Re: Sleaze inquiry into Boris Johnson’s £15,000 Mustique holiday is still ongoing
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-financed.html
Boris Johnson faced a new sleaze row last night after it emerged that the parliamentary watchdog has accused him of
failing to come clean about his Mustique holiday with fiancee Carrie Symonds.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone has said the Prime Minister's
break was worth more than twice the £15,000 he declared in the Commons Register. And she said it was clear
the bill had not been met by Tory donor and Carphone Warehouse co-founder
David Ross, as the Prime Minister claimed.
Her
damning verdict was delivered privately to Mr Johnson
months ago. But
he has refused to accept her ruling and is trying to overturn it to avoid the risk of being suspended as an MP.
The disclosures come days after she publicly confirmed she is investigating Mr Johnson's post-election victory holiday to Mustique in December 2019.
Miss Stone told Mr Johnson months ago she was certain he had flouted the rules. The name of the donor and the value of the benefit he had entered in the Commons Register of Financial Interests were incorrect, she said, meaning he was in breach of Westminster's code of conduct.
- Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds did not stay in Mr Ross's villa, but in a different one owned by an American family.
- The second family said they were unaware that Mr Johnson had stayed in their villa – but they had been paid by the MIC (the highly secretive Mustique Island Company).
- She also said the advertised cost of renting the villa at that time of the year was £3,300 per day – or £33,000 over ten days, more than double the £15,000 which was declared by Mr Johnson.
Miss Stone told Mr Johnson she planned to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Standards Committee, which can impose sanctions including suspending an MP, and asked if he accepted her decision.
The Prime Minister is said to have objected in strong terms. It was Miss Stone who had got her facts wrong, not him, he said.
"Well, he would say that, wouldn't he" .....
Stick it to him, Miss Stone .....