Boris Johnson and his Cabinet fail to disclose millions of pounds of outside earnings for NINE MONTHS after Whitehall anti-sleaze mandarin’s resignation over Priti Patel bullying row
- PM and Cabinet have kept payments and interests a secret for past nine months
- Non-disclosure began after Sir Alex Allan quit when PM did not sack Priti Patel
- Publishing ministers’ outside interests was one of Sir Alex’s key responsibilities
- The Government has not lined up a replacement since he quit last November
Boris Johnson has broken the Government’s own code of conduct by failing to disclose ministers’ outside earnings, it was claimed last night.
The Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet have kept payments and other interests worth millions of pounds secret for nine months, breaking a pledge to publish them twice a year.
The non-disclosure is said to have been caused by Whitehall anti-sleaze mandarin Sir Alex Allan’s resignation in November after Mr Johnson refused to sack Home Secretary Priti Patel over bullying allegations.
It is claimed Boris Johnson, pictured after receiving his Covid-19 jab yesterday, broke the Government’s own code of conduct by failing to disclose ministers’ outside interests and earnings. The PM and the entire Cabinet have kept payments and other interests worth millions of pounds secret for nine months
Sir Alex was responsible for the publication of ministers’ outside interests and no one has been lined up to succeed him.
The failure to recruit a replacement means there are no plans to publish the list in the near future, according to the Open Democracy political website.
The Whitehall code of conduct was set up in the 1990s to stop a repeat of sleaze scandals involving ministers in John Major’s administration.
Sir Alex, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, walked out in protest when Mr Johnson let Miss Patel keep her job despite claims she bullied officials.
Sir Alex’s role involved ensuring the outside interests of all 137 government ministers, including donations, loans, trusts, investments, plus similar interests of close family members, are published twice a year.
Sir Alex Allan was responsible for publishing ministers’ interests, but he quit in November after Boris Johnson decided not to sack Home Secretary Priti Patel over bullying allegations
The latest list, due in January, is three months overdue with no prospect of it being released soon.
According to Open Democracy, even if a successor to Sir Alex was appointed immediately, it would take months to process the declarations.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg is said to have a personal fortune of £200million and environment minister Lord Zac Goldsmith is believed to be worth £285million.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said a new list of ministers’ interests would be published ‘in due course’.
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