PM ‘paid thousands for Mustique break’
Friends’ surprise claim after Boris is told that he faces sleaze probe – and tycoon at centre of row visits No10
BORIS Johnson personally paid ‘thousands of pounds’ for his luxury Mustique holiday, friends claimed last night.
The Prime Minister faces the embarrassment of a sleaze probe after listing the £15,000 trip as a ‘benefit in kind’ on the Commons register of interests, listing the name of the donor as multi-millionaire phone tycoon David Ross.
But a row broke out after Mr Ross’s spin doctor claimed the businessman hadn’t paid a penny for the gift. Mr Ross – a Tory donor and co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse chain – later clarified that he had ‘facilitated’ the holiday for Mr Johnson.
Under parliamentary rules, MPs must identify anyone who has done them a financial favour.
Last night allies of Mr Johnson insisted he had ‘paid his way’ for food, drink, staff and flights during the ten-night stay in the Caribbean with girlfriend Carrie Symonds – but insiders admitted he got the holiday at below market rate. The Mail on Sunday can also reveal Mr Ross was seen entering
No 10 on Wednesday evening as the scandal brewed. The next morning he released a statement confirming Mr Johnson’s version of events and distancing himself from the previous statement.
Downing Street insisted that Mr Ross’s visit was a coincidence and that he was there to discuss ‘Northern regeneration’. Sources say he did not meet Mr Johnson or discuss Mustique.
It first emerged on Christmas Eve that the Prime Minister and Ms Symonds would see in the New Year on Mustique, and that Mr Johnson was set to pay for his flights to the Caribbean.
The couple flew to St Lucia on Boxing Day, meeting the island’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and posing for pictures with BA cabin crew, before travelling to Mystique by twin-propeller plane.
But in the first sign of the mystery surrounding Mr Johnson’s holiday, reports that they would be the guests of Count Leopold von Bismarck-Schonhausen were denied by the Count himself.
There were also reports that the PM and Ms Symonds were staying in a villa owned by an American that reportedly cost £20,000 a week, and which boasted four-poster beds, terraces and its own chef.
It was later confirmed that the Prime Minister had paid for his £1,300 seat in economy on British Airways to reach the Caribbean.
Mr Johnson returned to the UK on January 5 just before the end of the Commons’ Christmas recess, with no one the wiser as to how he had paid for his break.
On January 27 he declared in the MPs’ register of interests that his holiday accommodation was a gift from Mr Ross. Under the heading
‘nature and value of benefit in kind (or amount of any donation)’, Mr Johnson stated: ‘Accommodation for a private holiday for my partner and me, value £15,000.’ Details of the register were made public early last week.
Unfortunately for the Prime Minister, a spokesman for Mr Ross – one of Mr Johnson’s aides when he was London Mayor – sparked confusion on Wednesday by saying he did not stay in Mr Ross’s house.
Then Sarah Richardson, the American owner of the villa where Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds did stay, told the Daily Mail on Friday that the holiday was not a freebie, and that she and her husband Craig had rented the villa out and had ‘got paid’ – but did not know by whom.
Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett, who has demanded a parliamentary inquiry, insisted Mr Johnson had to reveal how much he had paid for the holiday and what he had paid for. He added: ‘It is not good enough for the PM’s friends to say this. Mr Johnson must come clean and correct his declaration in the MPs’ register of interests. Anything less is unacceptable.’
‘Mr Johnson must come clean – anything less is unacceptable’
THERE you go, thinking you’d done a good deed by introducing an old friend to a villa rental company, hoping it may give them a good deal, and next day you’re all over the papers.
Spare a thought for Chairman of the National Portrait Gallery and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross who ‘facilitated’ Boris Johnson’s Mustique holiday and is now being portrayed as some form of Stephen Ward-type figure, servicing the needs of the powerful. With friends like these…