Labour calls on Prime Minister to reopen investigation into Downing Street flat

Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has written to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, Lord Geidt, outlining inconsistencies between his report on 28th May 2021, and the Electoral Commission’s findings yesterday, saying that the “discrepancy seriously undermines the conclusions of the original inquiry.”

The Electoral Commission report reveals that the Prime Minister sent a WhatsApp message to Lord Brownlow, the sole donor behind the luxury refurb, on 29th November 2020, asking for additional money - when Lord Geidt’s report into the debacle said the PM wasn’t aware of “either the fact or the method of the costs of refurbishing the apartment having been paid” until late February 2021.

Rayner points out that the fresh revelations show that "either the Prime Minister knew that Lord Brownlow was funding the work and failed to declare it, or he was not certain of the person providing the gift but nonetheless accepted it". 

Labour have asked Lord Geidt if he was made aware of these messages and demanded they be published.

They have accused the Prime Minister of undermining standards in public life.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor for the Dutchy of Lancaster, Angela Rayner said:

“We now know that in the days before he imposed the 2021 winter lockdown, the Prime Minister went from allegedly hosting an illegal party in Downing Street to asking super rich Tory donors to secretly fund the luxury refurb of his flat. 

"Not only has the Conservative Party broken the law, but its Prime Minister has made a mockery of the standards we expect.  

"If Boris Johnson refuses a fresh investigation, that standard will be lowered significantly - setting the bar woefully low for our country’s public life."

Ends

Full text of the letter

Dear Lord Geidt,

I am writing to you regarding todays’ Electoral Commission report which found that the Conservative Party broke electoral law by failing to declare donations used to pay for the refurbishment of the Downing Street flat. I am urgently requesting that you ask the Prime Minister to reopen this investigation, in light of the inconsistencies between the report you published in May 2021, and the Electoral Commission's investigation report.

The Prime Minister consistently denied any knowledge about the luxury refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, claiming he only became aware of the works when media coverage brought it to his attention in February 2021, as your report concluded. However, the Electoral Commission’s investigation found that he personally requested Conservative donor Lord Brownlow provide more money for the works on 29th November 2021.

This directly contradicts the evidence you were given that: “at no point in the eight months until late February 2021, as media reports were emerging, was the Prime Minister made aware of either the fact or the method of the costs of refurbishing the apartment having been paid.”

Firstly, that discrepancy seriously undermines the conclusions of the original inquiry.

Secondly, it suggests that the Prime Minister was, at the very least, not entirely honest and truthful in giving evidence. That is in itself an additional clear breach of the Ministerial Code. The Prime Minister appears to have had knowledge of both the fact and the method of the refurbishment payments, which he himself solicited.

In the interests of both transparency and confidence in the enforcement of ministerial standards, it is vital that you confirm whether you had sight of the WhatsApp exchanges between the Prime Minister and Lord Brownlow and that these messages are released.

Furthermore, there are significant questions to be answered about whether the Prime Minister broke both the Ministerial and Members’ Codes by failing to declare the donation from Lord Brownlow, whether or not he claimed to have believed that this was a form of “blind trust”.

As you will remember, in the course of your investigation the Prime Minister said that his understanding was that the cost of the refurbishment would be covered by a charitable trust that the Conservatives planned to set up. However, when it was established by the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case that a charitable trust could not cover private areas of Downing Street, Lord Brownlow provided the money personally.

When asked about this donation, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told journalists that Boris Johnson was “not aware of the details of the underlying donor”. He added: “Lord Brownlow did not make a decision about becoming the person to cover the costs until after that exchange.

Lord Brownlow was the chair of a blind trust and acted in accordance with his experience of managing blind trusts in that way, the Prime Minister’s discussions with Lord Brownlow were done without him knowing the underlying donor of that donation.”

The Prime Minister was personally responsible for appointing Lord Brownlow to chair the Downing Street Trust, and it is difficult to believe that he was unaware of Lord Brownlow’s involvement. In any case, even if the Prime Minister was somehow ignorant of the fact that Lord Brownlow was the sole donor, today’s report demonstrates that he was undoubtedly asking for Brownlow to fundraise significant sums for the refurbishment of his flat.

That in itself is surely an interest that should have been declared, and one that was self-evidently known to the Prime Minister in autumn 2020, long before February 2021.

It also raises an obvious conflict with the standards expected of Members of Parliament in seeking or receiving supposedly anonymous donations. The Prime Minister will know this well because the Standards Committee has already sanctioned him for exactly this offence, and set out clearly their expectations of future conduct:

“We urge Members to avoid seeking or accepting gifts or hospitality on the basis of complex and unclear funding arrangements, which are by definition opaque, lack transparency and run counter to the principle of openness. We also urge Members to reject any donations whether in cash or in kind where they are not absolutely certain of the identity of the person facilitating, providing and funding the gift. Where there is any uncertainty at all about the arrangements, or if the arrangements change, it would be better not to accept the gift or hospitality.”

Either the Prime Minister knew that Lord Brownlow was funding the work and failed to declare it, or he was not certain of the person providing the gift but nonetheless accepted it.

It surely cannot be your assertion that the standards set for Ministers are lower than those for Members of Parliament? Yet it stands, the Prime Minister himself is getting away with behaviour that would see a backbench MP potentially face recall by their constituents.

There is already widespread public concern about the conduct of Ministers during this period, and that of the Prime Minister will only erode trust even further.

The Cabinet Secretary is investigating a breach of the government’s own regulations at an event in Downing Street on 27th November 2020. Two days later, the Prime Minister was messaging donors to ask for more money towards his luxury flat refurbishment. Just days after that, further restrictions were imposed on the whole country as the pandemic reached a new height. Millions missed out on a Christmas. You must understand the widespread belief that it is one rule for us, another rule for them.

Not only has the Conservative Party broken the law, but its Prime Minister has made a mockery of the standards we expect – standards that it is your duty to uphold.

In the absence of any new investigation, that standard will be lowered significantly - setting the bar woefully low for our country’s public life.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster