MPs criticise Boris Johnson over fresh breach of financial reporting rules

MPs have slammed Boris Johnson for a fresh breach of parliamentary financial reporting rules after he failed to promptly declare outside income from a share in a property.

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Johnson registered his interest in a 20 per cent share of a property in Somerset more than 10 months late, a House of Commons Standards Committee report today revealed.

MPs on the Standards Committee concluded that Johnson had displayed “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the House”, in conjunction with “a lack of effective organisation” within his office.

The former mayor of London acquired the interest in the property on 25 January 2018 and had a 28-day window to report it. However, he only registered his interest on 17 January this year.

An MP must register property if its value is more than £100,000, if it forms part of a property portfolio worth over £100,000 or if it provides rental income of more than £10,000 in a calendar year.

The Committee report said Johnson had broken the rules by late registration of financial interests on nine recent occasions, each involving book royalties. Johnson was forced to apologise to the House of Commons in December over the late declaration of the outside earnings, which amounted to more than £52,000.

In response to the Committee’s enquiry into the late reporting of the Somerset property Johnson apologised, saying: “I accept full responsibility for the error.”

The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, said Johnson’s reporting failures “might be regarded as showing a lack of respect for the House’s rules and for the standards system.”

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She said: “That does not demonstrate the leadership which one would expect of a long-standing and senior member of the House.”