Boris at bay
Boris Johnson at PMQS in the House of Commons yesterday, where he came under sustained attack from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the SNP’S Ian Blackford over sleaze allegations
THE refurbishment of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat is being investigated by the electoral watchdog, concerned that “offences” may have occurred in how it was funded.
The Electoral Commission announced that it would be looking into the work, said to have cost around £58,000, after reports that it was paid for by the Conservative Party following a donation.
Boris Johnson faced a barrage of questions about the payments during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, as well as claims that he had “lied” about making disparaging remarks about coronavirus spread.
Mr Johnson has been plagued by allegations of misconduct over the payments for his luxury flat renovation since last Friday, when his former senior adviser Dominic Cummings said his plans for “secret” donations were “unethical, foolish and possibly illegal”.
Number 10 has continued to insist Mr Johnson paid for the work himself, but has yet to clarify if he paid for it from the outset or if he repaid a loan from a donor or external source.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “We have been in contact with the Conservative Party since late
March and have conducted an assessment of the information they have provided to us.
“We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred.
“We will therefore continue this work as a formal investigation to establish whether this is the case.
“The investigation will determine whether any transactions relating to the works at 11 Downing Street fall within the regime regulated by the Commission and whether such funding was reported as required.
“We will provide an update once the investigation is complete. We will not be commenting further until that point.”
Yesterday, a Number 10 spokesman refused to comment, saying they would be making no further statements while an inquiry is ongoing.
Any donations for the revamp should be declared via the register of ministers’ interests, which has not been updated since last year following the departure of the Government’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Alex Allan.
Sir Alex quit his role in November over the handling of the inquiry into bullying claims against Priti Patel, after he concluded she had “not consistently
met the high standards expected of her”, but Mr Johnson cleared her of wrongdoing.
Yesterday, the UK Government announced Sir Allan’s replacement, saying Lord Christopher Geidt would be taking over the role and will be looking into the financing of the refurbishment of the flat, which is above No 11 Downing Street.
Opposition politicians attacked the Prime Minister for the refurbishment, as well as alleged remarks he made about letting the “bodies pile high” and coronavirus “rip” rather than have a another lockdown.
Ian Blackford, the SNP’S Westminster leader, stunned MPS by asking Mr Johnson outright if he was a
liar during PMQS. He said multiple sources had said they would swear under oath that they heard Mr Johnson say the controversial comments, and added: “Parliamentary rules stop me from saying that the Prime Minister has repeatedly lied to the public over the last week, but can I ask the question, are you a liar Prime Minister?”
Mr Johnson said: “If he is going to relay that kind of quotation, it is up to him, in a place like Parliament, to produce the author ... the person who claims to have heard it, because I can’t find them.
“He says that they’re willing to go on oath. Perhaps they are somewhere in this building? I rather doubt it, because I didn’t say those words. What I do
believe is that a lockdown is a miserable, miserable thing, and I did everything I could to try to protect the British public throughout the pandemic, to protect them from lockdown, but also to protect them from disease.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Either the taxpayer paid the initial invoice, or it was the Conservative Party, or it was a private donor, or it was the Prime Minister.”
Mr Johnson replied: “I think people will think it absolutely bizarre that he is focusing on this issue when what people want to know is what plans a Labour government might have to improve the life of people in this country.”
We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred