Boris Johnson tells Sky News new claims of breach of lockdown rules are ‘total nonsense’ | Political news

Boris Johnson has insisted the new claims he broke lockdown rules are ‘utter nonsense’ and that material from his ministerial diary has been ‘picked up and turned over to the police’.

The former prime minister was confronted by Sky News over the allegations as he walked through Dulles International Airport in Washington after a brief tour of the United States.

When asked if he had broken the rules, he replied: “It’s all a bunch of nonsense from start to finish.

“I think it’s ridiculous that items from my diary are handpicked and handed over to the police, to the privileges committee without anyone even having the good sense to ask me what those entries were referring to.”

Mr Johnson was referred to the police by the Cabinet Office on Wednesday over events at Checkers and Downing Street following a review of his official journal as part of the official COVID inquiry.

Pressed whether the entries showed him ‘mingling with friends’, Mr Johnson insisted that ‘that is absolutely not what these diary entries show’.

He said: “I just think it’s totally absurd and bizarre that there are tens of thousands of entries in the Prime Minister’s diary. I’ve never seen these things before.

“I’ve been through it. None of them are a rule breach during COVID, they weren’t during lockdown.

“This was during other times of restrictions. None of them are a violation of the rules. None of them involve socializing. It’s complete nonsense.”

Mr Johnson has previously said he believes he is the victim of a “politically motivated scam” and dropped the government-appointed lawyers representing him in the COVID-19 public inquiry following his referral to the police.

He wouldn’t be shot at whoever “stitched” him.

On Thursday, he met with Donald Trump “to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the vital importance of a Ukrainian victory,” the former prime minister’s spokesman said.

It is not known where the meeting took place, but it happened while Mr Johnson was on tour of the United States, stopping 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 President of the United States and Mr Johnson was in charge of Downing Street.

Mr Trump has praised Mr Johnson and earlier this month called him a “wonderful guy” and “a friend of mine”.

However, he questioned a political comeback while claiming the Tories had gone ‘far left’ and ‘too liberal’ under his leadership.

He previously told GB News: “I loved him so much, I still love him, but he really went a bit on the liberal side.

“He suddenly became an environmentalist and I’m probably speaking negatively, too.”

The two were previously aligned on political issues, such as Brexit, but have also diverged in recent years, notably over Ukraine.

Mr Johnson was still Prime Minister when Russia invaded his southern neighbor last February and has been a leader in helping rally international support for the Ukrainian people and their military.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump – who has touted his “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin – has something of a checkered history involving Ukraine, dating back to before the invasion of Moscow last year.

In September 2019, reports emerged he had asked Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate then former Vice President Joe Biden, who was due to run against him in the 2020 presidential election.

That phone call led to Mr Trump’s first impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of congress – but he was not convicted after a trial in the Senate.

Earlier this month, during a town hall conversation broadcast as part of his 2024 presidential campaign, Mr Trump – who is running again as a Republican candidate – declined to say who he thinks should vote. prevail and declared that he would end the war in just 24 hours.

He said: “I want everyone to stop dying. They are dying. Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I will in 24 hours.”