No 10 files raise questions over whether Tory donations were legal

"A foreign billionaire had a Downing Street meeting and phone calls with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and was described in an official log as a "donor", documents seen by BBC News reveal. Syrian-born former arms deal fixer Wafic Said is not allowed to make political donations because he is a not on the UK electoral roll but his wife, a British citizen who is resident, has declared 2.6m in donations to the Conservatives over the last 25 years."

"The couple have always insisted that she is independently wealthy and has given her own money, rather than making a donation with her husband's funds or on his behalf - something which would not be permitted. However, the Number 10 files seen by BBC News cast doubt on this explanation, raising questions about whether the Conservatives have illegally accepted millions in donations. A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Proper due diligence was undertaken to ensure that these donations were permissible and accurately reported." Johnson did not respond to a request for comment."

Wafic Said, a Syrian-born former arms deal fixer and foreign billionaire not on the UK electoral roll, had a Downing Street meeting and two phone calls with Boris Johnson that were logged with Said described as the "donor." Said is ineligible to make political donations, while his wife Rosemary, a British resident, has declared £2.6m in Conservative donations over 25 years and insists the funds were hers. The Number 10 files record a nearly 90-minute September 2019 meeting and calls in 2020 and 2021 without his wife present. The logs, and Sir Ben Elliot's participation in a 2020 call, raise questions about whether proper donation rules were followed and whether the party accurately reported permissible donations.

Read at www.bbc.com