Boris Johnson finds himself mired in the biggest Tory sleaze row for nearly three decades as his premiership battles its most serious crisis yet.
Each day brings a damaging slew of fresh revelations, whether it's how a renovation of his Downing Street flat was financed, the Prime Minister's cosy texts to mega-rich business contacts, David Cameron lobbying a quartet of ministers in Johnson's Government over Greensill Capital, moonlighting civil servants or how Johnson romped with his lover on the sofa at his marital home.
One word came to dominate the fag end of the last Conservative administration in the 1990s: sleaze. PM John Major's regime was hit by a barrage of sleazy stories as it became synonymous with the ruling party.
Many believed the Tories had grown arrogant, lazy and imperious from being in power too long. The party had won four consecutive general elections – 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992 – and came to take voters for granted. Under Johnson, as the Opposition has pressed repeatedly over the past few weeks, Tory sleaze is back.
Labour leader and former Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC is expected to renew his attack at Prime Minister's Questions at noon tomorro, listing the growing charge sheet against Johnson's administration.
Here, on day one of our two-part Tory Sleaze Files, Deputy Political Editor BEN GLAZE examines the allegations mounting up for the PM.
PPE Procurement
SCANDAL: When coronavirus struck, Britain was underprepared in terms of personal protective equipment for frontline NHS and care staff. Nurses told of wearing bin bags to treat patients. There was a desperate need for vital safety gear that would save lives. The Government signed deals for billions of pounds worth of equipment – and a frightened nation was grateful. However, it now turns out that companies recommended by MPs, peers and ministers' offices were given priority. Details of a "VIP" fast-track route for firms with Government connections have emerged in court. One official complained the procurement team was "drowning" in high priority requests without correct certification or due diligence. The National Audit Office found more than half the £18bn spent on pandemic-related contracts was awarded without competitive tender – and accused the Government of not being transparent about suppliers and services. Not enough was done to tackle potential conflicts of interest by ministers and officials, it said. Of more than 8,600 coronavirus-related contracts agreed by July 31 – ranging in value from less than £100 to £410m – 58%, worth £10.5bn, were awarded directly without a competitive tender process. Deals for PPE covered four fifths of the contracts. Billionaire vacuum-maker Sir James Dyson also texted Boris Johnson over tax rates for employees working on ventilators.
WHY IT MATTERS: Firms with links to the Government were more likely to win contracts, it is claimed. Even if a business had no track record of supplying PPE or ventilators, it did not matter because Britain was desperate. Boris Johnson would like this to be seen as all the country doing its bit for what he has cast as a war effort – and there are many who would agree; we were in an unprecedented crisis, we needed something fast and it was fine to cut corners. Yet the foundations for this process had been laid years before with close links between ministers and businesses, some of whom have donated money to the Conservatives. There were lucrative contracts up for grabs, ministers were ready to pay top dollar and the pandemic meant the usual rules did not apply. Yet there were also stories of small firms desperate to help who could not get a response from Whitehall – as officials were too busy examining deals for ministers' mates. Some missed out on a cash bonanza while others – though not Dyson, who says he lost £20m on the ventilators – got rich. Again, it was facilitated by easy access to Government.
Jennifer Arcuri
SLEAZE: Businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri and Boris Johnson had an affair behind the back of his long-suffering wife Marina while he was London Mayor. Johnson and Arcuri apparently met for “tech” lessons at her flat, which had a dancing pole. Last month she told the Sunday Mirror how they read Shakespeare before romping on the sofa at his marital home. She revealed how their affair began in August 2012 – hours before he sat next to the royals at the Paralympic opening ceremony. Arcuri received £126,000 of public money in the form of grants for her technology firm and event sponsorship. She was also given access to three high-level foreign trade trips led by Johnson. Last year, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it would not be launching a criminal inquiry into whether Johnson abused his position as mayor to "benefit and reward" Arcuri. But the Prime Minister faces a Greater London Assembly investigation into whether he broke its code of conduct over his dealings with the entrepreneur. Asked last week if he had always behaved with “honesty and integrity" in his relationship with the blonde American, Johnson claimed simply: “Yes.” He has always denied any wrongdoing over the relationship.
