LONDON, Apr 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is facing a new investigation into the cost of redecoration of his Downing Street apartment, British media reported yesterday.
Britain’s electoral watchdog, Electoral Commission, opened a probe into whether an alleged donation to Conservative party funds, intended to pay for the revamp of Johnson’s flat, should have been declared.
The watchdog said, the probe would find out how the cost of the work was paid for and suspected that an offence may have occurred.
In a statement, the Electoral Commission said, it had been in contact with the party since last month and found grounds to launch an investigation.
“We are satisfied there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred. We will therefore continue this work, as a formal investigation, to establish whether this is the case,” it said.
Britain’s top civil servant, Simon Case, has now been asked to review how the refurbishment was funded.
Johnson and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, carried out renovations on their private residence, the flat above No. 11, Downing Street. There has been speculation the cost was as much as 200,000 pounds (about 279,080 U.S. dollars), but Johnson only receives an annual public grant of 30,000 pounds (about 41,862 dollars) to spend on the flat.
Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, claimed, the prime minister planned to have donors “secretly pay” for the work on his flat.
In one of the toughest exchanges in his premiership, Wednesday, during his weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons (lower house of the British parliament), Johnson insisted that he paid for the flat refurbishment personally, but refused to disclose who made the donation.
Labour leader, Keir Starmer, and Ian Blackford, the Commons leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), both fired tough questions over, what some media is referring to as, “Wallpapergate.”
The Downing Street row dominated the front pages of most national newspapers in Britain yesterday, when Johnson, Starmer and senior politicians spent the day visiting various regions of Britain, on the election trail.– NNN-AGENCIES
