tory donor was lined up last autumn to make a gift to support the entire Downing Street estate via a trust. Mr Case confirmed to MPS that a trust structure was examined, but he concluded it could not be used to fund work on the Prime Minister’s personal flat.
The Conservative Party has said that all reportable donations “are correctly declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them and comply fully with the law”.
Mr Johnson has insisted that he has “personally” covered the cost of the works, but declined to answer questions about whether the party or the donor initially paid the invoices. Yesterday he declined to commit to publish immediately in full any findings from Lord Geidt, who is examining whether any donations were properly declared.
In a letter to Lord Evans of Weardale, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Mr Johnson said that he “cannot and would not wish” to relinquish the sole decision-making power on ministerial code breaches. “That vital responsibility is quite properly mine alone and, as an elected politician, one for which I am ultimately accountable to the electorate,” he said.
Labour hit back that if Mr Johnson remained the “ultimate arbiter” of the ministerial code, then he “effectively marks his own homework”. If Ms Stone
‘The one thing I object to in this is that I love John Lewis’
proceeds to open an inquiry into the funding of the flat renovations, it would be the fourth time Mr Johnson has been subject to investigation by the Commissioner.
One of these probes, which concerns the declaration of a £15,000 holiday he took to Mustique with his fiancée Carrie Symonds, is still ongoing, it is understood.
The Commissioner will publish a list of MPS currently under investigation the week after next, she announced yesterday. It comes after the Commons voted to reinstate transparency powers around her work that were suspended in the wake of the so-called “Pestminster” scandal.
Ms Stone said she would wait until after the May 6 elections to make use of these regained powers. “I believe this step will encourage greater confidence in the Parliamentary standards system,” she said in a statement.
In the other two Commissioner probes into him, Mr Johnson was found to have breached the rules governing MPS’ declaration of their financial interests by registering entries late.
Despite days of damaging headlines, last night two polls suggested that the controversy over the flat refurbishment had failed to cut through with voters.
One survey by Yougov found the Conservatives had maintained an 11-point lead over Labour, while another by Number Cruncher Politics put them nine points ahead. It suggests the success of the vaccine rollout is having a greater impact on how voters view the main political parties than scandals playing out in Westminster.
On Tuesday night, the Prime Minister paid a solo visit to the Covid Memorial Wall, a mural of up to 150,000 hearts in Westminster designed to commemorate victims of the pandemic.
It followed reports, citing multiple unnamed sources, that he said he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than impose a third lockdown. He has strongly denied making the remark.
Yesterday he sought to distance himself from other comments, allegedly made by a guest, that he and Ms Symonds ordered the lavish refurbishment of the Downing Street flat to replace the “John Lewis furniture nightmare” left over by Theresa May.
Asked what was wrong with the retailers’ goods, Mr Johnson said: “Absolutely nothing.” Asked about the row engulfing his flat, he continued: “The one thing I object to in this whole farrago of nonsense is: I love John Lewis.”
Sir Keir Starmer also attempted to exploit the connotations of snobbery implicit in the criticism of the British department store by paying a visit to a branch yesterday.
The Labour leader was photographed perusing the wallpaper aisle, following reports that Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds chose lavish wallpaper costing £840 a roll for the refurbishment of their flat.