London — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson allowed him to “wisely” proceed with the renovation of his home without more rigorous consideration of how to raise money, but did not violate the minister’s code of conduct. An official report said on Friday.
Johnson has faced scrutiny in recent weeks on how the refurbishment, which is estimated to have reached hundreds of thousands of pounds in some media reports, was funded.
On Friday, Christopher Guite, an independent adviser on the interests of the Minister, released a report on the issue of clearing the Prime Minister regarding conflicts of interest or violations of the Minister’s norms.
But nevertheless, the report was critical of Johnson.
“In my view, the Prime Minister allowed the renovation of the apartment at 11 Downing Street to proceed without more rigorous consideration of how this would be funded,” the report said.
Conservative donor David Brownlow was found to have settled some of the refurbishment bills, but Johnson was unaware of this and settled the full amount himself when media reports revealed it. He said he did.
Guite said there were no conflicts of interest.
“Given the nature of the support, I am happy that no disputes (or reasonably perceived disputes) arise as a result of these benefits,” the report said.
“I have advised that the interests declared by the Prime Minister do not show real or perceived conflicts, so I think they are in line with the provisions of the Ministerial Code.”
Violations of the Ministerial Code could cause Johnson to resign.
A spokesman for the Johnson office said, “Except for the work funded through the annual allowance, the cost of major flat renovations was not funded by taxpayers and was personally settled by the Prime Minister.” Said.
Separately, the British Election Commission has begun investigating working funds in the Prime Minister’s apartment, saying there is reason to suspect that the crime has been committed.
Brownlow, Chairman of the Privately Owned Investment Portfolio and Trading Group Haversham, is a donor and former Vice Chairman of Johnson’s Conservative Party from 2017 to July 2020.
The report also criticized authorities for failing to notify the Prime Minister that the invoice was covered by Brownlow, stating that they did not properly manage the proposal to establish a trust to pay for the work. It was.
Michael holden