Boris Johnson tells Sky News new allegations of lockdown rule breaking are ‘complete nonsense’

Boris Johnson has insisted the contemporary claims he broke lockdown guidelines are “total nonsense” and that parts of his ministerial diary have been “cherry picked and handed to police”.

The former prime minister was confronted by Sky News in regards to the allegations as he made his means by means of the Dulles International Airport in Washington following a short tour of the US.

Asked if he broke the foundations he informed Sky’s US correspondent James Matthews: “This whole thing is a load of nonsense from beginning to end.

“I believe it is ridiculous that parts in my diary ought to be cherry picked and handed over to the police, to the privileges committee with out even anyone having the fundamental frequent sense to ask me what these entries referred to.”

Mr Johnson was referred to the police by the cupboard workplace on Wednesday over occasions in Chequers and Downing Street following a overview of his official diary as a part of the official COVID inquiry.

Pressed on whether or not the entries confirmed him “mingling with friends”, Mr Johnson insisted “that is absolutely not what these diary entries show”.

He mentioned: “I simply assume it’s very nonsensical and weird that there are tens of hundreds of entries within the the Prime Minister’s diary. I’ve by no means seen these items earlier than.

“I have looked through it. None of them constitute a breach of the rules during COVID, they weren’t during lockdown.

“They have been throughout different intervals of the restrictions. None of them represent a breach of the foundations. None of them contain socialising. It is complete nonsense.”

Mr Johnson has beforehand mentioned he believes he’s the sufferer of a “politically motivated stitch-up” and ditched the government-appointed attorneys representing him within the COVID-19 public inquiry following his police referral.

He wouldn’t be drawn on who was “stitching him up” however mentioned: “Someone somewhere thinks it’s sensible to do this. I don’t.”

However a Labour supply mentioned: ‘If Boris Johnson is assured he has acted with proprietary, then he has nothing to concern from scrutiny.”

Mr Johnson has already been fined by the Met Police for breaking lockdown rules and is currently being investigated by the privileges committee over whether he lied to parliament over his repeated partygate denials.

On Friday night the committee confirmed it had received new evidence from the government and had written to Mr Johnson for a response.

A spokesperson said: “The committee will take this proof and Mr Johnson’s response under consideration when contemplating its ultimate report. The committee is making progress with its inquiry expeditiously.”

Johnson met Trump to ‘talk about Ukraine’

Mr Johnson said he has been in the US to “speak about Ukraine”.

It comes after he met former US president Donald Trump on Thursday, with his spokesman saying the purpose of this was “to debate the state of affairs in Ukraine and the important significance of Ukrainian victory”.

It is not clear where the meeting took place, but during his US tour Mr Johnson has stopped off in both Texas and Las Vegas.

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The two leaders have known each other for many years, and worked together when Mr Trump was US president and Mr Johnson was in charge at Downing Street.

Mr Trump has spoken highly of Mr Johnson and earlier this month called him a “great man” and “a pal of mine”.

However he cast doubt on a political comeback while claiming the Conservatives had gone “far left” and “too liberal” under his leadership.

He previously told GB News: “I preferred him a lot, I nonetheless like him, however he actually went somewhat bit on the liberal aspect.

“He all of a sudden became an environmentalist and I’m talking about probably in a negative way, too much.”

The two have beforehand been aligned on coverage points, comparable to Brexit, however they’ve additionally diverged lately, most notably on Ukraine.

Mr Johnson was nonetheless prime minister when Russia invaded its southern neighbour final February and was a frontrunner in serving to rally worldwide assist for the Ukrainian folks and its navy.

Meanwhile Mr Trump – who has touted his “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin – has one thing of a chequered historical past involving Ukraine, courting again to earlier than Moscow’s invasion final yr.

In September 2019, stories emerged he had requested Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy to research then former vp Joe Biden, who was anticipated to run towards him within the 2020 presidential election.

That telephone name led to Mr Trump’s first impeachment on expenses of abuse of energy and obstruction of congress – however he was not convicted after a trial within the Senate.

Earlier this month, in a city corridor dialog broadcast as a part of his 2024 presidential marketing campaign, Mr Trump – who’s operating to be the Republican candidate once more – refused to say who he thinks ought to prevail and mentioned he’d finish the battle in simply 24 hours.

He mentioned: “I want everybody to stop dying. They’re dying. Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”