COVID inquiry: Strip Johnson of allowance and bar him from future honours 

EMBARGO: 22:30 Saturday 2nd December 

The Lib Dems have called on Rishi Sunak to strip Boris Johnson of his £115,000 a year ex-Prime Ministerial allowance and for the disgraced former PM to be barred from receiving future honours or a peerage.

It comes ahead of Johnson’s scheduled appearance at the Covid inquiry next week.

The inquiry has already heard evidence that the response to the pandemic under Johnson’s government was chaotic and filled with a callous disregard for the lives of the elderly. Boris Johnson’s former Chief of Staff, Lord Lister, told the inquiry that the ex-PM said “let the bodies pile high” when presented with the prospect of a circuit breaker lockdown in September 2020. 

The Liberal Democrats are putting pressure on Rishi Sunak to strip Johnson of his up to £115,000 a year allowance as a former Prime Minister. The party is also calling on Sunak to rule out giving Johnson an honour or peerage in future honours lists. It comes after Sunak gave a peerage to former Prime Minister David Cameron so he could rejoin the cabinet.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP said:

“I cannot imagine what it is like for the bereaved families to have to hear every day just how shambolic and callous Boris Johnson’s government was during the pandemic. 

“Boris Johnson was never fit to be Prime Minister. He should reap no benefits, in money or in honours, for the disgraceful way he behaved in office.

“His actions hampered our response to the pandemic and led to so much unnecessary suffering for so many. 

“The least Rishi Sunak could do is strip Johnson of his six-figure yearly allowance and rule out rewarding him with an honour or peerage for his destructive time in Number 10.”

ENDS