With the tedious witch hunt by bitter anti-Brexit politicians and treacherous team Sunak members continuing to rage on against Boris Johnson, the Cabinet Office have stooped to a new low – attempting to punish Johnson for meeting his dying mother.
First weaponizing the left-leaning British media into a transparent campaign to bring down Mr Johnson over the profound question of ‘who paid for his wallpaper?’, the anti-Boris brigade then moved on to bashing him over birthday cake. The former failed, the latter succeeded.
Yet now, in what appears to be yet another politically-motivated effort to smear the former Prime Minister, Rish Sunak’s cabinet office has not only handed over ‘evidence’ they insinuate proves Johnson broke Covid social distancing rules during meetings at Chequers, but has also shamefully included in their report to the police information showing that Mr. Johnson met his dying mother – an act they seem to believe constitutes a ‘crime’.
'All the rules were followed whenever I went to Chequers.'
LBC's @RachelSJohnson says if Boris Johnson has questions to answer he will 'definitely be answering them'.@BenKentish | #CrossQuestion pic.twitter.com/IxVBPY9rRe
— LBC (@LBC) May 23, 2023
Earlier this month lawyers working for the Government Legal Department came across entries in Mr Johnson’s diaries which dated between June 2020 and May 2021.
Around 17 different entries in Boris Johnson’s diary were flagged as potential Covid lockdown breaches by government lawyers, three sources familiar with events have told The Telegraph.
The new claims, which were passed to police, included gatherings at both Downing Street and Chequers, the former prime minister’s grace-and-favour country house in Buckinghamshire.
The exact number of events which were eventually handed to the police to look at remains unclear, but three sources said it was around 17 – possibly a little higher or lower.
Little is known about the events in question. The Telegraph reported earlier this week that one of the meetings reported to police by the Cabinet Office was a meeting between Mr Johnson and his mother Charlotte Johnson Wahl.
The event took place in the Downing Street garden. Mrs Johnson Wahl died at the age of 79 in September 2021. She was using a wheelchair at points in the final year of her life.
A second event which was reported is said to have involved Mr Johnson meeting TV presenter Kate Garraway, to support her whilst her husband was left in a life-threatening condition after getting Covid.
Boris has been given one week to provide an explanation to MPs, yet his office have already insisted that no rules were broken during the meetings at Chequers.
Speaking on LBC on Monday night, Boris’ sister, Rachel Johnson, said: “If he has questions to answer he will definitely be answering them.
“I see that the family name has been brought into it slightly and all I will say on that point… is that as far as I am aware all the rules were followed whenever I went to Chequers, which wasn’t often enough.”
The referral to police has been branded a political “smear” by Johnson’s allies, while his spokesperson said the allegations against him were “totally untrue”.
Supporters of the former prime minister noted that Oliver Dowden, the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office, is one of Rishi Sunak’s closest friends in politics.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “Some abbreviated entries in Mr Johnson’s official diary were queried by the Cabinet Office during preparation for the Covid Inquiry.
“Following an examination of the entries, Mr Johnson’s lawyers wrote to the Cabinet Office and privileges committee explaining that the events were lawful and were not breaches of any Covid regulations.”
The spokesman added: “The assertion by the Cabinet Office that there have been further Covid rule breaches is totally untrue.
“No contact was made with Mr Johnson before these incorrect allegations were made both to the police and to the privileges committee. This is both bizarre and unacceptable.
“For whatever political purpose, it is plain that a last-ditch attempt is being made to lengthen the privileges committee investigation as it was coming to a conclusion and to undermine Mr Johnson.”
The spokesperson said Mr Johnson’s lawyers have written to the police forces involved to explain in detail why the Cabinet Office is “entirely wrong in its assertions”.
“The events in question were all within the rules either because they were held outdoors or came within another lawful exception. They include regular meetings with civil servants and advisers.
“Many will conclude that this has all the hallmarks of yet another politically motivated stitch up,” they added.
VOTEWATCH’S TAKE:
Dragging Boris Johnson’s late mother into the fray demonstrates just how low some in politics are willing to go. A seemingly Sunak-backed plot to permanently prevent his former charismatic boss from challenging his unstable rule is sure to backfire – further turning Tory voters even more against Sunak himself, whom they generally perceive to be a lacklustre supervisor at best and, at worst, an untrustworthy usurper.
