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The Wallpaper.
It's costing tens and tens of thousands... I cannot afford it: Boris Johnson's despairing cry to Downing St aides about lavish new No 10 decor - as revealed in definitive account of THAT scandal
SIMON WALTERS: It was fourteen months ago - back in February 2020 - that officials first became alarmed by renovations to the No 11 flat. As is now well known, at this stage life-long libertarian Mr Johnson was among those who were less alarmed about the risk of a pandemic. But he was suddenly alarmed by signs of a political problem closer to home. 'The cost is totally out of control - she's buying gold wallpaper!' he is said to have raged to aides. It is not clear if this was classic Johnson hyperbole - or whether the wallpaper really is gold. When aides asked him how much it was costing, he said: 'Tens and tens of thousands - I can't afford it.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9518183/Boriss-despairing-cry-Downing-St-aides-lavish-new-decor.html
SIMON WALTERS: It was fourteen months ago - back in February 2020 - that officials first became alarmed by renovations to the No 11 flat. As is now well known, at this stage life-long libertarian Mr Johnson was among those who were less alarmed about the risk of a pandemic. But he was suddenly alarmed by signs of a political problem closer to home. 'The cost is totally out of control - she's buying gold wallpaper!' he is said to have raged to aides. It is not clear if this was classic Johnson hyperbole - or whether the wallpaper really is gold. When aides asked him how much it was costing, he said: 'Tens and tens of thousands - I can't afford it.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9518183/Boriss-despairing-cry-Downing-St-aides-lavish-new-decor.html
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https://video.dailymail.co.uk/preview/mol/2021/04/28/3692474437893900290/964x580_MP4_3692474437893900290.mp4
Boris Johnson insisted he 'paid for the refurbishment myself' and had abided by the ministerial code despite the Electoral Commission saying there were 'reasonable grounds to suspect' the law might have been broken over the controversial No11 refurbishment. But he again dodged saying whether £58,000 of Tory funds had originally been used for the works, before he repaid the money. 'I paid for it,' he said. 'I have covered the costs.' Mr Johnson also flatly denied saying that he would rather see 'bodies pile up' than trigger another lockdown last Autumn - laying down the gauntlet to anyone who heard it to say so publicly. 'I didn't say those words,' he said. 'What I do believe is that a lockdown is a miserable, miserable thing.' And he went on the attack, saying it was 'bizarre' and 'irrelevant' of Sir Keir to keep pushing on the issue. Mr Johnson added that he has asked the new independent adviser on ministerial interests to look into whether he needs to make 'any further declaration'. 'I look forward to what the Electoral Commission has to say.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9520575/Elections-watchdog-launches-probe-offences-No11-flat.html
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/why-is-boris-johnson-so-broke/ar-BB1g3IFa?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/it-is-none-of-your-business-how-boris-johnson-paid-for-lavish-no-10-flat-refurb-government-minister-says/ar-BB1g8j4Q?ocid=msedgntp
Boris Johnson has sparked fury by rejecting a sleaze watchdog’s call for his new independent ethics adviser to be given the power to launch investigations into ministerial wrongdoing.
And the prime minister indicated that ministers who breach their code of conduct will no longer automatically face the sack - a practice he condemned as “disproportionate”.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/fury-as-boris-johnson-denies-adviser-power-to-launch-sleaze-inquiries/ar-BB1g99Nx?ocid=msedgntp
Prime Ministers are given a taxpayer-funded allowance of up to £30,000 per year to cover refurbishments of the flat, which might seem generous to the average homeowner, but it was nowhere near enough for Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds’ expensive tastes.
Miss Symonds commissioned top-end interior designers Soane Britain, run by darling of the fashionable set Lulu Lytle, to give the place a revamp.
Ms Lytle’s creations are not for the financially faint-hearted: her Bear Sofa costs £19,950, an Owl lampshade costs £11,600, a Venus chair is £5,900 and Dianthus wallpaper costs £840 per roll.
Mr Johnson reportedly told aides the redecoration was costing "tens and tens of thousands – I can’t afford it!"
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/in-depth-the-gilded-makeover-of-the-no-11-flat-and-boris-johnson-s-battle-to-pay-for-it/ar-BB1g9N2p?ocid=msedgntp
Boris Johnson (left) and Carrie Symonds may have to hand over personal emails and phone messages to an official inquiry. In a bombshell move, the Electoral Commission yesterday opened a formal investigation into the funding of the lavish refurbishment of the couple's official flat. 'We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred,' announced the watchdog. It has sweeping powers to demand documents and interview witnesses under caution. Failure to comply or tell the truth is a criminal offence. Pictured: Lulu Lytle (top right) who is believed to have carried out the flat refurbishment and one of her designs (bottom right).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9522651/PM-Carrie-Symonds-hand-personal-emails-messages-official-inquiry.html
STEPHEN GLOVER: All his life Boris Johnson has cut corners, ignored rules and flouted convention, both in his private and his professional life.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9523027/STEPHEN-GLOVER-Yes-Boris-banished-Corbyn-got-Brexit-hes-careless-cavalier.html
Just how bad COULD it be? Inquiry into funding of Boris Johnson flat could become biggest investigation directly affecting No 10 since New Labour's 'Cash for Honours' scandal
The Electoral Commission inquiry into the funding of Boris Johnson's Downing Street makeover has the potential to become the biggest investigation for No 10 since the 'Cash for Honours' scandal.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9522929/Inquiry-No10-flat-funding-biggest-investigation-Cash-Honours-scandal.html
Chancellor Rishi Sunak redecorated his Downing Street flat 'entirely at his own expense', Treasury reveals
Rishi Sunak redecorated his Downing Street flat last year 'entirely at his own expense', the Treasury revealed yesterday as the storm raged over Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds' refurbishment.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9522739/Rishi-Sunak-redecorated-Downing-Street-flat-entirely-expense-Treasury-reveals.html
On Twitter, John Lewis said: “Time for an interiors refresh? We pride our Home Design Service on having something for *almost* everyone.”
