Boris Johnson swerved questions about the partygate scandal at a press conference in India on Friday (April 22).
When asked whether the British public were wrong to care about partygate, Mr Johnson dodged the query, saying the public will be interested in “jobs and growth” in the UK and a move towards wind power. He remains confident that he will still be the Prime Minister in six months' time, answering 'yes' when asked if he was 'absolutely sure' he would still be running the country by Diwali in October.
Mr Johnson, who is visiting New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is hoping to have brokered a trade deal with India by that date. He responded: “I think that what people want in our country is for the government to get on and focus on the issues on which we were elected, and that’s what we’re going to do."
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Asked whether he was a “cat with nine lives”, Mr Johnson replied: “Talking about cats, we had a pretty good kick of the cat yesterday. Not that I’m in favour of kicking cats, for the avoidance of all doubt.” He did not clarify what he meant by this comment.
Back in the UK, Mr Johnson is facing growing calls from some Tory MPs to stand down after MPs decided on Thursday that he should face a new investigation into whether he misled Parliament. But Northern Ireland Minister Conor Burns has hit out at Tory MPs calling for the PM's resignation, saying there were some MPs who had never truly accepted Mr Johnson as their leader.
Meanwhile Bournemouth MP Tobias Ellwood has said the onus is on fellow Tory MPs to force a change in leadership. Speaking on Sky News, Mr Ellwood said: “There’s a recognition that every MP now realises it’s up to us to take ownership of this, because, I’m afraid, the absence of discipline, of focus and leadership in Number 10 during that lockdown period has led to a huge breach of trust with the British people.
“It’s causing such long-term damage to the party’s brand and that’s proving difficult to repair. Can it be repaired in time for the next general election? So it’s beholden upon all Conservative MPs then to take matters into their own hands, and I think, as I say, I think this is where things will go, particularly as we have more bad news to follow.”
Earlier today, shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle Mr Johnson’s “character flaws” are damaging the way the country is being run. Speaking on Sky News, Mr Kyle said: “This (partygate) fundamentally speaks to his character flaws as a leader: he lies, he is untrustworthy and he is incompetent.
“Those same character flaws are the same reason why we have a low-growth economy and a high-tax economy, we have crime at the record levels it is now, and we have seven million people waiting for NHS treatment. It’s all down to his character flaws, exposed by partygate.”
