Privilege: Conduct of Right Hon. Boris Johnson

Debate between Diane Abbott and Lia Nici

Monday 19th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Lia Nici]

No, I do not believe that he did. I think I am a very good person who can see character, and I saw what was going on in and around No. 10 on that day. Sadly, I believe that some unelected officials—many are very good and professional—made a choice not to inform the then Prime Minister because they wanted to cover their own backs. I am very sad to say that.

[Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Ind)]

Is the hon. Lady aware that, in 2019, Max Hastings, the editor of The Daily Telegraph and a Tory, said about Boris Johnson:

“Johnson would not recognise truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade”?

Is not the truth that Boris has lied for so long and so often that it can come as no surprise that he is lying in this instance?

[Lia Nici]

I am not a Conservative party grandee. I am not somebody who has followed Boris Johnson’s political or other career for a long time. I am somebody who came here to serve my constituency and my constituents, who are the reason I am here. The majority of them supported Boris Johnson, his policies and his vision for the country.

Sadly, the whole saga in and out of the media is becoming a kind of political opportunism for those people who do not like Boris Johnson’s approach, do not like Boris Johnson’s policies and do not like Boris Johnson’s plan. I have to say that that is not what I am getting on the doorstep. Perhaps if the Opposition had a plan and had the people, they might have a chance of getting into government some time soon. This is about people who want a formidable opponent out of their way, because they do not believe that they will get into government in any other way. That is my stance.