DOWNING Street has announced an internal inquiry into the leak of private text messages between Boris Johnson and billionaire Sir James Dyson over the tax status of his employees.
Johnson promised the entrepreneur he would “fix” the issue after personal lobbying from Dyson as he sought to build ventilators at the height of the coronavirus crisis, in a series of text messages seen by the BBC.
Number 10 initially said there would not be a probe into how the exchange was made public, but a change of course was announced yesterday as it said an internal inquiry will be led by the Cabinet Office.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: “The position has changed from yesterday – it was correct at the time yesterday but, as usual, we keep things under review and we have now decided to undertake this internal inquiry.”
READ MORE: No 10 denies claim Boris Johnson was asked to change phone number over lobbying
The spokesman confirmed the inquiry will examine the source of leaks of Johnson’s private communication “as related to this issue of Dyson”.
The Dyson messages emerged as the UK Government faces sustained allegations of “cronyism” after a series of reports of former prime minister David Cameron lobbying for his employer, Greensill Capital.
Downing Street has said it will publish correspondence between Johnson and Dyson “shortly”.
Meanwhile, the spokesman did not deny reports that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case advised Johnson to change his phone number over concerns about the ease with which lobbyists and business leaders were able to contact him.
In a statement, Dyson said he was “hugely proud” of the company’s response during the national emergency.
“Not one penny was claimed from any Government, in any jurisdiction, in relation to Covid-19,” he said.
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