Bozo, Bunga Bunga, And Kompromat

To illustrate how far much of our free and fearless press has departed from reality, the Daily Brexit, still called the Express, has promoted under “Top stories” a photo of soon to be former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson with the caption “Boris tipped for NATO top job after ‘hero’ PM’s support for Ukraine: ‘perfect role’”. Why won’t it happen? Ah well.

"I don't know if I was really drunk at the time"

While the Express - and other newspapers where invention and the recycling of propaganda and press releases take priority over the inconvenience that is investigative journalism - continue their Bozo post-premiership Fantasy Island cruise, reality is once again intruding chez Johnson, this time over his trip to the Lebedev palazzo near Perugia, and what he did (and possibly said) there.

As the Guardian has reported, “Writing back to provide further detail in response to questions posed to him by MPs on the Commons liaison committee on 6 July, he stated that officials were aware in advance he was attending what he described as a social event, and that he did not take ministerial papers with him”. And then comes the difficult bit.

Bozo’s conclusion: “If a minister meets an external organisation or individual and finds themselves discussing official business without an official present - for example at a social occasion - any significant context should be passed back to the department after the event. That was not necessary in this case. As far as I am aware, no government business was discussed”.

AS FAR AS I AM AWARE. That phrase does not require invitation to leap off the page. Nor was it lost on any observers that Bozo had met not just Evgeny Lebedev at the “social event”, but also his father Alexander, who, Pippa Crerar of the Mirror reminds us, is an “ex-KGB agent”. Except that, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as an ex-KGB agent.

Moving right along, Jessica Simor asked another inconvenient question. “Why was [Rory Stewart], a Minister in the [Foreign Office] at the same time as Johnson was Foreign Secretary also get invited to Lebedev’s palazzo if the host did not intend (Government) business to be discussed - or ‘kompromised’? And why did he know to refuse the invitation?”

Stewart was asked the question. He chose wisely. Bozo, it seems, chose poorly. And all the while that phrase - “As far as I am aware” - resonated with observers. Why might he not have been aware? Well, given the state of him when seen afterwards at Perugia Airport, it’s possible that he had become Elephant’s Trunk and Mozart, which may have loosened tongue and memory.

After all, he was unable to walk in a straight line even the morning afterwards. He had met someone infamous for recording conversations, and other potentially incriminating activities. A bunga bunga party - what more ideal opportunity could there be to gather a little Kompromat? No security detail present. No other witnesses. Law and Policy examined the excuses.

Carole Cadwalladr - vindicated AGAIN

“Johnson's letter today could have said four things plainly and simply: 1. Alexander Lebenev's name … 2. That meeting Alexander Lebenev was unexpected … 3. That no official business was discussed … 4. That the meeting was reported to officials … But … It does none of these things”. So what did the letter do? The conclusion was as stark as it was damning.

“Instead … We get 12 paragraphs, 9 of which irrelevant … Alexander Lebenev not mentioned by name … Meeting not ‘prearranged’ … ‘As far as I am aware’ no official business discussed - even though he would have complete knowledge … Elaborate admission meeting not reported to officials”. You can read more of that analysis HERE.

Boris Johnson has tried the “As far as I am aware” get-out clause before. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. What was discussed will, with the certainty of night following day, be revealed. Given his congenital lack of candour, it’s a nailed-on certainty that many observers will merely take that as an opening gambit, rather than a claim with any credibility to it.

Not long after that party, oops, sorry, “Social event”, Bozo ennobled Evgeny Lebedev, apparently after receiving a recommendation from the security services not to do so. As Private Eye magazine might have put it, I wonder if the two events are in any way related? I think we should be told.

As the much maligned Carole Cadwalladr, who broke the story, has noted, “We still don’t know what was said at that meeting. We don’t know if there are any official records of it. We don’t know who else was there. We don’t know what documents Johnson had in his possession. We don’t know if he betrayed secrets - either deliberately or inadvertently - about Nato’s strategy. ‘Profumo lost his job for a lot less,’ former Conservative MP Rory Stewart has noted, referring to Britain’s most famous political scandal”.

Why do so many out there on the right sneer and snipe at Ms Cadwalladr? You might wish to ask that. I couldn’t possibly comment.

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