https://uk.yahoo.com/style/john-lewis-pokes-fun-prime-142321399.html
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/preview/mol/2021/04/28/4171125558232106919/636x382_MP4_4171125558232106919.mp4
HENRY DEEDES: Gone were the usual smiles, smirks and ho-ho-hos. Instead, the Boris Johnson in the Commons chamber yesterday was suddenly a man fighting tooth and claw for his reputation. A week of woeful headlines over his Downing Street flat's refurbishment, not to mention an investigation by the Electoral Commission announced moments before, had clearly left him on the precipice. On top of it all, Sir Keir Starmer had been needling and gnawing away at him like a jabbering woodpecker. Who had 'initially' paid for the work, he asked - five times. Enough was enough! In the most explosive, gladiatorial PMQs of recent years, the Prime Ministerial lid eventually popped. Boris was boiling. Steaming. Raging.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9522917/HENRY-DEEDES-Suddenly-jokes-stopped-Boris-boiling-raging-steaming.html
Jeffrey Archer and Ayesha Hazarika discussed the potential fallout from an explosive PMQs exchange on ITV's Good Morning Britain. Ms Hazarika stated that Boris Johnson "lost the plot" in the House of Commons and was "rattled" by Sir Keir's grilling.
Mr Archer said: "Keir Starmer was very clever, what he did as an all-pro prosecutor, he set up the questions again and again until he had got the answers he wanted because I think they have got someone who will come forward and make statements.
"The reason Keir Starmer was setting him up was because it was said at the dispatch box."
Ms Hazarika added: "What was interesting about PMQs was by the time Keir Starmer ranked up the pressure through those six questions and he was very forensic as the top barrister.
"By the time he got to the sixth question Boris Johnson lost the plot, that rant was extraordinary.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/jeffrey-archer-just-revealed-exactly-why-boris-is-in-trouble-after-starmer-set-him-up/ar-BB1gavhA?ocid=msedgntp
JAN MOIR: Perhaps you may find this surprising - because I certainly do - but as we roll on through Wallpapergate, it is Carrie Symonds (left) who has my sympathy. The price of having her walls lined with gold scrolling ferns is that she has been painted as a grasping opportunist who would spend £1,000 on a designer tea cosy, if only she could get some mug Tory Party donor to foot the bill. A Carrie Antoinette doing the cakewalk of greedy shame down corridors lined with the finest silks; a Princess Nut Nut wallowing in tasteful luxury while the peasants have to make do with John Lewis posters and wipe-clean sofas in practical neutrals. Gaah! Pass me that hand-stitched ivory vellum lampshade, all the better to shield my eyes from the décor horror of the High Street. (Pictured centre, Boris Johnson, right Lulu Lytle with her dog, bottom right, Lulu Lytle design.)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9527071/JAN-MOIR-Sorry-dont-blame-Carrie-wanting-Lytle-luxury.html
Part of it appears very clear.
What seems clear is that Honest Boris seemed to have no intention of paying for this work.
He was whinging about his other half choosing gold wallpaper that he was unable to afford.
He approached a Tory donor, the JCB fella, to pay for it.
It was discovered that if a donor paid for the work it would breach the rules.
Another donor was approached, with a view to setting up a blind trust.
The second donor contributed £58,000.
This was prior to discovering that the setting up of a blind trust would still breach the rules.
In the meantime, at least some of the work was completed.
The Cabinet Office paid the bill.
This is in breach of the rules.
The Tory Party refunded the Cabinet office.
The Tory Party arent allowed to pay the bill as there are restrictions on what they are allowed to spend money on.
Gold wallpaper for the PM is not one of them.
It would seem that Boris has now paid the bill, but only after exploring just about every option of circumventing the rules.
He refuses to answer the question of who initially paid for the work.
He will only say that he ended up paying for it.
Only a fool arranges for up to £200,000 worth of home improvements, without arranging for the necessary funds to be available on completion.
Only an idiot would allow their other half to make these arrangements without having any knowledge of them.
Did his other half not have any knowledge of his financial position?
Honesty, integrity, and Boris Johnson cannot be used in the same sentence.
This story will run, and run.
Conservative Party staff have been told they have one week to hand over all communication related to renovations of Boris Johnson’s flat in 11 Downing Street or face criminal consequences, according to reports.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-news-live-tory-staff-to-hand-over-flat-communications-as-post-brexit-fishing-talks-collapse/ar-BB1gfmbC?ocid=msedgntp
Conservative Party HQ has warned staff that deleting texts or emails relating to the refurbishment of Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat could land them in court, it was claimed today.
The Sun reported that staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters were sent an email yesterday stating: 'You are put on notice that this is a criminal investigation.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/conservative-party-hq-warns-staff-over-pm-s-flat-renovation-probe/ar-BB1ge9YG?ocid=msedgntp
JOHN HUMPHRYS: The problem is that Boris Johnson is playing us for fools. That's more than just an affront to our intelligence. It's an affront to democracy.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9530685/JOHN-HUMPHRYS-Beware-leader-speaks-Peoples-Priorities.html