Hardeep Matharu asked the corporation why it is not telling its readers and viewers of new claims by Jennifer Arcuri this week of a four-year sexual relationship with the now Prime Minister

The BBC has told Byline Times that “stories are chosen due to their editorial merit” and that it “has covered the issue substantially when there have been newsworthy updates” when asked why it has not reported new revelations by the businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri that she had a four-year-long sexual affair with Boris Johnson.

The Daily Mirror published an extensive interview with Arcuri on Sunday, in which she claimed that the pair had a sexual relationship while Johnson was married and was then Mayor of London. 

Details of the pair’s closeness first emerged in 2019 and caused concern as Arcuri had benefited from thousands of pounds of public money, including from the Mayor of London’s promotional agency, and was invited on trade trips abroad attended by Johnson as Mayor – despite her not meeting the criteria for such trips.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, to which the matter was referred because of Johnson’s position as head of the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, concluded that no criminal inquiry was necessary, but stated that Johnson should have declared his relationship with Arcuri as an ‘interest’. 

The last story on the issue currently accessible on the BBC News site was published on 21 May last year, headlined ‘PM Won’t Face Criminal Investigation Over Arcuri’.

Johnson’s relationship with Arcuri has also been a matter of inquiry for the London Assembly, which will now reportedly consider the 36-year-old’s new claims that the pair had a sexual relationship – something which she had previously refused to speak about.

But questions have been asked as to why the BBC has not provided any coverage of what clearly appears to be a matter of public interest.

“The story of Jennifer Arcuri’s personal relationship with Boris Johnson has been an ongoing issue for many months, with updates being provided over a long period of time,” a BBC spokesperson told Byline Times

“Stories are chosen due to their editorial merit, and the BBC has covered the issue substantially when there have been newsworthy updates, for example when the Greater London Assembly said it would resume its investigation into the Prime Minister last year and when it was announced that he would not face a criminal investigation. 

“We will continue to provide updates to this story when necessary.”

In response to the new claims by Arcuri, the Prime Minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said that Johnson had “no case to answer” and claimed that “he does believe in the wider principles of integrity and honesty” and that he “acts with integrity and is honest”.

Concerns about the lack of coverage of the issue by BBC News follows the announcement of continuing cuts at the corporation; and the high-profile reprimanding of journalists Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty after they shared a joke about the size of a Union Jack flag positioned behind Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick in a BBC Breakfast interview.

Byline Times also revealed in January how the BBC’s new chairman, Richard Sharp, has donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative Party since 2001. 

It does not appear that any other broadcasters have covered Jennifer Arcuri’s new claims of a sexual relationship with Boris Johnson.

OUR JOURNALISM RELIES ON YOU

Byline Times is funded by its subscribers. Receive our monthly print edition and help to support fearless, independent journalism.

New to Byline Times? Find out more about us

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION

A new type of newspaper – independent, fearless, outside the system. Fund a better media.

Don’t miss a story! Sign up to our newsletter (and get a free edition posted to you)

Our leading investigations include: empire & the culture warBrexit, crony contractsRussian interferencethe Coronavirus pandemicdemocracy in danger, and the crisis in British journalism. We also introduce new voices of colour in Our Lives Matter.

More stories filed under The Crisis in British Journalism

Britain’s Top Lawyers Sign Climate Declaration Refusing to Prosecute Activists

, 24 March 2023
The 120 lawyers signing a ‘Declaration of Conscience’ are slammed by Daily Mail as 'woke'

EXCLUSIVE New GB News Director is a Tory Peer and Financier

, 20 March 2023
Invited to Rwanda by Suella Braverman and backed by wealthy Conservatives, the broadcaster’s ‘anti-establishment’ credentials are waning

EXCLUSIVE Prince Harry to Appear in Person in Phone Hacking Court Case as ‘Teflon Piers’ Faces ‘Both Barrels’

, 16 March 2023
The first senior British Royal to ever enter the witness box in the High Court will allege Piers Morgan oversaw a conspiracy of newsroom criminality at the Daily Mirror, reveals Dan Evans

More stories filed under Reportage

Britain’s Top Lawyers Sign Climate Declaration Refusing to Prosecute Activists

, 24 March 2023
The 120 lawyers signing a ‘Declaration of Conscience’ are slammed by Daily Mail as 'woke'

‘If we Complain about the Hotel, We’re Told Home Office will Move us to Rwanda’

, 24 March 2023
A new report has lifted the lid on the degrading situations the Home Office is placing vulnerable people seeking asylum in

Braverman Praises Rwanda while US State Department Slams Human Rights Abuses in the East African Nation

, 24 March 2023
Brian Latham reports on the dangers facing migrants deported to Rwanda, and an overlooked clause which allows Rwandan refugees to be resettled in the UK

More from the Byline Family