By Sammie Jones-
A U.S businesswoman at the centre of a row over whether Boris Johnson failed to declare a conflict of interest insists he never showed her “any favouritism”.Refusing to state whether she had an intimate relationship with Johnson, as London Mayor.
Ms Acuri told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Mr Johnson spoke at events she ran and came to her flat – also her office – “a handful” of times.The Sunday Times has reported that when Johnson was mayor he failed to declare close personal links to Arcuri, who received thousands of pounds in public business funding and places on official trade trips.
Speaking to ITV, Arcuri said she and Johnson who was mayor of London from 2008-2016, connected when it came to classical literature, adding that they discussed French philosopher Voltaire and shared a love of William Shakespeare
Johnson himself insisted that all professional activities between the pair were above board, and conducted in a proper way.
Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell says the prime minister has a duty to declare their friendship.
“Regardless of the exact nature of his relationship with [Ms] Arcuri, it is clear that she and Boris Johnson were close, and that he misled the public when he said there was no interest to declare,” he added.
London City Hall has a code by a code that forbids holders from acting in a way that yields benefits for families or friends, and should declare private interests to resolve any conflicts.
The story first emerged in the Sunday Times, where claims that Ms Arcuri had joined trade missions led by Mr Johnson and received thousands of pounds in public money. She is understood she attended events on two of the trade missions – to New York and Tel Aviv – despite not officially qualifying for them as a delegate.
The newspaper reported that one of her businesses received £10,000 and £1,500 in sponsorship money from a mayoral organisation when Mr Johnson was mayor, as well as a £15,000 government grant for foreign entrepreneurs to build businesses in Britain.
The newspaper claimed she had received favourable treatment due to her friendship with Mr Johnson.
Ms Arcuri insisted he was just “a really good friend”, and “categorically” had “nothing to do with my other achievements”.
“Boris never, ever gave me favouritism. Never once did I ask him for a favour. Never once did he write a letter of recommendation for me. He didn’t know about my asking to go to trips,” she told ITV.
The current London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has launched an investigation into the allegations at City Hall, and the Greater London Authority’s Oversight Committee has given Mr Johnson 14 days – ending this week – to explain his relationship.
Mr Johnson has also been referred to the police watchdog, who will consider whether there are grounds to investigate the prime minister for the criminal offence of misconduct in public office.
She did confirm he had visited her home – which was also her office – “five, 10, a handful of times”, but added: “It’s really not anyone’s business what private life we had.”
They had tried to meet in public, she went on, but it “became too much of a mob show”.
“So I said ‘you just have to come to my office.'”
‘Waste his time’
On the issue of trade missions, Ms Arcuri said she had access because of the work she was doing – not because of any relationship with Mr Johnson.
“At the end of the day, I was allowed to go on that trade mission as a delegate because of who I was,” she said.
Ms Arcuri said she had never discussed any sponsorship or grants with Mr Johnson, and asked if he had helped with any “sponsorship money”, she said: “Categorically no. Do you think I would waste his time talking about this stuff?”
She also said Mr Johnson had nothing to do with an additional £100,000 grant awarded to her company by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in January.
And she denied reports he had written her a letter of recommendation to run the taxpayer-funded Tech City organisation, promoting technology companies in east London.