If Jennifer Arcuri was favoured because of her relationship with the then mayor of London, that’s a clear abuse of powerWhat is lawful and what is right are not always the same thing. While evading tax, for example, is straightforward illegality, tax avoidance is not: but the wealthy hiring accountants to exploit unintended loopholes that aren’t accessible to Joe Public is widely regarded as wrong. Which brings us to today’s ruling by the Independent Office for Police Conduct that there will be no criminal investigation into the relationship between the prime minister and US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. It concludes that there was no illegality: but that is not the same as finding no wrongdoing.There is no evidence that, as mayor of London, “Mr Johnson influenced the payment of any sponsorship monies to Ms Arcuri,” it says, or that “he influenced or played an active part in securing her participation in trade missions.” But even so, it does find that officials’ decisions about “sponsorship monies attendance on trade missions” were influenced by their knowledge of a “close relationship” between Arcuri and Johnson. Continue reading…
Via: Johnson has escaped a criminal inquiry. This doesn't mean he did nothing wrong | Owen Jones
Categories: English News