Boris Johnson received £10,000 donation from JCB boss

Boris Johnson received £10,000 donation from JCB boss before making ‘leadership pitch’ speech at firm’s HQ

  • Ex foreign secretary given the cash by JCB chairman Lord Bamford on January 15
  • Three days later Boris Johnson gave a leadership speech at the company’s HQ
  • JCB has also given post to David Davis who will earn £60,000 for 20 hours work 

Boris Johnson was given a £10,000 donation by the chairman of JCB just days before he gave a major speech at the digger firm’s factory.  

JCB billionaire Lord Bamford – a major supporter of Brexit and a Tory donor – gave the cash to the  ex Foreign Secretary.

While David Davis has been given a lucrative new post as an adviser to JCB, which will mean he rakes in £60,000 for 20 hours work. 

The huge sum works out at £3,000 for every hour worked, or £50 a minute.

Mr Davis said he had complied with the rules concerning former ministers’ employment.

Boris Johnson (pictured at the JCB HQ in Staffordshire last week) was given a £10,000 donation by the chairman of JCB just days before he gave a major speech at the digger firm’s factory

Lord Bamford is a strong supporter of Brexit and helped fund the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum campaign.

He has insisted that there is nothing to fear from a no deal Brexit. 

He and his family topped the list of Tory donors in 2017 by giving £2.5million to the party personally and through their firms.

Mr Johnson last week travelled to JCB’s headquarters in Staffordshire last week to rail against the PM’s Brexit plan while standing in front of one of the company’s diggers. 

He used the speech, which came days after the PM’s Brexit deal was defeated in the Commons, to spell out his Brexit vision in a thinly veiled leadership bid.  

While David Davis (pictured earlier this month in Westminster) has been given a lucrative new post as an adviser to JCB, which will mean he rakes in £60,000 for 20 hours work

While David Davis (pictured earlier this month in Westminster) has been given a lucrative new post as an adviser to JCB, which will mean he rakes in £60,000 for 20 hours work

He declared that a Tory government should cut taxes  and limit immigration. 

Mr Johnson insisted delaying Britain’s exit from the EU would further ‘erode trust’ in politics and fuel suspicion of an ‘elite conspiracy to thwart Brexit’.

He is seen by many as a front runner for the Tory crown – but is also loathed by many Tory MPs who dismissed his pitch for unity today. 

He said: ‘I believe that there is a very good chance, indeed overwhelmingly likely, that we will leave with a deal – we just won’t leave with this deal.’

He added: ‘If we mean it, if we are determined, and if we make it clear that this is our best and final offer, I would be utterly amazed if we cannot get agreement on these terms.’  

Insisting Britain would succeed under no deal, he said: ‘I don’t want to pretend there will be no challenges and no changes to cope with. 

‘Of course there will be. But I say to all those who believe in the democratic freedoms of this country

‘We are more than up to it. We have got so far, we are almost there, let us not give up now.’    

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