Rishi Sunak has alleged the former prime minister asked him to ‘do something I was not prepared to do’
By Bill Heaney
Boris Johnson has accused Rishi Sunak of “talking rubbish” after the prime minister said his predecessor asked him to overrule the vetting committee for appointments to the House of Lords.
Earlier on Monday, Rishi Sunak alleged the former prime minister asked him to “do something I was not prepared to” by overruling the approval committee for peerages.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said he was asked to “overrule the Holac – House of Lords Appointments Commission – committee or to make promises to people.”
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
Mr Johnson has now dispelled Mr Sunak’s version of events as “rubbish”, stating: “To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule HOLAC – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”
Mr Johnson dramatically resigned as MP on Friday, with the Privileges Committee due to meet today to conclude their inquiry into whether the former prime minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties.
Sunak ‘talking rubbish’, says Johnson
Boris Johnson has accused Rishi Sunak, pictured below, of “talking rubbish” after the prime minister said his predecessor asked him to overrule the vetting committee for appointments to the House of Lords.
In a statement, Boris Johnson said: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”
It comes after Downing Street said it is “entirely untrue” that Mr Sunak or members of his No 10 team removed names from the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) list.
Rishi Sunak said Boris Johnson asked him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do”, when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.”
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”