Johnson government is a ‘sleekit, grubby cabal’ says SNP’S Thewliss

AN SNP MP has accused the Tory government of being a “sleekit, grubby cabal” that cannot be trusted with taxpayers’ money following allegations of cronyism and concerns around funding of the Prime Minister’s flat.

Alison Thewliss raised an Urgent Question in the House of Commons, calling for the UK Government to hold an independent inquiry into claims of cronyism between business leaders and government ministers, and into the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s home in Downing Street.

The MP for Glasgow Central’s questions come after Mr Johnson’s former senior aide Dominic Cummings made a series of revelations on Friday including that he thought “secret” plans for the renovation of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat were “unethical, foolish and possibly illegal”.

It is reported that Mr Johnson was considering setting up a trust to fund the work when it began spiralling out of control, with Tory donors paying in to it.

It has also been reported that the work was paid for by the Conservative Party, following a donation to the party of a similar amount by a wealthy donor.

Downing Street has insisted that Mr Johnson has covered the cost of the work himself, out of his own pocket.

However, opposition parties have called for an explanation of who paid for it initially, and have pointed to the incomplete register of minister’s interests which has not been updated since July last year.

The concerns around Mr Johnson’s flat revamp come in the midst of allegations of cronyism between the UK Government, former politicians and business people.

Ms Thewliss said: “From the contracts to the Health Secretary’s pub landlord to the cosy chumocracy of the Greensill Capital affair to the casual text messages between the Prime Minister and Sir James Dyson promising to fix tax issues apparently in exchange for ventilators we never even got, and now questions over the Prime Minister’s funding for feathering his Downing Street nest.

“I wonder if the minister will agree with me that this is a clear pattern of behaviour and it absolutely stinks?

He went on: “This UK Tory government is about to prorogue this house to duck further scrutiny. In the absence of an independent adviser to investigate ministers, we can no longer trust them to investigate themselves and that much is clear so will the minister for the Cabinet Office instead instruct a full independent public inquiry to get to the bottom of this sleekit, grubby cabal in charge of the UK?”

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove was present to answer MPS’ questions yesterday. He replied: “It is the case that the government, operating at a time when the pandemic was raging, did everything possible and we make no apology for it, to make sure that those at the frontline got the equipment that they deserved.

“The techniques that we used and the processes that we followed not only stand up to scrutiny, they were the same techniques and the same process used by the Welsh Government, by the Scottish Government, and by the Northern Ireland Executive.”

Head of the UK Civil Service, Simon Case, speaking to MPS at a committee at the same time, was asked about his own knowledge of the Downing Street flat refurbishment. He told MPS on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee that there is a budget of £30,000 per year for prime ministers to renovate their living quarters, with any costs beyond this met privately by those in office.

He added: “On the question of a trust, there has been work on this for more than 12 months.

“Chequers and Dorneywood are actually supported by trusts or a charitable trust and equivalent buildings around the world, like the White House, I understand, is supported by a trust.

“No Downing Street trust currently exists. Work was begun last spring.”

Asked whether he was aware of private donations being used to cover the cost of refurbishing the flat, he said: “What I’m happy to tell you is that the Prime Minister has asked me to conduct a review because I’ve not been involved directly with this.

“The Prime Minister has asked me to conduct a review into how this has been done and asked that I share the details of those conclusions with the committee.”

We can no longer trust them to investigate themselves