Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Met Police ‘considering’ SNP MP’s calls for probe into Boris Johnson and the ‘cash for honours’ scandal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

The Metropolitan Police says it is “considering” calls for it to investigate Boris Johnson over the so-called ‘cash for honours’ scandal.

Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, wrote to the Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick asking for the force to investigate “potential criminal misconduct” in the Conservative Party.

This comes after an investigation found all 16 of the main Conservative treasurers – apart from the most recent – were offered peerages in the House of Lords after donating millions of pounds to the party.

It would wealthy benefactors were “guaranteed” a peerage if they take on the temporary role of party treasurer and increase their own personal donations to over £3 million.

Mr Wishart told the Met Police he believes this breaches the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 and therefore warrants a criminal investigation.

Met Police receives complaint letter

The Met Police says it is now considering Mr Wishart’s complaint, but adds it has not yet started an investigation into the claims he raised.

Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire

In his letter Mr Wishart directly asks the police to investigate Boris Johnson, as well as previous Conservative prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

A spokesman for the Met said: “The Metropolitan Police Service has received correspondence relating to recent media reports concerning the awarding of peerages.

“At this time, we are considering the contents of the correspondence.”

Mr Wishart said: “There seems to be a recurring theme in the House of Lords of people who donate several million pounds to the Conservative Party magically finding themselves with an ermine over their shoulders, contributing to the legislative decisions of this country.

“It could be that these appointments were entirely innocent.

“However, last week’s attempt by the government to axe the standards committee showed us all that they are not afraid to engage in corrupt activities.

“This investigation is therefore needed in the interest of political transparency.”

SNP writes to opposition parties

Mr Wishart and the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford have now written to the leader of all the opposition parties in Westminster calling on them to unite against the Conservatives in a bid to end the practice of handing peerages to party donors.

Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP at Westminster

Mr Blackford said: “There is no doubt that the Tory cash for honours scandal is an appalling abuse of the system – the only question now is whether there is sufficient evidence of a breach of the law.

“By handing out peerages to do many of their party donors, the Tories have made the UK look like a banana republic.

“Parliament must now unite behind an investigation and all parties must commit to ending this corrupt practice, once and for all.”

Raab defends Lords appointments

However a number of Conservative MPs have defended the practice in recent media appearances.

Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News there was “absolutely no question” of the government being involved in a cash for honours scandal, and says opposition parties are making “political points” by asking the police to investigate.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab

He said: “In relation to becoming appointed to the House of Lords, there’s also very clear rules.

“I would say that, of course, people who are entrepreneurs but also engaged in public service, whether that’s charities, whether that’s supporting political parties, do a public service.

“And certainly we benefit when the Conservative Party has a treasurer, people who’ve got that kind of experience.”