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Boris Johnson news: Calls for inquiry into PM’s ‘dishonesty’ as UN experts condemn race report

Boris Johnson attends Passing-out parade at Britannia Royal Naval College (Getty Images)
Boris Johnson attends Passing-out parade at Britannia Royal Naval College (Getty Images)

Boris Johnson is facing calls for an inquiry into his “failure to be honest” after a viral video highlighted a series of false claims made by the prime minister in parliamentary debates.

Six opposition parties - but not Labour - signed a letter organised by Green MP Caroline Lucas urging the Commons speaker to allow a vote on holding the probe.

The prime minister is also facing criticism from experts from the UN Human Rights Council who condemned the UK’s “shocking” Race Commission report and warned it could “normalise white supremacy”.

Downing Street has rejected the criticism, claiming that the UN experts had “misrepresented the findings” of the report.

Meanwhile, Labour has voiced concerns about how Whitehall business roles currently at the centre of the Greensill lobbying scandal are appointed after it emerged one is held by a top Tory donor.

Daniel Green, who gave around £135,000 to the party in 2017, was made a crown representative while David Cameron was still prime minister. The same position allowed Lex Greensill controversial access to major government departments.

A series of probes have been commissioned, including by Downing Street, as Westminster looks to understand the role Mr Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Greensill, which was selected as an intermediary lender for some government Covid-19 support loans at the start of the pandemic, and whose collapse now risks thousands of jobs, particularly in the steel sector.

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