Yet another investigation of that lying bastard Johnson !!!

With all the ducking and diving he has perpetrated over the past few days in an attempt to avoid answering the quetion as to who initially paid for his flat's re-decorations, there is apparently sufficient evidence for the Electoral Commission to launch a wholesale investigation.

We await the results of that investigation with baited breath, knowing full well Johnson lied and lied again through his teeth !!!

Major' s government was brought down by sleaze and it would appear yet another scumbag 'nasty party' government is heading along the same path.


Watchdog launches formal investigation into Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishments

Sam Blewett and David Hughes
28 April 2021, 11:25 am
Boris Johnson’s refurbishment of his Downing Street flat will be investigated by the Electoral Commission as the watchdog said it is satisfied there are “reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred”.

The Prime Minister’s troubles over the renovations dramatically deepened on Wednesday when the commission said it would begin a “formal investigation” to see if any rules had been broken.

Questions have been mounting for Mr Johnson since former aide Dominic Cummings accused him of wanting donors to “secretly pay” for the renovations to his No 11 residence in a “possibly illegal” move.

Downing Street has refused to say whether Mr Johnson received an initial loan from the Conservative Party to cover renovations to the flat at No 11.

Announcing its investigation, the Electoral Commission said it had “conducted an assessment” of information provided by the Conservative Party since contact began late last month.

“We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred,” a statement from the watchdog said.

“We will therefore continue this work as a formal investigation to establish whether this is the case.”

Crucially, the watchdog said the investigation will “determine whether any transactions relating” to the works “fall within the regime regulated by the commission and whether such funding was reported as required”.

“We will provide an update once the investigation is complete.

“We will not be commenting further until that point,” a spokeswoman added.

Labour has accused Mr Johnson of having “lied” over the funding, and accused senior members of the Government of a possible “cover-up”.

The commission’s statement came less than an hour before he was due to face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions.

Mr Johnson was also facing pressure over allegedly saying he would rather see “bodies pile high” than impose a third coronavirus lockdown.

Ahead of the commission’s statement, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted a review into the controversy by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will answer whether the Tory party gave Mr Johnson a loan, before the Prime Minister paid back the costs.

“I just don’t have the answer but the Cabinet Secretary will and it will be transparently produced in the annual report and the accounts of the Cabinet Office,” the minister told Times Radio.

But Mr Shapps declined to say whether he would have approved the funding when he was party chairman, instead telling BBC Breakfast: “My side of things was the campaigning side of things, I didn’t get involved with the fundraising side of things.”

Prime ministers get a budget of up to £30,000 per year to renovate their Downing Street residency, but newspaper reports have suggested Mr Johnson has spent up to £200,000.

Last week the Daily Mail published details of an email from Tory peer Lord Brownlow in which he said he was making a £58,000 donation to the party “to cover the payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon-to-be-formed ‘Downing Street Trust’”.

A No 10 spokeswoman has said that the costs “have been met by the Prime Minister personally” and that party funds “are not being used for this”.

But Downing Street has refused to answer whether party funds were used in the past.

It is likely Mr Johnson will also face questioning in the Commons over whether he said he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order a third shutdown, an accusation he has branded as “total rubbish” and one which has been denied by No 10.

But, after the Daily Mail first reported the remarks, the BBC and ITV were among those to carry reports with their own sources alleging he made the comment in October.

Downing Street officials have been less firm on a Times report that Mr Johnson separately told aides in September he would rather let coronavirus “rip” than impose a second lockdown.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the reports “distort the actions” of Mr Johnson, but the defence did not amount to a denial.

The bombardment of allegations around the Prime Minister come as he is embroiled in a public row with Mr Cummings, who until last year was his senior adviser in No 10.

Mr Cummings hit out at his former boss in a blog post, saying he had fallen “below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves” after No 10 sources, reportedly the Prime Minister himself, accused him of being behind a series of leaks.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called for a “full and frank” explanation from the Prime Minister over the funding of the renovations.

“We really need to know who’s given the loan, who’s given the money, because we need to know who the Prime Minister, who Boris Johnson, is beholden to,” the Labour MP has told BBC Breakfast.

“To be honest, he lied yesterday, that’s not good enough.”

 

Its getting worse too matey - now Prince Michael of Kent is mired in sleaze too !!!


Prince Michael accused of using royal status to ‘sell access’ to Vladimir Putin

Taz Ali
8 May 2021, 10:20 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 18: Prince Michael of Kent attends Christmas Lunch at Buckingham Palace on December 18, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

An undercover investigation has claimed Prince Michael of Kent was willing to use his royal status for personal profit, and to seek favours from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The Queen’s cousin told undercover reporters posing as investors from South Korea in a virtual meeting that he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make “confidential” representations to Mr Putin’s regime.

The revelation was made by Channel 4 Dispatches in collaboration with the Sunday Times, who set up a fake South Korean gold company called House of Haedong and approached five members of the royal family with an offer of a role.

Prince Michael of Kent responded showing interest in working with the company, telling undercover reporters that he would give House of Haedong his royal endorsement in a recorded speech for a 200,000 US dollars fee and was happy to use his home in Kensington Palace as a backdrop.
Prince Michael does not receive money from the civil list and earns a living acting as chairman of his own private company, which offers consultancy advice.

He was also approached about a role helping the fictitious gold firm in Russia.

The programme said his business partner Lord Simon Reading had used an event at Kensington Palace in 2013, in which Prince Michael was a guest, to sell access to Mr Putin.

The event, to promote the Russian wrestling sport of Sambo, also offered opportunities to personally meet the Russian leader at a later date, Dispatches found.

In a recorded meeting with the undercover reporters, Lord Reading said: “If he (Prince Michael) is representing the House of Haedong, he could mention that to Putin and Putin would find the right person who is interested in South Korea or interested in gold.

“It just opens the door, you know, which is so helpful.”

He added: “I think, if I can say this, this is kind of slightly discreet, we’re talking relatively discreetly here.

“Because we wouldn’t want the world to know that he is seeing Putin purely for business reasons, if you follow me.”

He went on to describe Prince Michael as “Her Majesty’s unofficial ambassador to Russia”, and that tension between the UK and the Russian regime has not affected his relationship with Mr Putin.

Responding to programme, Prince Michael’s office said: “Prince Michael receives no public funding and earns his own living through a consultancy company that he has run for over 40 years.

“Prince Michael has no special relationship with President Putin.

“They last met in June 2003 and Prince Michael has had no contact with him or his office since then.

“Lord Reading is a good friend, who in trying to help, made suggestions which Prince Michael would not have wanted, or been able, to fulfil.”

Lord Reading said: “I thought the approach from the House of Haedong was genuine and I was only trying to facilitate an introduction to my friend Prince Michael.

“I made a mistake and over-promised and for that, I am truly regretful.

“I wasn’t at my peak as I was recovering from a kidney transplant.

“For the record, the Sambo event which was eight years ago was my event and Prince Michael was simply my guest along with many other people.”

Dispatches: Royals for Hire, will broadcast at 7.30pm on Monday on Channel 4.

 

The lying bastard Hancock will have his own thread. !!!