But a former City Hall worker, who worked closely with the mayor and helped organise the trip, revealed that Johnson had apparently personally requested Arcuri be there. The claims come as Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, insisted that an investigation he ordered into allegations about Johnson and Arcuri will be independent and was not politically motivated. The grant was designed to foster UK skills and was eligible only UK-based companies, but was awarded Hacker House after Arcuri moved back to the US. Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, asked Warman to confirm whether Hacker House was based in the UK. Warman said: “As far as all the due diligence that was done at the time, then Hacker House met all of the criteria.

Source: The Guardian October 03, 2019 14:15 UTC