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Sleazy Boris?

It’s been an unusually turbulent few weeks for Boris Johnson, Britain’s larger-than-life Conservative prime minister: the latest controversy about his honesty is who exactly paid for the refurbishment of the apartment he shares above 11 Downing Street with his fiancée Carrie Symonds and the mother of their baby.
Johnson himself has denied doing anything wrong – insisting he forked out “personally” for the redecoration, which mainly involved expensive gold-crested wallpaper. But the Electoral Commission, charged with maintaining standards in public life, announced an investigation into allegations that he acted improperly. That made him look uncharacteristically stressed.
Johnson’s line is that the British public is not remotely interested in who paid for the improvement of his residence, which is next door to No 10. He relentlessly emphasizes the importance of the easing of covid lockdown restrictions in the wake of the highly successful rollout of the vaccination programme - which has now seen over half of the UK’s adult population get their first jabs and over 14 million their second.
But Boris, as the prime minister is widely known, does look rattled. At question time in the House of Commons last Wednesday, he seemed angered by Keir Starmer, the normally uninspiring leader of the Labour opposition, who pressed him on who had made the initial payment for the work on his flat. Starmer also branded him “Major Sleaze” – in retaliation for Boris calling him “Captain Hindsight.”
Starmer said that voters would be screaming at their televisions in exasperation at Johnson refusing to directly answer his questions, adding that the Conservatives had been revealed to be handing out “dodgy contracts”, “jobs for their mates” and “cash for access”. The Labour leader was later filmed inspecting wallpaper in John Lewis, a well-known department store: one newspaper headlined a critical column: “Décor without Decorum”.
But that is not the only issue Boris is grappling with. Even worse, arguably, are multiple media reports that last autumn, when internal government arguments were raging about the urgent need for a new England-wide lockdown, the prime minister said: “Let the bodies pile high in their thousands.” Opposition spokesmen condemned Johnson’s alleged remarks as “sickening, disgusting, crass, and wrong.”
It is widely suspected that one of the sources of this damaging quote is Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to the prime minister, who wrote on his blog (about the Downing Street refurbishment) that “plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules”.
Cummings, himself no stranger to controversy, is due to appear later this month before a House of Commons panel examining the government’s handling of the pandemic. Officials fear more revelations from Boris’s onetime ally, who has promised to answer questions “for as long as MPs want.”
Johnson and the Conservatives are also facing wider allegations of cronyism following months of revelations about the lobbying of ministers by the now insolvent lender Greensill Capital, aided by former Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, an adviser to the firm.
And Boris himself, more recently was accused of promising to “fix it” for the billionaire vacuum-maker Sir James Dyson, who texted the prime minister over tax rates for his employees working on ventilators urgently needed to cope with coronavirus last year. Questions then were asked about exactly who had Johnson’s personal phone number: the answer, as it turned out, was that it was publicly available!
Most opinion polls still give the Tories a significant advantage over Labour, but there is no doubt that the recent spate of negative news stories has distracted attention from the UK government’s belated vaccine success – after registering Europe’s (and one of the world’s) highest covid death toll.
Johnson continues to benefit from his large majority in the 2019 general election, in which he campaigned famously to “get Brexit done.” But there is starting to be serious unease about his habit of generating scandals that would have ended the career of other politicians, especially regarding the broader relationship between government and business.
Max Hastings, who was the editor of the Daily Telegraph, when the young Boris was the newspaper’s Brussels correspondent, lambasted the prime minister in an article published shortly before he succeeded Theresa May as party leader: “There is room for debate about whether he is a scoundrel or mere rogue, but not much about his moral bankruptcy, rooted in a contempt for truth,” he wrote. Hastings memorably characterised Boris as a “cavorting charlatan”.
Some people worry that criticism of Johnson over these recent rows serves to mask the damage that Brexit has done: making the UK poorer by leaving the EU – the world’s most successful single market - while exaggerating the weight of what he calls “Global Britain”; promoting Scottish independence and Welsh nationalism and endangering peace in Northern Ireland.
Clearly there are large sections of the British public who don’t really care about allegations of Boris’s sleaze and his sense of arrogant entitlement. If so maybe he will get off the hook and survive the latest crisis over the redecoration of his flat. But the Brexit disaster will remain his enduring legacy.
by: IAN BLACK
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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