Mentre su Roma già calavano le prime ombre della sera e si cercava un ennesimo espediente per ammazzare i processi a carico del Presidente del Consiglio, qui a Londra l’Evening Standard usciva con le foto a colori sparate in prima pagina dell’ex vice sindaco Ian Clement, ex braccio destro di Boris Johnson, mentre svolge i lavori a favore dei servizi sociali a cui è stato condannato per aver abusato della sua carta di credito di servizio.

“He was given a corporate card to cover any ‘exceptional’ expenditure while abroad on City Hall business. But he used it to pay for two meals with 23-year-old Claire Dowson — for whom he left the mother of his son — and a dinner with PR assistant Joanna Laban. He lied and said he had dined with Tory council leaders. The three meals cost £156.70”. Meno di sessanta euro a testa, per dire.

E sentite la conversazione tra il giudice e l’imputato, come riportata dal giornale: “Sentencing Clement, Judge Quentin Purdy said he had ‘flagrantly and arrogantly’ misused taxpayers’ money. He told Clement he had come ‘very close indeed’ to being sent to prison. ‘You knew full well what you were doing was dishonest and it is your fault and your fault entirely,’ the judge said. Clement, a former postman from Crayford, publicly apologised to Mr Johnson outside Westminster magistrates’ court, saying he was ‘truly sorry’. He admitted he had ‘let down’ taxpayers and colleagues.”