Boris Johnson could not deny that he tried to offer his mistress Carrie Symonds a senior government job while he was foreign minister.
The Prime Minister was challenged in the House of Commons because of reports that he had raised the idea of hiring her for £ 100,000 a year as head of the Foreign Office cabinet in 2018.
Downing Street did not deny that the prime minister should have been discussed by the aides’ plans, and Mr Johnson’s decision to avoid the issue in the mayor’s questions in the municipalities is likely to be seen by many as an effective confirmation of reports.
There is growing pressure to investigate allegations that Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted that Ms. Symonds be selected for taxpayer-funded work at the State Department.
But no one is conducting the investigation – after his ethics adviser left last week over what Christopher Hyde said was a separate plan that would violate the ministerial code.
Meanwhile, it is claimed and not denied that as Prime Minister in 2020, Mr Johnson suggested that Carrie – until then his wife – could take on a top environmental role in connection with the COP26 summit on climate change or the Earthshot Prize. of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Reports indicate that he wanted Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who had previously been Prince William’s personal secretary, to “drill”. But councilors are said to have vetoed both proposals, warning that any position could undermine his wife’s status as a private citizen.
In the House of Commons, Labor MP Chris Elmore asked Mr Johnson: “Have you ever considered appointing your current wife to a government post or to an organization in one of the royal households?
Mr Elmore added: “Be an honest Prime Minister – yes or no?”
However, the prime minister avoided the question by saying: “I know why the party on the other side wants to talk about non-existent jobs in the media, because they do not want to talk about what is happening in the real world.”
Sir Keir Starmer attacked his failure to respond, telling lawmakers to laugh: “If I ever need advice – say for a £ 100,000 job at the Foreign Office – I will ask him for a recommendation.”
A senior spokesman for the Labor leader later confirmed that he considered the prime minister’s failure to commit to Mr Elmore’s question as an effective confirmation of the allegations. “It was a complete non-denial by the PMQ prime minister,” he said.
Downing Street has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the controversy after the indictment was filed over the weekend.
Instead, the prime minister’s spokesman referred reporters to statements by Ms. Johnson’s spokesman, who described the Foreign Ministry’s history as “false” and said the assumption that the prime minister’s wife was considering working at COP26 or the Earthshot Award was “Just as untrue as it was then.”
No 10 sources could explain today how Ms. Johnson, as a private citizen, received confidential information about internal government discussions about taxpayer-funded appointments.
The prime minister’s spokesman said only that the prime minister “never recommended Ms. Johnson for a state role or one as part of the Earthshot Award”, but declined to say whether her possible appointment had ever been discussed with aides.
Downing Street has also stopped replacing Lord Hyde, leaving a vacancy, which means there is no observer to police for alleged breaches of the code established for all ministers.
Former Secretary of State Alan Duncan said he had been told that Ms. Symonds – then in charge of communications at the Conservative Party’s headquarters (CCHQ) – had been assigned a special role as an adviser to the department.
“For someone slightly unproven, who knows nothing about foreign affairs, to come straight from the CCHQ and enter the foreign ministry was quite noticeable,” he said.
The chairman of the Municipal Standards Committee, Chris Bryant, called for the publication of the “paper trail” behind the controversy.
“It is obviously corrupt to appoint your lover to the West [special adviser]He wrote on Twitter.
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