Boris Johnson has been cleared of breaching parliamentary rules over a luxury holiday to Mustique, but the MPs' standards watchdog criticised him for failing to provide a timely explanation of how the trip was funded. The Committee on Standards concluded that the prime minister's account of the 2019 Caribbean holiday was "accurate and complete", but said it was "regrettable" that a full explanation had not come earlier.
The committee overruled the Commons Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, who had found that Mr Johnson broke the rules by not "fulfilled conscientiously" the requirements to register donations. The committee said it reached a different conclusion after receiving additional evidence. Mr Johnson said he had not seen the report but understood the committee found "no case to answer".
The inquiry was launched after confusion over who paid for the trip. In February 2020, Mr Johnson declared that his £15,000 accommodation had been covered by Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross, a Conservative supporter. Mr Ross initially said he had not paid "any monies" but later clarified he had "facilitated" accommodation. The committee said the arrangements were "ad hoc and informal" and not fully explained to Mr Johnson at the outset.
The committee noted that Mr Johnson had been twice reprimanded in the previous Parliament for "an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the House", and said they would have expected him to "go the extra mile" to ensure clarity. Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said: "The way Johnson handles his personal finances mirrors the way he governs the country - chaos and confusion."
