Boris Johnson faces 'serious questions' over new affair with uranium businessman

Boris Johnson has failed to reveal that he met a uranium lobbyist while prime minister before starting a new business deal with a controversial Iranian-Canadian uranium businessman, the Observer can reveal.

Johnson's New Venture Best Limited Land He also employs Charlotte Owen, a junior assistant with only a few years' professional experience whom he elevated to the House of Lords last year at the age of 29, sparking intense controversy.

Transparency campaigners say there appear to be “serious public interest questions that need to be answered” about the nature and timing of Johnson's relationship with his co-director, Amir Adnani, founder, chairman and chief executive of Uranium Energy Corporationa US-based mining and exploration company promoted by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

Amir Adnani, a Canadian citizen and director of a network of offshore companies based in the British Virgin Islands, established Higher Earth in December last year. On May 1, documents filed with Corporations Home reveal that the Honourable Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was added as a director and Co-chairAnd this summer, Charlotte Owen, now Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge, joined the company to work alongside him as vice-chairman.

The Advisory Committee on Professional Appointments (ACOBA), which oversees the appointments of former ministers, has explicitly Johnson warned in April 2024 that the extended overlap between his duties in office and at Higher Earth may result in unknown risks due to a lack of transparency about the firm's clients. A Cabinet Office statement flagged a potential conflict of interest, explicitly due to the unknown nature of Higher Earth's clients, in particular the risk that a client would engage in lobbying activities within the UK government. The committee also told the former prime minister it was concerned that he could provide Higher Earth with unfair access and influence within government.

Acoba was assured that Johnson did not meet with you or make any specific decisions regarding Upper Earth during his term. But Observer This may reveal that Johnson met Scott Melbye, executive vice-chairman of Uranium Vitality Corp – Adnani’s company – in the House of Commons in May 2022, while he was still prime minister.

Adnani's social media post about the event claimed that Melbye and Johnson discussed nuclear power and uranium.

Neither Johnson nor Adnani responded to questions from the press about this meeting or their first encounter. The meeting was not recorded in the Official agenda of the Prime Minister.

Uranium is the raw material for the enriched uranium needed to fuel nuclear reactors. Just days before leaving office, Johnson announced a £700 million investment in the controversial Sizewell C reactor, saying the country must go nuclear, all the way! At the time, Caroline Lucas, then a Green Party MP and former party leader, described Sizewell C as hugely expensive, painfully slow and carrying huge unnecessary risks.

Among those who applauded the investment in Sizewell C was Adnani. publish the ad on his Twitter account: Boris Johnson plans to approve a new 30 billion nuclear power station in his last week in power! #uranium.

Adnani has appeared at least twice on former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon's show. war room podcast, and once told him that his ambition was to achieve full-spectrum energy dominance.

Higher Earth, based in a serviced office building in Sevenoaks, describes itself as an energy transition company. websitewhich is currently under construction, says it will work directly with national governments and regions seeking domestic investments and/or reducing their emissions before 2030.

The apparent lack of transparency goes beyond the nature of the firm's clients: the company no longer has a registered person exercising significant control in the companies' home page. The initial filing indicates that its only inventory is owned by another company called Emissions Discount Corp, registered in Carson Metropolis, Nevada.

Research conducted among American companies reveals that the company was Formerly Carbon Royalty Corporationa Delaware-based company whose directors include Adnani and Nicole Shanahan, who until recently was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate in his campaign for the U.S. presidency before backing Trump. Delaware is an “obscure” jurisdiction, but sources suggest that Carbon Royalty Company has raised $40 million since its inception in 2021 and its investors do not appear to be disclosed, although this is not illegal.

Baroness Margaret Hodge, a former Labour MP who chaired the parliament's public accounts committee between 2010 and 2015, said there were “at least four very serious questions of public interest” that needed to be answered about the appointment.

What on earth is a former British Prime Minister doing working for a company with an opaque structure? In my experience, those who choose to hand over a British company to a foreign entity only do so because they may have something to hide. What is happening in this case? Given the sensitivity of nuclear capabilities, we should know who the company is doing business with, where the money is coming from, and why it is using a financial structure that appears to conceal the real ownership of the company.

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Former UK Atomic Energy Authority chairman Professor Roger Cashmore predicts an economic boom in the nuclear sector in the coming decades, but said there are risks. He said Britain desperately needs a whole generation of new nuclear reactors to support its COP commitment to wean the country off fossil fuels, but added that he was concerned about competition from many new entrants to the market.

What really worries me is the technical experience of most people coming into the market. That’s where the real shortage is. And that means there are a lot of snake oil salesmen in the industry offering safe investments when in reality no such investments exist.

And obviously Boris Johnson has no experience in this area, he's just a figurehead. I have no idea who these people are that he's dealing with, so I'm not making any judgement, but I wonder how much investigative work he's done.

Higher Earth, Amir Adnani and Boris Johnson refused to answer the ObserverInquiries about Higher Earth's industry, funding or other matters.

The appointment also raises further questions about Johnson’s relationship with Baroness Owen, a previously unknown junior political adviser who worked for a few months with Johnson at No 10. Her appointment to the House of Lords, where she adopted the title Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge, in July last year, has been the subject of intense speculation. With only a few years of professional experience under his belt, he now holds the job for life. In his maiden speech in November last year, he thanked Johnson for “putting so much trust in me”.

That confidence has now extended to a leadership position at his new company, Higher Earth, although his role has also not been widely publicized. Recently updated his House of Lords page to highlight who holds a paid position as vice president of Higher Earth Restricted (an energy transition company), although she is not on the company's board of directors. website, Power X Or LinkedIn a lot

Owen only mentioned the weather briefly in His inaugural speech Earlier this year, he preferred to show his interest in technology and has no previous professional experience in the environmental, nuclear or ecology fields. He declined to answer any of the questions. Observer's questions about your role.

Owen joins two other former Tory ministers in signing: Chris Skidmore, who resigned from his post and the party over Rishi Sunak's oil and gas plans, He is the COO of Better Earthwhile Nigel AdamsA Johnson ally and former minister without portfolio, is the chief executive. There is no evidence that Skidmore or Adams breached transparency rules.

Before Johnson became director of Higher Earth in May this year, he wrote to Acoba, the government watchdog, to inform them of his appointment. This came at the same time that Acoba had accused him of refusing to answer questions about people he had met as a consultant for a hedge fund, Merlyn Advisors, during a trip to Venezuela.

The incident led committee chairman Eric Pickles to warn that Johnson's behaviour had shown its rules were unenforceable.