Over the last few weeks and days Boris Johnson and his Government have become embroiled in a number of controversies that have entered into the media and have been extensively discussed over social media, although as of yet they do not appear to be having a wider public impact. But it is unfortunate news for Boris Johnson and the Tories that these controversies and leaks keep popping up, especially with local elections around the corner and how they have so far enjoyed a good lead in the polls due to successful handling of the vaccine distribution and implementation.
A number of the leaks related to the controversies have been started by Boris Johnson’s former controversial special advisor Dominic Cummings, with Number 10 also blaming him on leaking Johnson’s text messages with Dyson, although he has denied this.
It is no doubt though that Dominic Cummings is proving a thorn in Johnson’s and the Governments side now with him being involved in a number of the revelations such as the Number 10 flat refurbishment and claiming Johnson may have suggested halting an inquiry as it might implicate a friend of his wife.
I already highlighted the Greensill lobbying scandal in a previous Look at the News post, and this is still ongoing with more news likely to come on it, especially as there are seven ongoing inquiries on it.
But I am also going to go over the other main controversies below.
The Downing Street Flat
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Symonds may have hired an eco-interior designer called Lulu Lytle to oversee an overhaul of the Number 10 flat.
- There are questions on how this refurbishment of the flat is being funded, with Johnson’s former special advisor Dominic Cummings claiming that Boris Johnson planned to have donors secretly pay for renovation.
- Leaked emails seen by the Daily Mail claim that a Tory donor called Lord Brownlow may have paid £58k to the Conservative Party, covering payments already made on an apparent soon to be formed Downing Street Trust.
- The Electoral Commission are currently looking into seeing if any sums paid relating to the flat refurbishment should have been declared under current electoral rules.
- As it stands Prime Ministers receive £30k a year of taxpayer money specifically for maintaining and furnishing the Downing Street estate flat. The Cabinet Office claims that Boris Johnson personally paid off anything that went over this allowance.
- The Cabinet Office also confirmed that the Government had been and still is considering benefits of a trust to fund costs on parts or all of the Downing Street Estate.
- The Cabinet Office also promised full details on all works at the Downing Street flat in its annual report
- A Number 10 Spokesman said that Government and Ministers have acted in accordance with codes of conduct and electoral laws.
Bodies Pile High Comment
- The Daily Mail alleged that Boris Johnson said in a Number 10 meeting before the 2nd national lockdown “No more fucking lockdowns, let the bodies pile high in their thousands.”
- Boris Johnson denies making the comment, others such as Michael Gove also denied that it had happened.
Boris Johnson Possibly Suggested Halting of Inquiry to find Leaker
- Johnson’s former special advisor Dominic Cummings claims that Boris Johnson suggested a halt to a Downing Street leak inquiry due to possibility of it implicating a friend of his wife, Carrie Symonds.
- The inquiry was looking into who leaked details on November’s national lockdown in England, causing the plans to have to be announced earlier than planned.
- Cummings said that Johnson had made the suggestion after hearing that Henry Newman, a government advisor, may be implicated in the inquiry.
- It is believed Newman is close to Symonds, with her apparently calling him one of her favourite people.
- The inquiry is still ongoing but frustration has been expressed over its lack of progress and apparent inability to find the leaker.
Johnson-Dyson texts
- Text messages from last March between Boris Johnson and Sir James Dyson were leaked.
- The messages appeared to reveal Johnson’s promise of fixing an issue of the tax status of Sir James Dyson’s employees.
- Dyson was one of the companies that the Government had asked to help supply ventilators in the midst of the pandemic, which was in its early stages.
- In response Boris Johnson said he would not apologise for trying to secure ventilators for the United Kingdom.
- Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Johnson and his Government of sleaze and cronyism over the texts, as had also been the case with the Greensill lobbying scandal.
- Number 10 has since ordered an investigation into how the messages were leaked, with Number 10- sources apparently blaming Dominic Cummings for it, which he denies.
My Thoughts
It seems that ever since the revelation of the Greensill lobbying scandal, Boris Johnson and his government can’t seem to catch a break, with a seemingly developing row between Johnson and his former special advisor Dominic Cummings only likely to further push the controversies into the spotlight, and may even lead to further revelations from Cummings.
With local elections around the corner and having been doing well in the polls due to successful handling of vaccine distribution and implementation, this is not something Johnson or the Government wanted and could very well jeopardize their polling and position for the upcoming elections, especially if further leaks and revelations follow.
But perhaps this was to be expected with an election around the corner. And I do reckon we will see more from Cummings, especially since he is going to be making an appearance before MPs next month.
Boris Johnson apparently picked up the phone to newspaper editors to blame Cummings for leaks according to Sky News, which caused Cummings to retaliate with a number of the revelations we currently now know about – the possible suggestion of halting an inquiry, and possible breaking of rules and maybe even laws over the funding of the flat refurbishment. One wonders why Johnson would have made this move against Cummings and spurred further revelations from Cummings, when Johnson’s government were in a good position with relatively little problematic coverage apart from the Greensill debacle, which in and of itself was mostly clean for Johnson and his Government. It now very much looks like a major strategic error on his part, like poking a bear with a stick for no real reason.
But now that these things are open in the air for us to see and digest, they deserve the attention and should not be quashed or buried, and all avenues looking into them should be conducted to see if any laws or rules were broken.
It remains to be seen if any of this will end up affecting the party’s polling and results in the upcoming local elections or if there will be any further leaks or revelations.
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