Boris Johnson today lost his cool as he fended off questions about Partygate during his visit to India and insisted he has “absolutely nothing to hide”.
As Sky News interviewer Beth Rigby fired off a series of queries about lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street, an increasingly tetchy prime minister looked at his watch and told her: “I want to talk about the point of this trip… Ask me questions relating to the trip.”
The interview descended into a row over how many minutes were being devoted to the scandal rather than Mr Johnson’s trade agenda, with the Sky political editor protesting that she had not spent as long on Partygate as the BBC, and the prime minister replying: “It’s not a competition. Get onto the subject of the trip.”
The prime minister was speaking shortly after abandonning a bid to kick into the long grass a new Commons inquiry into whether he committed a contempt of parliament by lying about breaches of Covid law in 10 Downing Street.
With the row over parties threatening to overshadow a crucial trade visit to India, Mr Johnson let his frustration show in his interview with Sky News, repeatedly urging Ms Rigby to ask him about the commercial agreements sealed on the first day of the visit and his plans to push for a free trade deal in talks with prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Mr Johnson is facing probable investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee after ditching an amendment designed to delay a vote on the issue until after the completion of the police inquiry and the publication of a report by senior civil servant Sue Gray.
But he insisted he was not trying to evade scrutiny, and denied that he had dropped his amendment out of fear of a major rebellion by angry Tory backbenchers.
“What I decided is that if the opposition want to focus on this, that’s fine,” said the PM.
“I think it’s very important nobody says we are trying to avoid scrutiny. I don’t want to avoid scrutiny.”
He added: “People were saying this looks like we were trying to stop stuff coming out. I didn’t want that. I don’t want people to say that.
“I don’t what this thing endlessly to go on. I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
Responding to the call from prominent Tory backbencher Steve Baker for him to go because “the gig is up”, Mr Johnson said he did not believe that resignation was “the right thing to do”.
“I understand people’s feelings, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” said the PM. “We have to wait for the conclusion of the report, perhaps I can say more then. In the meantime, what I would like to do is take the country forward, deal with the immediate problems we face.”
As Ms Rigby continued to press him on the prospect of further fines, the PM told her “you’re going to have to wait” and then “ ask me questions relating to the trip”.
His interviewer protested that she had been given only a few minutes with Mr Johnson, while the BBC had been granted seven, earning the reply: “It’s not a competition. Get onto the subject of the trip.”
