Boris Johnson to give speech at Blockchain conference in Singapore
Former PM’s appearance follows lucrative speaking gig in US state of Colorado
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson will continue his post-prime ministerial career by giving a speech at a Blockchain conference in Singapore next month.
The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip will be the keynote speaker at the symposium dedicated to “advancements” in the technology allowing the growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Mr Johnson – who will appear at the conference along with former US vice president Dick Cheney – will speak on 2 December at the five-star InterContinental hotel.
The former prime minister “globally renowned” for his leadership on “technology and infrastructure”, according to organiser ParallelChain Lab.
It is not known how much Mr Johnson could earn from the appearance, but it follows a speech and “fireside chat” with a group of US insurance brokers in October.
The former prime minister reportedly made around £131,000 for his appearance at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in Colorado Springs.
Labour has asked Mr Johnson to prove he has followed the rules for former ministers – saying he had “questions to answer” about taking on lucrative speaking gigs.
Mr Johnson did not ask the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before giving his Colorado speech – but allies suggested there was no need to do so because it was a one-off, rather than a contract.
Mr Johnson was briefly added to the Premium Speakers Agency’s website before his name disappeared, with allies saying it had been an error.
Questions were raised about how seriously Mr Johnson’s government took online security, after it was reported that Ms Truss’s personal phone was hacked by Russian spies during her time as foreign secretary.
Leading security expert Prof Antony Glees told The Independent Mr Johnson had presided over “a culture of laxness when it comes to national security”, calling for a judicial inquiry.
Mr Johnson cut short a holiday Dominican Republic to launch a failed bid to take on Rishi Sunak in another Tory leadership contest – saying it was not the right time, despite claiming there was a “very good chance” he could have won.
Last month he set up a new private company to support his work as a former prime minister and will have up to £115,000 a year in public funding at his disposal.
The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd was incorporated with Companies House, with the ousted Tory leader listed under his full name of Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Johnson.
Labour leader Sir Keir Stamer has called on Liz Truss to turn down the allowance of up to £115,000 a year she will also be entitled to as a former PM. “She should turn it down. I think that’s the right thing to do.”
It comes as emerged that Matt Hancock did not ask Acoba for permission to join the reality series I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.
Mr Hancock’s spokesperson has said is still within rules, because they allow for “one-off broadcasts”. But the chair of the watchdog, Tory peer Eric Pickles, is writing to Mr Hancock to seek an explanation, The Independent understands.
A picture of Mr Johnson and Mr Cheney appears on the International Symposium on Blockchain Advancements (SBA) conference website with a description of the conference as a “new interoperability dimension coupling DeFi and CeFi”.
Blockchains record cryptocurrency transactions in encrypted, digital records that live on servers all around the world – one of the key foundations of cryptocurrencies.
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