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London (AP) - British Defense Minister Ben Wallace has defended his boss Boris Johnson against allegations that he had his office apartment renovated with the help of donations.
"He paid with his own money to renovate the apartment," Wallace said in a BBC interview about the Prime Minister.
When asked whether Johnson paid directly himself or only after allegations were made, the minister did not respond.
A mud fight has been raging in political London for days.
Inside information from anonymous sources about alleged missteps by the Conservative Prime Minister has repeatedly surfaced in the British media.
Behind the scenes, the government apparatus pointed to Johnson's former top advisor Dominic Cummings, who is believed to be the strategist behind the Brexit referendum and Johnson's overwhelming election victory, but who left the government in a dispute late last year.
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Cummings defended himself publicly against the allegations and took them as an opportunity to unpack even more.
In a blog post on Friday, he accused the prime minister of having used donations to renovate the official apartment on London's Downing Street.
That was "unethically stupid, possibly illegal and very likely a breach of the rules about the proper announcement of the use of donations," said Cummings.
Exactly how much the work cost is not known, but it is said to have exceeded the 30,000 pounds (around 34,500 euros) annually available to every prime minister for repair work.
Labor MP Kate Green described the allegations against Johnson as "very worrying".
Any donation in excess of £ 7,500 must be registered, Green said.
"It is about the core of ethical action and integrity in our government and transparency".
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On Monday, the highest British official, Simon Case, was to be questioned before a parliamentary committee in London about lobbying allegations against the government, among other things.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210426-99-358562 / 2