Jennifer Arcuri: Ministers face pressure over grant given to woman with ties to PM
Labour's deputy leader says Boris Johnson does reckless things and had to realise the privileges of power come with restrictions".
Wednesday 25 September 2019 20:36, UK
Ministers are under pressure to explain how a US businesswoman was given a 拢100,000 taxpayer-funded grant - years after Boris Johnson failed to declare a potential conflict of interest with her during his time as London mayor.
Senior MPs piled pressure on the digital department to explain why they awarded the sum through its Cyber Security Immediate Impact fund to Jennifer Arcuri.
It follows reports in The Sunday Times that she joined Mr Johnson on international trips and received grants worth thousands of pounds from City Hall.
The prime minister has now been given less than two weeks to disclose his "personal, social and professional" relationship with Ms Arcuri by the Greater London Assembly's oversight committee.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is now also launching its own investigation into her company, Hacker House, over concerns about its application for a £100,000 grant in February.
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader and shadow culture secretary, said on Wednesday it was "very difficult" to see how the bid "met the criteria".
He claimed Mr Johnson "does reckless things" and had to realise the "trappings and privileges of power come with restrictions and restraints".
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, who tabled an urgent question on the issue in parliament, insisted: "I care very little about the personal life of the prime minister but I care a lot about how this government manages conflicts of interest and how it spends taxpayers' money."
Ms Moran claimed that, even though the point of the fund was to nurture homegrown cybersecurity talent, Hacker House was based in the US.
The MP asked whether due diligence was performed, adding: "The prime minister has been shown to ride roughshod over the laws of this land.
"It would be disappointing if we were to find that the prime minister has form in bending the rules for personal or political gain."
Digital minister Matt Warman denied Mr Johnson or any of his staff had lobbied on behalf of Ms Arcuri to make sure her bid was approved.
He said an inquiry had been launched and would give an update by the end of October.
Mr Warman dismissed anger that Hacker House did not meet the requirement about the grant not exceeding half its income, saying officials involved "scored this application very highly in every other aspect".
Everyone involved in the bid did the "usual due diligence", the minister added, saying the application listed a British phone number.
The prime minister was repeatedly challenged on the story during his recent trip to the UN in New York and refused six times to answer questions about his relationship with Ms Arcuri.
He was asked: "The Sunday Times has heavy innuendo that you're in a sexual relationship with Jennifer Arcuri. Considering public funds were involved - can you clarify your relationship with her?"
Mr Johnson replied: "You'll forgive me, I'm talking exclusively about what we're doing here in the UN."