Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a coronavirus briefing at Downing Street on January 4, 2022
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- UK Prime Minister Johnson was not guilty of corruption following his text exchange with a Tory donor, a minister said.
- Johnson discussed a proposal by Tory donor Lord Brownlow at the same time as requesting funding for his flat refurbishment.
- Labour accused the prime minister of ‘corruption plain and simple.’
A minister has insisted there was “nothing untoward” in Boris Johnson’s text exchange with a Conservative donor who paid for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat after Labour accused the prime minister of corruption.
“Lord Brownlow made his own approaches and it wouldn’t have just gone to the prime minister, but the important thing is it’s not gone ahead,” Business Minister Paul Scully told Times Radio on Friday, per The Independent.
“So there’s nothing untoward that’s happening out of, you know, a few lines in a WhatsApp.”
A WhatsApp exchange published on Thursday showed the prime minister requested funding from Lord Brownlow, a Tory peer and donor, to refurbish his official residence. In the same message, he indicated support for an arts festival project backed by Lord Brownlow dubbed the “Great Exhibition plan.”
The exchange prompted deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner on Thursday to accuse Johnson of “corruption plain and simple.”
“No one should be able to buy access or exchange wallpaper for festivals. Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer,” she said.
The festival ultimately did not go ahead but the government is planning a similar version of it in 2022 dubbed “Festival UK.” It has variously been known as the Festival of Brexit and Unboxed.
Scully said Johnson had not been attempting to link support for the arts festival with Lord Brownlow’s funding for his flat refurbishment. He said the prime minister had instead been speaking about two unrelated issues in the same message.
“I’m not sure he was [linking the Great Exhibition and flat payments],” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.
“I think he’s obviously been approached about this. He could have sent two messages. I’m not sure pressing send between sending two messages is actually going to be any more help.”
The WhatsApp exchange messages were published as part of a probe into the refurbishment of his flat by the prime minister’s independent standards adviser Lord Geidt, who heavily criticized Johnson’s response to the investigation.
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