WHY IT MATTERS: Serial adulterer Johnson has had numerous affairs and was sacked from the Conservative frontbench in 2004 after lying to then party leader Michael Howard about a relationship with journalist Petronella Wyatt. Johnson famously dismissed claims of an affair as an “inverted pyramid of piffle” before her mother confirmed they were true. Critics say that cheating in his personal relationships casts doubt over his character and his ability to tell the truth more widely. Arcuri went on trade missions where Johnson's travel was funded by the public purse. She also received tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash. The Tory Party – funded extensively by mega-rich donors, also helped the PM pay his legal bills when he fought allegations he had used his position to "benefit and reward" Arcuri. The Independent Office for Police Conduct found no evidence indicating Mr Johnson had broken the law - but said it would have been "wise" to declare a conflict of interest. Critics fear that funnelling cash to the Premier – albeit indirectly through the party war chest – may ultimately allow backers to think they have a hold over the PM and that he owes them. While voters have repeatedly overlooked Johnson's extramarital liaisons, the electorate is right to ask questions over his character, reliability and honesty, given this is how he behaves in private.
Greensill and Lobbying
SCANDAL: Former Prime Minister David Cameron texted Chancellor Rishi Sunak and also contacted Treasury ministers John Glen and Jesse Norman asking for Greensill Capital, for whom Cameron was an adviser, to benefit from loans to help businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic. Sunak “pushed” Treasury officials to try to help Greensill gain access to a Bank of England coronavirus support scheme. Greensill was a supply chain finance firm, developing a scheme so small businesses could get paid faster to help with cash flow. The vehicle also benefited Greensill, whose founder Lex Greensill was given a desk in Downing Street when Cameron was in No10 and handed out business cards saying he was an adviser to the PM's office. Cameron got a job with the company 25 months after leaving Downing Street. He took Lex Greensill for a “private drink” with Health Secretary Matt Hancock in 2019. But Cameron's pleas to Government last spring for coronavirus help flopped and the firm collapsed last month – costing Cameron share options reportedly worth millions of pounds. In a statement this month, he admitted there were “lessons to be learnt”, adding: “As a former Prime Minister, I accept that communications with government need to be done through only the most formal of channels.”
WHY IT MATTERS: In February 2010, just three months before becoming PM, Cameron warned that lobbying was “the next big scandal waiting to happen”. How right he was. But he failed to predict that 11 years later, he would be at the centre of it. Here we have a Tory former PM texting a current Tory Chancellor to ask for financial help for a company run by someone who was an adviser to that former Tory PM while he was PM – a firm from which that former PM could make millions. Lobbying is rife in Westminster, with firms dedicated to arranging coffees, lunches, receptions and introductions with ministers, officials and advisers. They also employ former ministers, officials and advisers because they have the connections, private email addresses and personal phone numbers of those they want to speak to. Normal people and businesses who do not engage with the lobbying industry simply do not have this privileged access and therefore cannot press their cases in the corridors of power. The “revolving door” between Government and the private sector can benefit both and be perfectly innocent. But the lack of transparency and accountability casts a shadow over an already murky situation.
Planning
SLEAZE: Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick sat next to property tycoon Richard Desmond at a Tory Party fundraiser and sent texts to the billionaire, who needed planning permission for a huge housing development. Twelve days after the minister overruled government planning inspectors to approve the £1billion, 1,500-home scheme at the former Westferry print works in East London, Desmond donated £12,000 to the Conservative Party. The entrepreneur also showed Jenrick a video of his plan for the site. Approval for the project came a day before a rise in the Community Infrastructure Levy – community charges placed on developments to pay for local services. The timing allowed Desmond to avoid paying £40million, though the decision was later challenged in court. Jenrick admitted the timing of his decision was "unlawful by reason of apparent bias". He said last August: "I wish I hadn't been sat next to a developer at an event and I regret sharing text messages with him afterwards. But I don't regret the decision, because I think it was right to get housing built on a brownfield site on a part of London that desperately needs it.” Developers later agreed to pay the £43m levy. The PM considers the matter closed.
WHY IT MATTERS: Lots of people want planning permission for various projects. But not all can afford a ticket to a glitzy political bash to sit next to the Cabinet Minister responsible, and have the opportunity to press their case. The incident plays into an image of rich party donors being able to buy face time with senior ministers who have influence. The revelation that these cosy, informal, intimate chats take place, without note-takers and at occasions where one person is literally paying for access, goes to the very heart of money in politics – the definition of sleaze. The project would have denied a vital £43m for public services, had the developers not eventually decided to pay the cash. But the original amount of affordable housing in the scheme, 21% – which the independent inspector decided was not enough – will remain as long as the Community Infrastructure Levy is paid. That means families struggling to get on the housing ladder in the capital are less likely to be able to afford a home – potentially leaving them paying sky-high rents in insecure accommodation.
