Boris Johnson Makes £1m from Speeches after Leaving Downing Street

THE GUARDIAN: Former prime minister, who is still a sitting MP, travelled across globe in two months after stepping down

Johnson does not appear to have stuck to the rule that he should wait for three months after leaving office before taking up paid employment. Photograph: Sedat Suna/EPA
Boris Johnson made more than £1m from four speaking engagements in just two months after leaving No 10, travelling across the globe to give paid speeches while still sitting as an MP.

The former prime minister also accepted more than £40,000 in free accommodation from Tory donor Lord Bamford and his wife after moving out of Downing Street and Chequers in September, according to an update to the register of members’ financial interests.

Johnson’s speeches include £277,723 from Centerview investment bankers in New York, £261,652 from the Hindustan Times in India, and £215,275 from Televisão Independente for a speech in Lisbon. He also accepted £276,000 from insurance brokers in the US in September. » | Rowena Mason, Whitehall editor | Wednesday, December 14, 2022

BoJo didn’t make it to become “king of the world” as he so dearly wished to become, but he is able to earn a king’s ransom for peddling claptrap. Not bad for a buffoon! Pretty good for a clown! Truth is, it seems, the bigger the screw-up, the bigger the monetary reward. – © Mark Alexander

The Guardian View on Tory Sleaze: Buying Access, Baubles and Influence

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Boris Johnson’s reluctance to come clean about donors that get to meet him may be explained by the contents of the Pandora papers

Boris Johnson. ‘The perception will be that there is one rule for this government and its friends and another for the rest of us’. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
Boris Johnson’s government has displayed a penchant for ignoring standards of openness, attacking key democratic institutions and subverting governance norms. Mr Johnson revels in thumbing his nose at convention. Last December he outrageously used his privilege as prime minister to ennoble a Conservative party donor who had been rejected by the Lords appointments commission. But repeat offending raises questions over whether such insouciance is meant to distract from allegations of sleaze.

This new model of party business seems to have coincided with the arrival of Ben Elliot as co-chair of the Conservative party. He raised a record £37m for the Tories’ 2019 general election campaign. The party is now refusing to publish the membership of secretive clubs for donors giving up to £250,000 a year that hold regular meetings with Mr Johnson and his chancellor. That reluctance may be explained by this week’s revelations in the Pandora papers. The documents shed new light on the use by some donors of offshore finance and how it lubricates capitalism in hydrocarbon-rich autocracies. Mr Johnson’s claim that donations were vetted “in the normal way” suggests the Conservatives aren’t that bothered about where their money comes from. » | Editorial | Friday, October 8, 2021

Why Britain Is Embracing Pounds and Ounces

Fish for sale at a market in London. | David Azia for The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Britain is planning a future that relies on greater usage of its imperial system of weights and measurements.

…

Now that Britain has left the E.U., the government is taking steps to return to imperial units, calling it a way to “capitalize on new Brexit freedoms.”

In practice, this will likely mean that shops and market stalls can sell produce labeled in pounds and ounces alone, rather than alongside grams and kilograms.

While some call it a Brexit victory, others question the focus on measurements when Britain is grappling with broader issues, including a fragile economic recovery. » | Jenny Goss, Reporting from London | Monday, September 27, 2021

Verwandter Artikel auf Deutsch:

Zurück zu Pfund und Unze: Grossbritannien sucht die Brexit-Dividende und droht, sich zu verrennen »

This is yet another example of the idiocy of BoJo and his band of merry jesters! – © Mark

Tory Corruption: It’s Shocking What a “Donation” Can Buy. Truth To Power

Whoever would have thought that the UK would turn into one of those sh****** countries of which Trump spoke so colourfully? BoJo and his corrupt entourage are taking this country to new lows, to new depths.

In a relatively recent post, I likened British society to a bottle of non-homogenized milk. As well as all the cream rising to the top, you can now add corruption into the mix. In my lifetime, I have never known such a corrupt administration as BoJo’s. That man needs to be kicked out of office asap. His administration is a disaster. His administration is not fit for purpose; and nor is he. – © Mark

Would You Vote for a Man Like This to Lead Your Country? No? Thought Not!

The man who thinks he’s Churchill: 'Bojo the Clown'. The man looks as if he's flown over the cuckoo's nest!
Another Conservative clown Dominic Raab.

Tory Corruption: Boris Johnson Facing Day of Reckoning. Truth To Power

Get this sucker out of office asap! The SOB has even suspended the Triple Lock on state pensions! Yet he can find billions for his cronies. The man is unprincipled and corrupt. The country needs to be rid of him. – © Mark