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Boris Johnson has been urged to reveal his financial affairs and end his Conservative leadership ambitions as the former prime minister became embroiled in a fresh money row.
The Prime Minister is believed to have secured an £800,000 line of credit while in No 10, backed by a millionaire relative who has been tipped for a top Quango role.
Canadian businessman Sam Blythe agreed to guarantee the huge credit facility for his distant cousin in December 2020 before it was withdrawn in February 2021, a newspaper report claimed.
Labor condemned the lack of transparency surrounding “alleged murky financial arrangements”, calling on No 10 to reveal exactly who Mr Johnson received money and other benefits from when he was prime minister.
Tory MPs said the latest questions about Mr Johnson’s finances, coming soon after the damning new Partygate allegations, showed exactly why he was not a “fit character” to be prime minister.
Asked about the huge £800,000 line of credit, former Tory minister Caroline Noakes said there was no way he could get it back. “Boris was a special politician for a certain time… but now is not his time. We need sensible, grown-up politicians,” she told the BBC’s Laura Kuensberg on Sunday.
“That should help kill any chance he has of coming back,” one backbench player told The Independent. “He was not a suitable character for a prime minister. The stories about Partygate and his finances will keep coming if he tries to come back.
Another Tory MP supporting Sunak said the huge line of credit given to Mr Johnson at No 10 “reminds us why so many people had concerns about him as leader”.
They added: “But some MPs just don’t care because he is such a unique character. You still can’t rule out a comeback push because there’s a hardcore group that thinks we did the wrong thing by getting rid of him.
Natwest bank chairman Sir Howard Davies also criticized Mr Johnson, suggesting markets would react very badly to any attempted comeback. “Running the country is not the same as running your own finances, where there seem to be mysterious people ready to fill every hole in the budget,” he told the BBC.
The cabinet’s integrity and ethics team is said to have approved the £800,000 loan agreement in December 2020 after Mr Johnson sought advice from cabinet secretary Simon Case, the Sunday Times reported.
Mr Johnson’s Canadian cousin, the guarantor of the credit line, was being considered for a position as chief executive of the British Council, a non-ministerial public body, when the guarantor arrangements were put in place, according to the newspaper.
But Mr Case and cabinet officials are said to have been unaware of Mr Blythe’s bid for the quango as they were assured there was no conflict of interest. And Mr Johnson insisted he was unaware of Mr Blythe appearing on a shortlist for a British Council job.
A spokesman for the former prime minister said: “Boris Johnson has in no way assisted or been aware of any application by Sam Blythe, formally or informally, to serve in any position in the British Council, nor has anyone been in No. 10, who acted on his behalf.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Blythe, who is said to be a friend of Mr Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson. The Canadian told the Sunday Times: “I am aware of Boris Johnson’s statement and can confirm the accuracy of his account.”
Former Prime Minister Carrie Johnson’s wife is understood to have had free use of Mr Blythe’s villa in the Dominican Republic in early 2022 before Mr Johnson and the whole family holidayed there in October.
Mr Johnson argued that the use of the villa in the Dominican Republic should not have been registered because the free use came from a family member providing a personal benefit. “All of Boris Johnson’s financial interests are and have been duly declared,” a spokesman said.
Boris and Carrie Johnson outside number 10
(Getty Images)
Labor leader Annelise Dodds said: “Boris Johnson was never fit for office. These alleged dark financial arrangements only further confirm this fact. This raises the question of why this agreement was not publicly declared.
She added: “The public has a right to know when leaders are given large gifts and loans to avoid any suggestion of undue influence. Will No 10 or the Conservative Party confirm exactly who Johnson received money from when he was in No 10, why it was not properly declared and what these rich people were offered in return?’
The latest revelations come after The Independent revealed the bitter division between rival Tories over whether Mr Johnson should be reinstated as leader given his history of scandal.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said: “It is clear as day that he is filling his coffers and plotting a comeback. This disgraced Prime Minister should not be given one. Johnson should publicly rule out a return.”
Analysis by The Independent shows that Mr Johnson has earned more than £2.6m in profits, donations and in-kind benefits in the past year alone.
The total includes outside income of just over £1.3m over the past 12 months as the former prime minister entered the speaker circuit after leaving Number 10 in September.
Mr Johnson has also received just £1.2m in donations and hospitality, gifts and benefits in kind – including a £1m donation from pro-Brexit businessman Christopher Harbor and accommodation worth just over £60,000 by Lord Bamford and Lady Bamford.
It also emerged that Mr Johnson put dinner costing more than £4,000 on a government credit card while he was with staff in New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September 2021.
The £4,445.07 bill for the meal at Smith & Wollensky’s enjoyed by Mr Johnson and his entourage emerged in a question put by Labour. “While families are sick with worry and struggling to make ends meet, this waste of public money is disgraceful,” said Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner.
Foreign Office minister David Rutley said: “The expenditure was subject to normal FCDO scrutiny and appropriate use of public funds.”
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