THE Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is looking into the complaint made against Boris Johnson amid the alleged “cash for honours” scandal.
On Monday it emerged that SNP MP Pete Wishart wrote to commissioner Cressida Dick expressing his concern over possible corruption in the UK Government.
He wants the probe to focus on an Open Democracy and Sunday Times investigation which, among other claims, found nine of the party’s former treasurers have been elevated to the House of Lords since the Conservatives returned to power in 2010.
In his letter, Wishart added: “In total, 22 of the Conservative Party’s biggest financial contributors have been made members of the House of Lords in the past 11 years.
“Together they have donated some £54 million to the Tories. I believe that it is only right to investigate whether these donations were, in fact, rewarded with honours.”
A Met Police spokesman said: “The MPS has received correspondence relating to recent media reports concerning the awarding of peerages.
“At this time, we are considering the contents of the correspondence.”
The force said there was no formal investigation into the allegations at this time.
Wishart wrote to Dick on Monday asking her to investigate the Prime Minister and his predecessors following reports that Tory donors who had given more than £3 million to the party had been elevated to the Lords.
The MP for Perth and North Perthshire, and the SNP’s shadow commons leader, wrote to her ahead of the Commons emergency debate on the Government’s attempt to change the was MPs are investigated for rule-breaking.
In his letter, he said he was concerned about “criminal misconduct” by Johnson, and previous Tory Prime Ministers as well as other senior Conservatives.Wishart yesterday told The National he would be writing to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asking him to make a separate complaint to the Met.
READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Be in no doubt, the UK is being run as a mafia enterprise
The UK Government on Monday said it was “wrong” to take aim at those who have been ennobled and who also happen to have donated to a political party.
UK deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab claimed opposition parties were making “political points” by asking the Metropolitan Police to investigate.
“In relation to becoming appointed to the House of Lords there’s also very clear rules,” he said.
“I would just say that, of course, people who are entrepreneurs but also engaged in public service, whether that’s charities, whether that’s supporting political parties, do a public service.
“And certainly we benefit when the Conservative Party has a treasurer ... people who’ve got that kind of experience.”
Wishart told Sky News no-one was suggesting any wronging in regard to political donations.
The SNP has also written to opposition leaders calling for Parliament to unite against the scandal – and to end the practice of handing peerages to party donors.
In a joint letter yesterday to the Westminster leaders of the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Green Party and other opposition parties, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and Wishart called for cross-party backing for a full investigation and a commitment to ending the practice of handing peerages to donors “once and for all”.
Blackford said: “There is no doubt that the Tory cash for honours scandal is an appalling abuse of the system - the only question now is whether there is sufficient evidence of a breach of the law.
“By handing out peerages to so many of their party donors, the Tories have made the UK look like a banana republic. Parliament must now unite behind an investigation and all parties must commit to ending this corrupt practice, once and for all.”
Wishart added: “The House of Lords should have been abolished centuries ago - but the Tories, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats have broken their promises and continued to pack it full with hundreds of their donors and cronies at the taxpayers’ expense.
“The Tory corruption scandal demonstrates, yet again, that Westminster is broken beyond repair. People in Scotland are looking on in horror at what is happening in the UK Parliament, which has never looked more remote, arrogant and out of touch.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel