Boris Johnson could be forced to open No 10 to public if he uses charity to pay for flat refurbishment telegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from telegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Lord Udny-Lister, who at the time of the deal was a non-executive director at the FCDO, was appointed to lead the talks by then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
He was praised for personal effort in securing the deal by Chinese ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, and was made a peer last year.
Though the Government insists Lord Udny-Lister acted in accordance with the rules, Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the committee on standards in public life, has called for an investigation.
He told the Sunday Times: The Foreign Office must investigate whether he satisfied the seven principles of public life.
Sinead McLaughlin
There was also a £10,000 payment made to Cinq Properties, the landlord of the South Antrim constituency office of DUP MLA Paul Girvan.
The £10,000 was automatically sent to any firm in receipt of small business rates relief - including 52 wind turbines which landed a total financial boon of £520,000. News of the payments to the turbines and offices emerged in October.
A DfE spokesman said on Wednesday night: A review of payments made under the £10k Small Business Support Grant scheme, examining the potential for incorrect payments and initiating recovery action where appropriate, is under way. This review will inform the overall evaluation of all the Covid-19 grant schemes in due course. At January 6 2021, 538 payments have been identified so far as potentially ineligible under the £10k grant scheme with 124 payments totalling £1.227m now returned.
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Welsh politicians caught drinking wine in tea room of country s parliament days after a pub alcohol ban
The four say they did not consume alcohol not bought from parliamentary premises. By Press Association Wednesday 20 Jan 2021, 10:09 PM Jan 20th 2021, 10:09 PM 26,199 Views 15 Comments
The Welsh Senedd
Image: PA Images
BORIS JOHNSON HAS said he expects politicians to go “above and beyond” to follow Covid-19 restrictions amid reports that Welsh Members of Senedd were caught drinking wine on the grounds of the country’s parliament after a pub alcohol ban was enforced.
Wales’s health minister also told politicians they should lead by example after reports that former minister Alun Davies allegedly consumed alcohol with Welsh Conservatives leader Paul Davies, chief whip Darren Millar and chief of staff Paul Smi