Oh no. Those who had argued Rishi Sunak would spell a new era of Tory calm appear to have been mistaken. This weekend there are fresh reports of scandal during Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister. The Sunday Times reports today that when Sharp was in the final stages of going for the BBC chairmanship late in 2020, he heard that Johnson was having money troubles and put him in touch with his old pal Sam Blyth, a multimillionaire Canadian businessman who is also a distant cousin of the PM. Blyth could offer Johnson access to the quick cash he wanted.
The deal is reported to have been done in the first week of December. Sharp came to Downing Street and talked through the details with Simon Case, the cabinet secretary. Blyth would be the guarantor of an almost million-pound loan for the PM. Sharp then introduced Case to Blyth, and he also met with Johnson himself. The happy trio of Sharp, Blyth and Johnson then enjoyed a posh dinner at Chequers, the PM’s country home in Buckinghamshire. They ate chop suey and drank wine, but apparently didn’t talk about the PM’s finances.
Sharp said he had ‘simply connected’ people. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, did his best to defend the – at the very least – bizarre financial arrangement on the broadcast round this morning. Labour meanwhile, says they want a parliamentary investigation into what happened.
But as the blame game plays out in Westminster, Mr S was intrigued to see Johnson’s sister Rachel’s latest broadcast appearance. Speaking as part of the panel on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Sunday show, Johnson suggested that Simon Case is at the heart of the £800,000 loan story – and ought to come on the show to answer questions. Johnson said Case ‘seems to be the lynchpin’.
Case’s shapeshifting over the past year – working under Johnson, Truss and now Sunak – is certainly a talking point in Westminster. Could he now find himself in the firing line?
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