Boris vs sleaze watchdogs: PM REFUSES to tell Commons regulator cost of Marbella freebie holiday

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Boris Johnson is facing mounting sleaze fury today after refusing to reveal the value of a free family holiday he was given at the lavish Spanish estate of one of his richest ministers.

Downing Street confirmed this morning that the Johnsons’ October stay at the Marbella home of Lord Goldsmith would not be placed on the register of MPs’ financial interests, which would require him to say how much it was worth.

The move to keep secret the value of the visit to the Torre Tramores estate, which had a rental value of £25,000 per night, is the Prime Minister’s latest confrontation with political transparency watchdogs.

Last night it was revealed he is is facing the threat of a new probe into the opulent revamp of his Downing Street flat by the Commons Standards Commissioner he has attempted to undermine.

The Daily Mail understands that the commissioner will make a decision on whether to launch an inquiry into the funding of the refurbishment as soon as a separate probe being conducted by the Electoral Commission has been completed. 

The Prime Minister was forced last night to deny claims that his botched effort to overhaul the standards process had been a ‘pre-emptive’ strike on Kathryn Stone.

Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday suggested the parliamentary standards commissioner’s role was untenable in the wake of the row over Owen Paterson. 

But she appears to be on firm ground after Mr Johnson’s U-turn led to Mr Paterson’s resignation as an MP and widespread fury among his backbenchers.

Research by YouGov carried out in the wake of the dramatic Commons vote to suspend the standards system showed the Tory poll lead plunging by five points.

The party is now just one point ahead of Labour, after dropping from 39 per cent to 36 per cent in a week, while Keir Starmer has seen a boost to 35 per cent, according to the survey in The Times. 

The latest brazen behaviour by Mr Johnson could also fuel an escalating spat with Speaker Lindsay Hoyle over ministers failing to show respect for Parliament. 

Sir Lindsay has repeatedly rebuked the government for making announcements in press conferences and interviews instead of coming to the Commons.

In the latest spat yesterday, the Speaker tore into Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng for suggesting that standards commissioner Kathryn Hudson should resign.

One Commons source told MailOnline that if the villa was owned by the Goldsmith family it could not be treated solely as a gift from Lord Goldsmith – which could torpedo No10’s arguments against putting it on the MP register.

‘It’s the arrogance now,’ another Westminster source said. ‘Things like this will bring them down. They are spending credit at such a rate. It is absurd.’

Downing Street today claimed that because the Johnsons’ holiday in Spain last month was provided by a minister it falls outside the remit of the House of Commons financial probity watchdog. 

The holiday was yesterday revealed on the ministerial register of interests as having provided free of charge by Goldsmith, a former MP and friend of Carrie Johnson who was handed a peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his Commons seat in 2019.

But an entry on the separate MPs register would require revealing how much the benefit in kind was worth.  The Torre Tramores estate, where Mr Johnson, Carrie and their son Wilfred stayed, is available for private rent at a cost of £25,000 per night for a secluded retreat with its own private helipad. 

A No 10 spokesman today said the holiday provided by ‘a longstanding friend’ had been registered correctly.

‘The Prime Minister’s met the transparency requirements in relation to this, he declared this arrangement in his ministerial capacity, given this was hospitality provided by another minister,’ he said.

However, the ministerial code entry says the property was provided by ‘the Goldsmiths’, not just the minister. 

He added that the PM has written to the House of Commons registrar ‘to set out’ the arrangement. He did not clarify when asked whether the registrar had replied to Mr Johnson’s letter, but added: ‘As I say, ministerial code declarations fall outside the remit of the House of Commons registrar and Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.’

Labour has demanded a probe into the holiday by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. In a letter last night deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘Lord Goldsmith was given a peerage and a ministerial job by Mr Johnson. The public could understandably draw the conclusion in this case that the Prime Minister is dishing out cushy jobs to his friends who pay for his luxury holidays.

‘We cannot have a situation where Boris Johnson behaves like it’s one rule for him and another for everyone else. I would be grateful for your guidance on whether this is a breach of the rules, and whether you will investigate the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.’

Downing Street has justified its decision by pointing to a section in the Code of Conduct for MPs regarding trips abroad which says that among those that do not need to be declared are ‘visits wholly unconnected with membership of the House or with the Member’s parliamentary or political activities (e.g. family holidays)’.  

The spokesman added that the PM’s ministerial standards adviser Lord Geidt had scrutinised the declaration as part of the process. 

Asked why the PM’s Marbella holiday did not need to be declared on the register of members’ interests, the spokesman replied: ‘The ministerial code declarations fall outside the remit of the House of Commons register.’ 

