A flustered Boris Johnson has branded solutions he might have taken half in additional rule-breaking throughout the pandemic “a load of absolute nonsense”.
The previous prime minister wouldn’t say who he believes is making an attempt to “sew him up”, having beforehand claimed he seems to be the sufferer of a politically motivated plot.
However he claimed that the Cupboard Workplace determination handy over entries from his official diary throughout the pandemic to police with out first querying them with him was “ridiculous”.
No 10 and the Cupboard Workplace are adamant that ministers weren’t concerned when Whitehall officers handed issues to the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police.
The entries revealed visits by Mr Johnson’s pals to Chequers – the prime minister’s nation property – and occasions in Downing Road throughout the pandemic.
The brand new info is claimed to have come to gentle throughout a evaluation by taxpayer-funded attorneys forward of the Covid public inquiry.
Mr Johnson was catching a flight in Washington DC on Friday as a part of his journey to the US, the place he’s talking in regards to the struggle in Ukraine, when he was approached by a Sky Information journalist asking in regards to the revelations.
“You need my sincere view, I believe this entire factor is totally nonsensical,” he mentioned.
Requested what the entries present, he replied: “They merely report occasions in my day.”
Mr Johnson was beforehand fined for attending a gathering in Downing Road to mark his birthday in June 2020 – one in all a collection of political crises that in the end led to the tip of his premiership.
“This entire factor is a load of nonsense from starting to finish… I believe it’s ridiculous that parts in my diary must be cherry-picked and handed over to the police, to the Privileges Committee with out even anyone having the essential frequent sense to ask me what these entries referred to,” he mentioned.
Requested whether or not he believes Mr Sunak is making an attempt to sew him up, he mentioned: “I simply suppose it’s completely nonsensical and weird. There are tens of 1000’s of entries within the prime ministerial diary… None of them represent a breach of the foundations throughout Covid.”
Mr Johnson instructed not one of the entries in query relate to durations when the nation was in lockdown, however occasions when different restrictions have been in place.
He added: “For causes that – any person, someplace, thinks it’s wise to do that – I don’t.”
The Privileges Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into whether or not Mr Johnson lied to Parliament in regards to the partygate scandal, has additionally been knowledgeable of the brand new info.
The fallout provides to the issues confronting Mr Sunak, who was handed a set penalty alongside Mr Johnson over the June 2020 occasion and now faces unrest from the previous prime minister’s allies.
Mr Sunak “undoubtedly” didn’t go to the grace-and-favour retreat in contravention of coronavirus guidelines when he was chancellor throughout the pandemic, his press secretary mentioned.
The Prime Minister has not mentioned the controversy along with his predecessor, the spokeswoman mentioned.
Mr Johnson, in a letter to the chair of the Covid inquiry, indicated he was severing ties with taxpayer-funded attorneys representing him.
It’s understood he misplaced confidence within the Cupboard Workplace.
Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer mentioned earlier on Friday the general public was “fed as much as the again enamel” with tales in regards to the former prime minister.
“These are deeply private issues and growing revelations about Boris Johnson, I believe, simply add to that sense of damage and persons are fed up with it,” he mentioned.
“I do suppose there are questions now about why have these allegations not come out earlier than, all these allegations.
