LONDON - On Saturday, Britain's opposition Labour Party demanded an investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson's recent refurbishment of his Downing Street flat and how it was funded. The move came after claims from his former adviser.
Dominic Cummings revealed on Friday in a blog post, that he told Johnson he deemed his plans for donors to pay for his renovations, were "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal." Cummings suddenly left Johnson's side in December of 2020 after being his most prominent adviser on Brexit dealings and the 2019 election.
Cummings claims he was not the one at fault for leaking the price of Johnson's refurbishment or the Prime Minister's private communications regarding COVID-19 ventilators.
According to Cummings, with regard to competence and integrity, the PM and his office had fallen below the appropriate standard.
Johnson's government responded by saying the refurbishment followed procedures. On Friday, Johnson's office said the PM did not interfere in a government leak inquiry.
The Labour Party called for a full investigation into the matter. "It matters because it's about integrity and it's about taypayers' money," Labour leader Keir Starmer said to BBC television.
He said, "You've got the former most senior adviser to the prime minister saying he's fallen well below the standards of integrity that are needed for the office of the prime minister. Every day there's more evidence of this sleaze and frankly it stinks."
Labour has also called for a new independent commission to be launched, on ethics and standards in government.
On Saturday, the PM's office had no further comment.
(Reporting by James Davey and Klaudia Fior; Editing by Ros Russell)