‘Why should we believe habitual liar?’ Mumsnet users have Johnson squirming in tense Q&A

Boris Johnson: ‘Everyone knows he is a liar’ says Phillips

Boris Johnson, who is facing mounting pressure to resign, was questioned by Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts over the Partygate scandal. She said: “One user would like to know why should we believe anything you say when it’s been proven you’re a habitual liar?”

Mr Johnson replied: “First of all, I don’t agree with the conclusion of the question.

“I think that the best way for me to answer that is to say, look at what I get on and deliver and what I say I’m going to deliver.

“That’s what I’m in politics to do; to try and make life better for people, I was elected at a particularly difficult time in politics to get some tough things done.

“Things then became even more difficult because of the pandemic but if you look at what we’re doing, we’re getting on and delivering.”

READ MORE: Sir Keir Starmer urges Brits to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Boris Johnson squirmed when he was grilled by the Mumsnet founder (Image: Mumsnet)

Boris Johnson has said he will not resign over partygate (Image: GETTY)

He added: “My answer about trust – people throw all sorts of accusations at me ever since I drove around with a sign on a bus and they have all sorts of reasons for saying that.

“But I think you’ve just got to look at the record of what I deliver.”

The Prime Minister claimed quitting over the “miserable” Partygate scandal would be irresponsible.

He cited “huge pressures” on the economy, the war in Ukraine, and his “massive agenda which I was elected to deliver” as his reasons for remaining in post and not seeking to “abandon” ship.

But Mr Johnson is under increasing pressure from Tory MPs to consider his position in the wake of Sue Gray’s report on lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Boris Johnson: Tory MP quizzed on possible alternative to PM

His own ethics adviser also criticised his handling of Partygate, with Lord Geidt suggesting Mr Johnson’s fixed penalty notice (FPN) may have breached the ministerial code.

Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on the ministerial code, said a “legitimate question” had arisen as to whether the FPN, issued for a June 2020 birthday party thrown in Mr Johnson’s honour in the Cabinet Room, might have constituted a breach of the “overarching duty within the ministerial code of complying with the law”.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab led the counter-attack on Wednesday by insisting questions around whether Mr Johnson broke the rules for ministers “have been answered”, as he backed the PM’s assertion that he did not intend to breach Covid laws.

The Justice Secretary said he does not believe the Prime Minister will face a confidence vote next week, as the prospect of a leadership challenge loomed.

DON’T MISS

Boris Johnson admits he thought about RESIGNING after Partygate row [BREAKING]Job cuts ‘will leave Met Office with 1939 staffing levels’ [INSIGHT]Express letters: Airlines left grounded by Covid apathy [COMMENT]

No confidence vote explained (Image: EXPRESS)

He said speculation over the matter is “yet more Westminster talking to itself” and thinks “the vast majority of MPs respect, recognise and agree with that”.

Mr Johnson, in an interview with Mumsnet released on Wednesday, repeated his apology for the events in Downing Street when told a teacher would have lost their job if they had broken the law and asked why the same did not apply to him.

He said: “If people look at the event in question it felt to me like a work event, I was there for a very short period of time in the Cabinet Office at my desk and, you know, I was very, very surprised and taken aback to get an FPN but of course I paid it.

“I think that on why am I still here, I’m still here because we’ve got huge pressures economically, we’ve got to get on, you know, we’ve got the biggest war in Europe for 80 years, and we’ve got a massive agenda to deliver which I was elected to deliver.

“I’ve thought about all these questions a lot, as you can imagine, and I just cannot see how actually it’d be responsible right now – given everything that is going on simply to abandon a) the project which I embarked on but b)…”