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Scotland Yard is formally considering calls to investigate accusations of links between donations to the Conservative Party and the granting of peerages.
It follows a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police, by SNP MP Peter Wishart, saying 22 of the Tories’ biggest financial contributors had been made members of the House of Lords in 11 years – and demanded this be looked into.
While a decision on whether to launch a full-scale probe has not yet been made, nor the allegations formally assessed, a spokesperson for the force could confirm: “At this time, we are considering the contents of the correspondence.”
Boris Johnson is facing anger from all sides after saying he will not intervene in revelations about Tory MP Geoffrey Cox voting from the Caribbean during lockdown and his role advising the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven, when the Foreign Office brought an inquiry against it.
Labour demanded No 10 investigate whether the £1m-earning lawyer “is a Caribbean-based barrister or a Conservative MP”. But the PM’s spokesman said rules about MPs holding second jobs “are set” by the Commons – not Downing Street.
