There are “reasonable grounds to suspect an offence”
The Electoral Commission has confirmed that it will be investigating funding of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat.
The Commission said: “We are now satisfied that 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”
Boris Johnson has been under pressure over the past few days over questions about how the refurbishment of his and his fiancee’s Downing Street flat was funded.
BREAKING: Electoral Commission announces investigation into Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat refurb row.
“We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred."
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) April 28, 2021
On Wednesday, neither Number 10 or the Conservative Party denied reports that the Conservative Campaign headquarters (CCHQ) had paid the Cabinet Office to cover the initial costs of the work.
Per Sky News, leaked emails showed that Tory donor Lord Brownlow claimed to have paid £58,000 to the Tory party to “cover payments” that the party had already made.
The story first emerged after the PM’s former aide Dominic Cummings claimed this week that Johnson had wanted donors to ‘secretly pay’ for the work in an ‘unethical, foolish, possibly illegal’ move.
Johnson has denied any claims of wrongdoing, and Downing Street have said that the cost of the renovations, beyond the £30,000 annual allowance, had been met by the Prime Minister personally. Per the Metro, Downing Street added that Conservative Party funds “are not being used for this.”
'We need to know who he is beholden to'.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says details concerning the PM's flat refurbishment in Downing Street "does matter", adding that Boris Johnson has not provided a "full and frank explanation".https://t.co/ZLhRsFBY8H pic.twitter.com/J2mvfm9qWJ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 27, 2021
