LONDON – The British government said Wednesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson did nothing wrong when he exchanged text messages with a wealthy industrialist and promised he would “fix” the tax rules for him.
The BBC reported that it had seen messages between Johnson and James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner inventor and home products magnate.
The texts were sent in March 2020, when the coronavirus was sweeping across Britain and the government, fearing the health service would be overwhelmed, was trying to secure more ventilators.
It approached the Singapore-based Dyson, who sought assurances that his staff members would not have to pay extra taxes if they came to Britain to work on the project.