- Strip Boris of ex-PM £115k allowance until he comes clean
- Welsh Liberal Democrats Respond to Building Safety Announcement
Boris Johnson should be stripped of the ex-PM allowance of up to £115,000 a year until he answers questions about his financial arrangements while he was Prime Minister, the Lib Dems have said.
This comes further to successive reports regarding ‘credit facilities’ which Johnson secured while he was in Downing Street, reportedly facilitated by Richard Sharp who was subsequently appointed as BBC Chair.
The Lib Dems have warned that until Johnson comes clean about these facilities, whether there was any conflict of interest with the public appointments process, and why they were not declared, he should be denied access to the funding available to former Prime Ministers.
Former Prime Ministers are able to claim a sum of money from the taxpayer to fund office costs for life, under the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA).
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP commented:
Every day brings yet another story of sleaze and cronyism at the heart of this Conservative government.
Serious questions remain unanswered about this major potential conflict of interest that was kept hidden from the public.
Boris Johnson has a dismal track record of avoiding scrutiny and covering up his lies and deceit. We know he’s only interested in following the money, so it’s time to hit him where it hurts – his wallet.
Johnson should be stripped of his taxpayer-funded ex-Prime Minister’s allowance until he finally comes clean.
Welsh Liberal Democrats Respond to Building Safety Announcement
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have accused Labour and Plaid Cymru of “trying to reinvent the wheel” following the latest building safety announcement by Climate Change Minister Julie James.
The Liberal Democrats have stated that today’s announcement still fails to set out clear legally enforceable timelines for remediation work to continue and fails to commit to implementing Section 116-125 of the Building Safety Code which is in place in England, instead seeking to add more delays by ploughing ahead with its own regulations.
Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:
I welcome today’s announcement that the criteria for those eligible to access the Leaseholder Support Scheme have been widened. This is down to months of campaigning from victims to address a disparity which should never have been allowed in the first place.
However, the rest of today’s announcement is disappointing and primarily focuses on the future of building safety rather than speeding up action to tackle the current crisis. It is extremely disappointing that instead of simply enacting the Building Safety Act in full as it exists in England, Labour and Plaid Cymru feel the need to reinvent the wheel with their own measures, something that will add just more delays to the situation.
It is also disappointing to see that there has not yet been a success in convincing the big banks to restart lending to victims, once again an area where the Welsh Government have lagged behind those in England.
2 Comments
I agree with Wendy Chamberlain’s statement ,when are the many scandals surrounding Boris Johnson’s time at the forefront of British politics going to get the treatment they deserve? Never I suspect?
Public Duties Cost Allowance. Is this what is paying him to go anywhere in the world,ie Ukraine,whenever he needs to? Using taxpayers money to develop his future. It is only now that his dubious past financial arrangemeents are coming to the fore.The money that is given out to ex MPs or PMs needs reviewing.especially when they have the opportunity to earn more funds from 2nd jobs ,ie speaking arrangements