Boris Johnson tries to ‘remove’ standards watchdog, says Keir Starmer | Boris Johnson

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Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of trying to “remove” the standards watchdog for his own interests as Downing Street has made a new attempt to prevent the regulator from investigating the controversy over his apartment renovation.

The Labor leader said Johnson had been leading the Conservative Party “through sewers and stench”, highlighting a pattern of behavior where the government “goes after” those tasked with enforcing the rules.

Days after Johnson was forced by the public and party backlash to abandon attempts to reform the standards watchdog, Number 10 argued on Monday that the prime minister did not need to announce the amount lent by a Conservative donor to make up for his Downing Street apartment. .

The commissioner, Catherine Stone, is set to rule within weeks on a potential inquiry into whether Johnson had properly declared funding as an MP. Once the Election Commission has completed its investigation, it will decide the Conservatives’ role in helping fund the over £50,000 renewal.

But Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday the order was made public on a ministerial interest list, and said there was no need for the prime minister to put it on MPs’ interests list either – putting it outside the commissioner’s purview.

Asked if the Prime Minister believed Stone should be able to investigate the renovation of the apartment, the spokesperson said: “It is clearly a matter of her. The interest, as you know, has been announced by the Prime Minister transparently on the advice of the Lord [Christopher] Gedet, independent advisor.

“And the House of Commons rule book is very clear that such declarations of ministerial code need not be declared twice. The flat was clearly a ministerial matter, occupied only by the ex officio prime minister.”

A Downing Street source denied Starmer’s accusation that the prime minister tried to “bring down” Stone, claiming it was “untrue”.

Labor has repeatedly called on Stone to investigate whether Johnson should have announced a loan from a Conservative donor, David Brownlow, to fund his flat restoration. The cost was never officially confirmed, although party accounts showed it covered a £52,802 “bridge loan”, later paid by Lord Brownlow and later repaid by Johnson.

An investigation by Gedett, the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, found Johnson acted “unwisely” by not caring enough about financing the renovations, but he did not break any rules.

“It is not up to the prime minister or ministers to decide what the Independent Anti-Corruption Commissioner achieves,” said Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labor Party. Stone has previously investigated Johnson three times, including an investigation into the financing of his vacation in Mustique by a Conservative donor and the late registration of financial interests.

Johnson was absent from Parliament as MPs debated the Westminster corruption scandal on Monday, with several Conservative MPs among those criticizing the government for its efforts last week to overturn a 30-day suspension of Owen Patterson, the Tory MP who violated the lobbying ban.

In the process, the government also attempted to publicize reform of the MPs’ broader standards system, and proposed that John Whittingdale, Cabinet Secretary and former president of Johnson’s wife, Carey, be put in charge of the change. But the move was abandoned after a backlash among the public, the media and lawmakers.

“It wasn’t a tactical error, an innocent miscalculation that was quickly corrected by a turn. It was the prime minister’s way of doing business. A pattern of behaviour,” Starmer said.

When the Prime Minister’s Adviser on the Ministerial Law was found against the Minister of Interior, the Prime Minister retained the Minister of Interior and expelled the Adviser. When the Election Commission investigated the Conservative Party, the Prime Minister threatened to shut it down. And when the Standards Commissioner considered the Prime Minister’s donations, the Prime Minister tried to take them down.”

As the Prime Minister returns by train from a visit to a hospital in Northumberland, it is left to Stephen Barclay, Cabinet Office minister, to express “regret” in the House of Commons for the government’s misguided attempts to change the rules.

Johnson declined to apologize for the fuss over the standards in an interview earlier in the day. But many members of the Conservative Party were not impressed by his refusal to attend. Former Whip boss Mark Harper said, “Politics is a team game. It is essential to work with your colleagues to deliver anything. But if the team leader expects loyalty from the back team members and ministers listen to the team leader’s guidance, they deserve that decisions are well thought out and built.” on sound grounds.

“As on this occasion… if the captain made a mistake, I think he should come and apologize to the crowd and this house. It is the right thing to do in terms of showing leadership.”

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