Latest updates: Commons standards committee says it was ‘regrettable’ that PM did not provide details of who paid for Mustique holiday accommodation
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The Commons standards committee has published a report (pdf) saying it was “regrettable” that Boris Johnson did not provide full details of who paid for his holiday accommodation in Mustique in December 2019.
The committee publishes its report after an investigation by Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, whose own report is printed as an appendix to the committee.
It is unsatisfactory that neither [David Ross, the Tory donor who facilitated Johnson’s stay on a villa in Mustique] nor Mr Johnson explained the arrangements to the commissioner until last autumn and that Mr Ross only provided minimal information on the arrangement this spring and in response to our own enquiries. Mr Johnson has stated himself that it is “regrettable that information has been provided to the commissioner in stages”.
This matter could have been concluded many months ago if more strenuous efforts had been made to dispel the uncertainty. Given that Mr Johnson was twice reprimanded by our predecessor committee in the last parliament in the space of four months for “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the House”, we would have expected him to have gone the extra mile to ensure there was no uncertainty about the arrangements.
The rules require members to fulfil “conscientiously” the requirement of the house in respect of the registration of interests in the register of members’ financial interests. Because he did not make sufficient inquiries to establish the full facts about the funding arrangements for his free accommodation, either before his holiday, as he should have done, or in 2020, I find that Mr Johnson has not fulfilled conscientiously the house’s requirements for registration. I find that this is a breach of paragraph 14 of the code of conduct. I also find that Mr Johnson has not shown the accountability required of those in public life.
Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has been giving interviews this morning and he has hinted that the government may alter the way the test and trace app operates in response to concerns that millions of people face being “pinged” and told to self-isolate this summer because they have been near someone testing positive. Sunak told Sky News:
I’ve spoken to the health secretary about this and he’s aware of the frustration that people have around this.
We have two different systems for the test and trace: we have obviously the NHS one, and we also have the app. I know most people’s concerns rest with how the app is working and the health secretary is aware of that.
Department of Health are looking at the sensitivity of the Covid app, I understand.
The Chancellor told Sky News the health secretary is working on a “proportionate approach” given concerns about people deleting the app… more here: https://t.co/tDTa5I3hRp
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