Boris Johnson Accused of Secretly Lobbying UAE for Billion-Dollar Climate Venture

A major leak of internal documents, dubbed the “Boris Files,” has disclosed that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson allegedly attempted to leverage his official contacts for personal gain in early 2024.

According to the files, Johnson was hired as "principal adviser" to the obscure climate finance firm Bia Advisory, which sought to manage over €1 billion (approximately $1 billion) from the UAE’s investment fund Mubadala, plus an upfront grant of €10 million.

The ambitious scheme depended on Johnson using his personal rapport with Khaldoon al-Mubarak, a senior Emirati official he met while in office, to pitch the venture despite lacking approval from the ethics watchdog, Acoba. Under the proposal, Johnson would hold a 24% stake in the company, while his aide Shelley Williams-Walker would receive 20%.

The documents reveal the venture was orchestrated by a group including a vape industry lobbyist and a Brexit campaign figure, and despite the lack of financial pedigree, they planned to request both investment and a substantial launch grant, potentially enabling huge profits from minimal personal input.

Critics have raised concerns that Johnson may have breached the "revolving door" rules, which prohibit ex-ministers from exploiting governmental contacts for business purposes. Moreover, there are questions whether taxpayer-funded allowances meant for public duties, known as the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), were misused to support the venture’s operations.

Johnson dismissed the allegations as “rubbish” and defended his use of public allowances, but offered no explanation regarding the Abu Dhabi initiative. The revelations have sparked widespread calls from senior politicians to suspend his PDCA and launch a formal ethics inquiry.

Sources: The Guardian