‘Potentially serious impropriety’: Labour questions Johnson’s Venezuela meeting

Labour is demanding answers over what the party said was “potentially serious impropriety” by Boris Johnson after it emerged that the former prime minister met the Venezuelan president in his role as a consultant for a hedge fund.

Johnson, who quit as prime minister in September 2022, held discussions with Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, in early February.

A source close to Johnson reiterated earlier comments saying that the rules had not been broken, and suggested no work had been undertaken that would require an application to Acoba.

He also expressed concern at separate reports that Johnson had been supported and briefed by the Foreign Office before the visit, saying: “This raises serious questions both about the government’s commitment to ensuring adherence to the rules, which are intended to guard against potential corruption and serious impropriety, and the use of publicly funded government resources for the benefit of a private interests – those of Mr Johnson, Merlyn Advisors, and their clients.”

He wrote: “We call upon you to launch an urgent investigation into this matter to identify the role of current ministers and use of government resources in relation to any potential breaches of the rules.”

In June, Johnson was found to have committed a “clear and unambiguous” breach of the requirement set out in the ministerial code to seek Acoba’s advice before becoming a columnist at the Daily Mail.