James Cleverly claims PM would be free to refuse if called to appear before London assembly

Boris Johnson could refuse to appear before the London assembly to explain his links to a US businesswoman who was given sponsorship and favours during his time as London mayor, the Tory party chairman has suggested.

The assembly’s oversight committee has given Johnson 14 days to explain how grants and privileged access were awarded to Jennifer Arcuri after his close links to her were reported by the Sunday Times. If he refuses to comply, or the committee is not satisfied by his answers, it could summon the prime minister to appear as it did over his failed garden bridge project.

But James Cleverly said it was the job of parliament to hold the prime minister to account, not the London assembly. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “When I was on the London assembly, it was quite common for government ministers to refuse to appear.

“The body that exists to scrutinise ministers is the House of Commons, the body that exists to scrutinise the mayor of London is the London assembly, and there is a clear division and role there.”

Arcuri, an American who moved to London seven years ago, was given £11,500 in sponsorship by London & Partners, the mayor’s promotional agency. It also gave her access to foreign trade missions after the intervention of Johnson’s office.

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When told the PM could be in breach of the law for failing to explain himself, Cleverly replied: “That’s not my understanding. I’m willing to look into it.”

Siân Berry, the co-leader of the Green party and a member of the London assembly’s oversight committee, expressed alarm at Cleverly’s suggestion.

She said: “I don’t think anyone can really predict which laws the prime minister is going to obey. He has left himself basically in contempt of parliament. But we would expect him to comply with the law.”

She also challenged Cleverly’s assertion that ministers could ignore a call from the assembly. She said: “We very rarely use our powers of summons. On the garden bridge we informally invited Boris Johnson, first in a letter, and then we sent a proper summons because we needed to hear from him. We had to get advice on whether we could do that to a former mayor, but we could, so we did. And we would again.”

Tom Copley, a Labour member of the assembly’s oversight committee, said Cleverly was “factually wrong” about the assembly’s power to summons.

He said: “Under the Greater London Authority Act 1999, as amended, we have powers of summons over former mayors of London for up to eight years. We can issue a notice that he [Johnson] must appear before us to answer questions. Failure to do so is actually a criminal offence.”

He said Johnson would face a fine or prison sentence of up to three months if he ignored such a summons.

Copley said: “I know Boris Johnson sometimes seems to think that the rules don’t apply to him, but there would be quite serious consequences if we were to issue a summons and he failed to adhere to it.”

He said Arcuri was reportedly told initially that her businesses did not meet the criteria for her inclusion on trade missions abroad. Copley said: “If he [Johnson] overruled those officers because she was a personal friend, I think that is inappropriate, and I think the public would think that inappropriate as well.”

The government has confirmed it has frozen a £100,000 grant to Arcuri’s company, Hacker House, pending a review by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The money, awarded this year, was intended to foster digital skills in the UK.

The government’s claim that it properly verified the grant appeared to be unravelling on Wednesday amid mounting evidence about the company’s tenuous links to the UK.

After a minister said necessary checks on the company to ensure it was UK-based involved verifying it had “a British phone number”, the Guardian called the number and got through to a US-based member of staff who would not confirm her exact location.

According to LinkedIn, only four of the 11 employees recorded on the site are located in the UK, and one of them is Arcuri, who moved to the US last year.