Johnson, Trump didn’t retain a single gift

ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not retained a single present given to him during last year, the official record of the UK's Register of Interest shows.

The incumbent UK PM has disclosed properties, assets, trips & travels and royalties that he received but did not mention any present from foreign dignitaries that he kept to himself.

The News tried to gather information regarding gifts received by US President Joe Biden but could not get it. However, former US president Donald Trump received many gifts but did not retain a single one, states the official website of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Out of hundreds of gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, only five were retained by US officials in 2019, according to the data publicized by the Department of State. A gift given to Trump by Pakistan along with two gifts from Modi in 2019 are also shown in the information released by the US. The record of gifts received by the US from foreign countries is published on an annual basis. Nothing is kept secret.

Trump declared a total of 23 gifts worth $52,626 he received in 2019. He, according to the list of recorded gifts, did not retain a single one for himself and rather disposed of all of them to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Boris Johnson, in the latest Register of Members Financial Interests, declared ownership of three new properties, one donation, two payments received as salaries and an amount of over £6,000 earned as royalties from books already written apart from the gifts given to him. In his most recent declaration, Johnson declared a stay at an airport that was estimated to cost up to 1,800 pounds. No gift was taken by the UK prime minister in the last twelve months.

According to England’s policy, a parliament member is bound to declare any earnings or payments received over £100. Any donation in money or in kind valued at over £1,500, and any donation in money or in kind valued at over £500 is also to be declared. This includes loans and ‘linked’ donations received via a party organization. Further, any gifts, benefits and hospitality from the UK sources with a value of over £300 must be declared by the members. The visits outside the UK valuing over £300 should also be disclosed. The gifts and benefits from the sources outside the UK with a value of over £300 must also be shown.

Countries like Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and Australia have also a very comprehensive way of declaration of interests by the members of their respective parliaments. According to the latest guidelines for government offices and officials in Sweden, the gifts exceeding a value equivalent to 300-400 Swedish kronor should not be kept by the receiving official but must be handed into the ministry’s official gifts repository.

In Denmark, gifts from domestic donors that evidently exceed DKK 3,000 are attributable to membership of the Danish Parliament. The name of the donor, the nature of the gift and the date of receipt are to be registered. Travel and visits outside Denmark where the costs are not paid in full by government funds, the party of the member or the member himself/herself and the travel/visit is attributable to membership of the Danish Parliament. The name of the donor, the dates of the visit and the name of the country visited are also to be registered.

Further, any payment, financial benefit, gift or the like received from a foreign public authority, organization or individual when the value evidently exceeds DKK 3,000 and the payment, etc in question is attributable to membership of the Danish Parliament. The name of the donor, and the nature and date of the payment, etc are to be registered.

In Switzerland, all government servants are bound to declare and submit gifts given to them from all over the world, which are displayed in their National Museum Zurich.

In the parliament of Australia, within 28 days of making an oath or affirmation, each member is required to provide to the Registrar of Members' Interests a statement of the member’s registerable interests. The registerable interests of which the member is aware of and the member’s spouse and children who wholly or mainly dependent on the member for support must also be included in the statement. The statement is to include: i) in the case of new members, interests held at the date of the member’s election; (ii) in the case of re-elected members of the immediately preceding parliament, interests held at the date of dissolution of that parliament.