A sleaze inquiry into Boris Johnson’s trip to Mustique is still ongoing some 16 months after the Prime Minister’s lavish Caribbean holiday.
Downing Street yesterday said Mr Johnson had made all relevant declarations after the ten-day luxury villa break, which was worth £15,000.
The PM recorded the holiday in the register of MPs’ interests last year, stating
the break came courtesy of Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross, who owns a holiday villa on the island.
A spokesman for Mr Ross, a long-time Tory donor,
initially told the Mail that the tycoon had not paid for the trip, describing the claim as a ‘mistake’. They later
backtracked, saying Mr Ross had ‘facilitated’ the holiday in December 2019.
Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, agreed to a Labour request to launch an inquiry.
More than a year later, concern is mounting that Mr Johnson could be reprimanded over his failure to register the involvement of
The Mustique Company, which owns the tiny paradise island.
The Mustique Company levies a 10 per cent ‘island fee’ on all rentals to cover the cost of services and facilities, such as utilities, medical care and security. The PM’s declaration made no mention of this fee, leaving it unclear who paid it – if anyone.
The arrangements for the financing of the holiday had led to a dispute between
Miss Symonds and
Helen MacNamara, then director general of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office.
The Mail reported earlier this year that Miss Symonds had urged her fiance to sack
Miss MacNamara, a Whitehall sleazebuster, after she
ruled that only a small part of the cost of refurbishing the couple’s Downing Street flat could be met from the public purse.
In the end, Miss MacNamara left the civil service of her own volition, after accepting the role of director of policy and corporate affairs at the Premier League.
The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards declined to comment on why its investigation was taking so long, or when the findings would be published.