The Independent reported on Sunday that UK's Labour party is requesting a probe be opened against the head of BBC Richard Sharp following claims that he offered a financial service to ex-British Prime Minister Borish Johnson shortly before he was recommended by him [Johnson] for the position of BBC's chairman.

The Labour party has requested the investigation in a letter to the parliamentary commissioner for standards Daniel Greenberg after The Sunday Times reported earlier that Tory donor Sharp held talks with Johnson to offer help when the latter faced financial issues back in 2020.

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"The BBC chairman [Richard Sharp] helped to arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 for Boris Johnson weeks before the then prime minister recommended him for the role [of BBC chief]," said The Sunday Times in the report, noting that Sharp was then in the final stages of getting the position.

Sharp got involved following a dinner with businessman Sam Blyth, Johnson's multimillionaire cousin, in late 2020 where Blyth allegedly raised the idea of helping the prime minister with his finances by acting as a guarantor on a loan, according to The Sunday Times report.

The media outlet added that Sharp agreed to the proposition and discussed the issue with the then-Secretary of the Cabinet Simon Case in December of that year, and then introduced Case to Blyth and spoke with Johnson.

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“No conflict [of interest]," Sharp told the newspaper, without denying the claims that he introduced Case to Blyth.

“There is not a conflict when I simply connected, at his request, Mr. Blyth with the cabinet secretary and had no further involvement whatsoever,” he added.

Spokesperson of British PM Johnson dubbed the report as "rubbish".

“Richard Sharp has never given any financial advice to Boris Johnson, nor has Mr. Johnson sought any financial advice from him,” he said.

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The Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team, according to media reports, contacted Johson following the incident in 2020 and requested he stops seeking Sharp's financial advice as the latter was being considered for the role of BBC chairman.

Johnson backed Sharp's application for the position on January 6, 2021, and he was later announced as the UK government's choice for chairman by the then-Secretary of Culture Oliver Dowden.

"Mr. Sharp and Mr. Johnson are reportedly long-standing friends and have gone on skiing holidays together in the past. Mr. Sharp has also donated £400,000 to the Conservative Party," The Independent said in the report.

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“There has never been any remuneration or compensation to Mr. Sharp from Boris Johnson for this or any other service. Mr. Johnson did indeed have dinner with Mr. Sharp, whom he has known for almost 20 years, and with his cousin. So what? Big deal. All Mr. Johnson’s financial arrangements have been properly declared and registered on the advice of officials," a spokesperson of Johnson stated.

A BBC spokesperson responded to the news stating that “the BBC plays no role in the recruitment of the chair and any questions are a matter for the government.”

Anneliese Dodds, Labour party chair member, requested in the letter to Greenberg an urgent investigation, citing the government's code of conduct for parliament members that “holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties."

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In the letter, she expressed concern that Johnson “may have breached this section by asking for an individual to facilitate a guarantee on a loan whom he would later appoint to a senior public role."

“The lack of transparency around it, like that of the issue raised around Mr. Blyth, may give the impression that this was a quid pro quo arrangement,” she noted.

"It comes after Labour demanded a probe earlier this week into reports that Mr. Johnson used Mr. Blyth, a Canadian reportedly worth $50m, to act as a guarantor for an £800,000 credit facility," added the report.

“The financial affairs of this disgraced former prime minister just keep getting murkier, dragging the Conservative Party deeper into yet another quagmire of sleaze," she said, adding, “Serious questions need to be asked of Johnson: why has this money never been declared, and what exactly did he promise these very generous friends in return for such lavish loans?”