Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds

"After the Guardian's stories were published the Whitehall watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), wrote to Johnson asking him to explain what he had done for the companies. Johnson refused to answer specific questions or to provide factual denials to allegations of rule-breaking, while insisting all the rules had been followed at all times. His responses led Acoba's chair, Isabel Doverty, to find him in breach of the rules."

"On 15 September, Johnson responded to Acoba's queries to say the stories were based on material illegally hacked by a hostile state actor. That may explain why they contain so many assertions that are either false or misleading. He added: The committee may rest assured that Acoba rules were followed at all times. The Guardian has seen no evidence that the files contain false or misleading information. The data was obtained by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a US non-profit that archives data leaks."

"Leaked documents suggested Johnson secretly lobbied the UAE for a billion-dollar private venture, amid plans to use an influential contact he had repeatedly hosted in No 10, and used senior contacts in the Saudi government he had met as prime minister to pitch the services of a consultancy firm. Acoba sent Johnson five specific questions about his relationship with Better Earth, the consultancy firm looking for work with the Saudi government, and his relationship with Bia Advisory, the venture seeking the UAE's billion dollar investment."

A trove of leaked private-office documents suggested repeated breaches of rules forbidding former ministers from exploiting contacts made in office for private gain. The documents indicated secret lobbying to secure a billion-dollar UAE private venture using an influential contact hosted in No 10, and the use of senior Saudi government contacts to pitch a consultancy's services. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments asked five specific questions about relationships with Better Earth and Bia Advisory. Johnson declined to provide factual denials or answer specifics while insisting rules were followed and later blamed an alleged hostile-state hack. Distributed Denial of Secrets provided the data and did not confirm its provenance.

Read at www.theguardian.com