Goldsmith is the former MP for Richmond Park who was elevated to the peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The move allowed the 46-year-old to remain in Government as an environment minister. He is currently Minister for the Pacific and the Environment having been given an additional role in a 2020 reshuffle.

The stay at the Torre Tramores in early October sparked fury as Mr Johnson left the UK amid a gas price crisis that struck businesses. 

In the latest register, released yesterday, a simple paragraph reads: ‘The Prime Minister has a longstanding personal friendship with the Goldsmith family and, in that capacity, in October 2021, stayed in a holiday home in southern Spain which was provided free of charge by the Goldsmiths. 

‘Given Lord Goldsmith is a Minister of the Crown, the arrangement has accordingly been declared.’

But the Liberal Democrat’s Wendy Chamberlain said: ‘Boris Johnson and the Tories have shown this week they don’t have a shred of integrity left.

‘The Independent Standards Commissioner should urgently launch an investigation into whether Boris Johnson breached the code of conduct by failing to properly declare his holiday.

 ‘The Tories have shown they can’t be trusted to mark their own homework on this issue. They are now the party of sleaze.’

The position adopted by Mr Johnson comes after he registered his previous controversial holiday with the Commons authorities.

Kathryn Stone, the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards,  castigated the Prime Minister in the summer over a lavish £15,000 Caribbean holiday in 2019 funded by Tory donors.

But he was saved from punishment – which could have included being the first serving premier to be suspended from the Commons, by MPs who overturned her ruling.  

The cross-party Standards Committee found the PM had made an ‘accurate and complete’ declaration about the holiday in December 2019, saying it was a donation from Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross even though the couple did not stay in his villa.

The committee – chaired by Labour MP Chris Bryant – over-ruled Ms Stone after she concluded that Mr Johnson did breach the Code of Conduct for MPs during a 15-month wrangle after initially failing to provide a full explanation, slamming him for ‘not showing the accountability required of those in public life’.

The report also suggested that the premier himself did not know exactly how the jaunt was being funded until after he arrived on Mustique and realised he was not staying in Mr Ross’s own property. 

Meanwhile the Electoral Commission has handed over its initial findings on wallpapergate to Tory party chiefs who now have an opportunity to respond.

Tory donor Lord Brownlow paid an invoice to cover some of the costs for the works, effectively giving Mr Johnson a loan, before the PM eventually settled the bill himself. However, this was not declared until after the Mail published a string of exposes. Eco-friendly interior designer Lulu Lytle was hired to transform the flat with gold wallpaper costing as much as £840 a roll.

Lord Geidt, the ministerial standards adviser, earlier this year found Mr Johnson did not breach the ministerial code but acted ‘unwisely’ in allowing the refurbishment to go ahead without ‘more rigorous regard for how this would be funded’.

The Electoral Commission is carrying out a separate investigation into whether donations to the party were properly declared.

An inquiry by Miss Stone would be the third probe into the matter if she goes ahead. Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner requested in June that she investigate. Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former chief aide, yesterday claimed in a tweet that the Government’s bid to change the standards process to spare Mr Paterson from being punished was actually ‘a pre-emptive strike by [the] PM on [the] EC (Electoral Commission) and [Miss] Stone’.

But No 10 denied the planned overhaul had been designed to protect Mr Johnson’s own interests.

Meanwhile, a blame game is in full swing over who was responsible for the Owen Paterson standards meltdown – which culminated last night when Mr Paterson resigned from the Commons after the PM cut him loose.

His exit was made official this morning when he was appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead – the traditional way for MPs to quit the House.

As well as a wave of anger about Mr Johnson’s lack of judgment, many Tories have been pointing the finger at chief whip Mark Spencer, saying he should have realised that the tactic would not ‘fly’. One MP told MailOnline that Mr Spencer had not done his job properly. 

‘If the PM was told about the extent of disatisfaction then he wouldn’t have pushed it,’ they said. ‘You could tell there was a problem because the whips were literally running around the Commons.’

The premier is said to be ‘p****d off’ that the crisis has distracted from the progress being made on climate change at the Cop26 conference in Glasgow. Senior MPs said he was also ‘livid’ about triumphalist interviews by Mr Paterson in which he claimed he would not change anything about his past behaviour. 

No10 has been forced to deny claims that his botched effort to overhaul the standards process had been a ‘pre-emptive’ strike on commissioner Kathryn Stone – with whom Mr Johnson has clashed repeatedly.

He is still under the threat of inquiry by the watchdog into the funding of his Downing Street flat refurbishment, with a decision due to be taken on whether to go ahead once a separate Electoral Commission investigation.

No10, however, was quick to reject suggestions that the case was linked to attempts to reform the rules over the last few days.