The SNP has accused Boris Johnson (pictured) of “giving the green light” to rampant Tory sleaze and corruption, after a statement today from Geoffrey Cox revealed that the Tory chief whip approved steps for Cox to take advantage of lockdown rules to vote in the Commons by proxy so that he could go to the Caribbean to work.
In his statement responding to the mounting criticism over his decision to spend up to a month in the British Virgin Islands earning hundreds of thousands of pounds while working to defend the tax haven against a Foreign Office inquiry into corruption, Geoffrey Cox stated:
“As to the use of the proxy, prior to his visit to the BVI, he consulted the Chief Whip specifically on this issue and was advised that it was appropriate.”
Commenting, the SNP’s Westminster Deputy leader Kirsten Oswald MP said:
“The stench of sleaze surrounding Boris Johnson’s broken Tory government is unbearable.
“The statement from the latest scandal-hit Tory MP Geoffrey Cox makes clear that the Tory chief whip was specifically consulted and approved steps for Cox to take advantage of lockdown rules and vote by proxy while he was in the Caribbean earning hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“It’s beyond any doubt that Boris Johnson’s Tory government is giving the green light to rampant Tory sleaze and corruption.
“The sheer number of Tory MPs embroiled in sleaze is staggering and cannot go unchallenged.
“From being in the Caribbean rather than the Commons, lobbying for firms, lucrative Covid contracts for friends and party donors, cash for curtains, texts for tax breaks, stuffing the House of Lords with cronies, or luxury holidays paid for by mystery donors – the Tories are rotten to the core, out of control, and will get rid of all scrutiny in order to protect their own interests.
“Westminster is broken beyond repair. It’s beyond any doubt that the only way to escape the rampant Tory corruption, cronyism and sleaze is by becoming an independent country.”
