Rishi Sunak rejects calls to strip Boris Johnson of £115,000 a year expenses for life

The former prime minister will be entitled to the Public Duty Costs Allowance

Boris Johnson will be entitled to the allowance (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

Downing Street has rejected calls to strip Boris Johnson of the £115,000 a year expense allowance given to former prime ministers – after an inquiry found he had repeatedly misled parliament.

The ex prime minister is facing a ban from holding a parliamentary security pass after a devastating cross-party committee blasted his handling of the Partygate scandal.

But there are now calls that Mr Johnson should be stripped of the other trappings of office, including generous lifetime expenses and gongs for his allies and cronies.

• Read our live coverage of reaction to the Partygate report here: Ex-PM’s final disgrace as lies finally laid bare

Under rules, former prime ministers are entitled to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance of up to £115,000 a year, for life, for the “necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life".

The system was established after Margaret Thatcher resigned and it currently pays out more than half a million pounds a year on total to former PMs.

In 2020/21 both Tony Blair and John Major claimed the full £115,000 for their work, with Gordon Brown and David Cameron claiming slightly under. Theresa May was an outlier and claimed just £57,832.

“Rishi Sunak must cut off Johnson’s ex-Prime Minister allowance to stop him milking the public purse for his own personal gain," said Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats.

"Anything less would be an insult to bereaved families who suffered while Boris Johnson lied and partied."

The senior MP said the report "should be the final nail in the coffin for Boris Johnson’s political career", branding him "a law-breaker and serial liar, who treated the public and Parliament with total disdain".

But asked whether the allowance should be rescinded from Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak's official spokesman told reporters:

"I'm not aware of any plans to do that.These arrangements are fairly long-standing - it's not a personal salary or allowance, it's the reimbursement of expenses for office and secretarial costs."

No 10 also rejected suggestions that Mr Johnson's resignation honours list should be rescinded, as called for by some opposition politicians.

"When it comes to honours, that's a long-standing convention, the Prime Minister has abided by convention, that's not going to change."

There are also "no plans" to recoup the cost of Mr Johnson's publicly-funded legal fees for the inquiry, the spokesperson said.

As well as the secretarial allowance, former prime ministers also continue to receive security protection after they leave office.

And like ministers, PMs are entitled to a severance payment of 25 per cent of their annual salary if they hold office and are not appointed within three weeks. Mr Johnson was entitled to a severance payment of £18,860, according to the Istitute for Government think-tank.

Polling conducted on Thursday by Savanta found that two thirds (66 per cent) of voters agree with the privilege's committee report's conclusion that he deliberately misled the House of Commons, with just 19 per cent believing he did not.