Friday, August 27, 2021
Walking the ethical tightrope?
Boris Johnson is well-known for acting as if the rules do not apply to him, and the way he has conducted himself inside 10 Downing Street has been no different. A cabinet office inquiry into the way that the refurbishment of the Prime Minister's flat was paid for may have concluded that everything was above board but that does not excuse the complex financial arrangements around that work, nor the obfuscation when explanations were sought. Accountability and transaparency on this issue has been virtually non-existent.
The Independent reports Conservative Party accounts show that a Tory donor provided more than £52,000 to cover some of the costs in refurbishing the prime minister’s residence. Tory HQ said it initially provided a “bridging loan” of £52,802 to cover the works after being invoiced by the Cabinet Office last June.
The party was then “reimbursed in full” by Lord Brownlow last October, before Mr Johnson “settled the costs” incurred by the donor in March 2021 – but only after details had emerged in the press in February.
Despite this No 10 repeatedly refused to reveal the original source of funds for the work, initially insisting that Mr Johnson alone had “covered the cost”.
A a review by the prime minister’s own ministerial standards adviser, Lord Geidt found Mr Johnson acted “unwisely” in allowing the refurbishment to go ahead without “more rigorous regard for how this would be funded,” but did not breach the ministerial code.
Meanwhile, further controversy is brewing over the prime minister’s use of a taxpayer-funded jet to travel to the north-east for a campaign visit:
Questions were raised over Mr Johnson’s April visit to Hartlepool to campaign for the Tory candidate, after it emerged that the Conservative Party recorded “nil” spending on the PM’s travel despite him having flown by jet from London to Teesside Airport.
No 10 and the Conservatives insist no rules were broken, since the jet was used to fly Mr Johnson to the northeast for an official visit to Middlesbrough, while the PM travelled from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool in his official car.
Once more we find questions arising over Johnson's lackadaisical approach to the responsibilities of public office.
The Independent reports Conservative Party accounts show that a Tory donor provided more than £52,000 to cover some of the costs in refurbishing the prime minister’s residence. Tory HQ said it initially provided a “bridging loan” of £52,802 to cover the works after being invoiced by the Cabinet Office last June.
The party was then “reimbursed in full” by Lord Brownlow last October, before Mr Johnson “settled the costs” incurred by the donor in March 2021 – but only after details had emerged in the press in February.
Despite this No 10 repeatedly refused to reveal the original source of funds for the work, initially insisting that Mr Johnson alone had “covered the cost”.
A a review by the prime minister’s own ministerial standards adviser, Lord Geidt found Mr Johnson acted “unwisely” in allowing the refurbishment to go ahead without “more rigorous regard for how this would be funded,” but did not breach the ministerial code.
Meanwhile, further controversy is brewing over the prime minister’s use of a taxpayer-funded jet to travel to the north-east for a campaign visit:
Questions were raised over Mr Johnson’s April visit to Hartlepool to campaign for the Tory candidate, after it emerged that the Conservative Party recorded “nil” spending on the PM’s travel despite him having flown by jet from London to Teesside Airport.
No 10 and the Conservatives insist no rules were broken, since the jet was used to fly Mr Johnson to the northeast for an official visit to Middlesbrough, while the PM travelled from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool in his official car.
Once more we find questions arising over Johnson's lackadaisical approach to the responsibilities of public office.
