Have Tory MPs finally had enough?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2022

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Boris Johnson has finally commented on the accusations of a Downing Street garden party held in the first lockdown. Yet his defence – 'I believed implicitly that this was a work event' – has satisfied nobody.

On the episode, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman give their verdict. 'When I started my career I spent a lot of time in magistrates courts and I have to say, I've heard better ones from people who were drunk who were defending themselves in Portsmouth Magistrates Court', Isabel says. And for James, the problem was Boris Johnson's own party – 'The Tory benches were almost totally silent'. Can these MPs really defend Boris Johnson to their constituents, and what happens to this Prime Minister if they can't?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, there we have it. After months of deceit and deception, the pathetic spectacle of a man who's run out of road.
0:09.0	His defence, his defence, that he didn't realise he was at a party.
0:18.0	It is so ridiculous that it's actually offensive to the British public.
0:23.6	He's finally been forced to admit what everyone knew, that when the whole country was locked down, he was hosting boozy parties in Downing Street.
0:33.6	Is he now going to do the decent thing and resign?
0:40.9	I appreciate the point that he's making about the event that I attended.
0:48.2	I want to repeat that I thought it was a work event.
0:52.9	And Mrs Speaker, I...
0:55.3	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots,
0:57.2	the Spectators' Daily Politics Podcast.
0:59.7	I'm Isabel Hardman, and I'm joined by James Forsyth.
1:02.3	We're back on our roof in Parliament.
1:04.4	You may hear some chants from protesters
1:06.8	across Parliament Square.
1:08.6	And we've had a furious Prime Minister's questions today, haven't we, James?
1:13.4	The atmosphere was quite something. I don't think I've experienced anything like it. I've been in
1:18.9	the Commons for more than the decade now, and you've been there longer. Yeah, it started off with
1:23.8	Boris Johnson doing something quite unusual for Boris Johnson, an apology. And normally
1:29.7	Boris Johnson's attitude to scandals is say nothing, keep your head down and hope something
1:35.2	turns up to move a story on. I mean, the fact that he felt we need to apologize is a sign that
1:40.5	this story is too big for that to happen. Now, I thought the initial part of the apology was quite powerful, but then I think it got
1:49.0	bogged down in him trying to suggest that this might technically have been within the rules
	...

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