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Greg Evans
May 28, 2020
On Wednesday evening Boris Johnson appeared, digitally, before the liaison committee of senior MPs to answer a variety of questions and it was hardly his finest moment as prime minister.
Johnson was primarily asked questions about his handling of the Dominic Cummings scandal and whether his chief adviser will face an investigation. Surprise, surprise, he doesn't want anything like that to happen.
Other questions that Johnson wasn't entirely clear included social distancing, the furlough scheme, public funds and his regret for the lack of women featured in the daily coronavirus press briefings.
There were as many highlights to this hearing than the average episode of Match of the Day so let's kick things off with this question from Labour's Yvette Cooper, which will probably haunt Johnson for years to come.
“You have a choice between protecting Dominic Cummings and putting the national interest first. Which will it be Pr… https://t.co/W6GbH9OYiE— Stefan Simanowitz (@Stefan Simanowitz) 1590594151
This is a car crash for Boris Johnson. He is now ducking a very simple question from @YvetteCooperMP… https://t.co/rV9XBG0gU3— Ian Fraser (@Ian Fraser) 1590593040
It was really downhill from there for Johnson who struggled to string an answer together and raised eyebrows on more than one occasion.
Boris Johnson speaking to the liaison committee on #DominicCummnings says it’s just “a political ding dong about… https://t.co/CkDbnMMluE— Peter Stefanovic (@Peter Stefanovic) 1590594626
“It’s normal for a prime minister to appear before the liaison committee – the supergroup of select committee chair… https://t.co/cvbrrzDisD— Omid Djalili (@Omid Djalili) 1590650320
Boris Johnson at liaison committee asked first off by chair Bernard Jenkin if he will return before summer recess -… https://t.co/mgXtSN6D1T— Reeta Chakrabarti (@Reeta Chakrabarti) 1590591809
I see an emperor with no clothes. 👇 https://t.co/B42UOPdVNF— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1590592568
This has the flavour of the time he visited the police academy and was so confused and useless that he gave that po… https://t.co/N46KcSmzIk— Marina Hyde (@Marina Hyde) 1590596415
That look when you realise everyone else has done their homework except you. #LiaisonCommittee https://t.co/3GjtRPWG9Y— Tiernan Douieb (@Tiernan Douieb) 1590597127
For anyone short of time, here is a summary of my answers: "wiffle waffle pish pash flibber flabber bullshit bollocks" #liaisoncommittee— Parody Boris Johnson (@Parody Boris Johnson) 1590592777
Did nobody tell Boris Johnson he was due to appear at the Liaison Committee?— Kirsten Oswald MP (@Kirsten Oswald MP) 1590596610
#c4news After today's car crash performance by the clown #BorisJohnson the best advice anyone could follow is detai… https://t.co/BLh8g06w0R— Paul Brady (@Paul Brady) 1590603014
One of the most startling moments was when Johnson said that he had been "forbidden from announcing any more targets and deadlines." Forbidden by who? Isn't he the PM?
Boris Johnson at the #LiaisonCommittee "I've been forbidden from announcing any more targets or deadlines". An ext… https://t.co/G6aUoEJFQf— David Lammy (@David Lammy) 1590596142
Boris Johnson says he's been "forbidden from announcing any more deadlines" or targets, which is an odd way to anno… https://t.co/NhiTOLs3lN— James Felton (@James Felton) 1590594668
#BorisJohnson: "I've been forbidden from introducing any more targets". Forbidden! By whom? Oh silly me, of course we know who don't we!— Derek James 💙 #RejoinEU 🇪🇺 (@Derek James 💙 #RejoinEU 🇪🇺) 1590594318
Boris Johnson says he has been "forbidden from announcing any more targets and deadlines." Who by? His boss?— Jack Blanchard (@Jack Blanchard) 1590594306
Perhaps Johnson's most shameful moment of the entire hearing was when he expressed his regret for the lack of female involvement at the daily briefings. When pressed on this by his fellow Tory MP Caroline Nokes, Johnson looked somewhat flabbergasted and could only say "oh boy."
Oh dear bojo when asked how many women is enough to be involved in decisions #BorisFail https://t.co/1KComE60NF— John Maguire (@John Maguire) 1590596561
"How many women is enough?" I am not sure we ought to be going there with Johnson— Jon Worth (@Jon Worth) 1590596040
Nokes: Prime Minister, you make the distinction between there being a lot of women and enough women, how many is en… https://t.co/bKf1MAyEDk— lisa o'carroll (@lisa o'carroll) 1590596125
'Oh boy!' - how many woman is enough? This man is dying inside because he has nothing there— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@ALASTAIR CAMPBELL) 1590596014
Great stuff from @carolinenokes 'How many women is enough?' Boris: 'Oh boy....' CN: 'Is it not 50%?'— Claire Cohen (@Claire Cohen) 1590597100
Still buzzing from how brilliant @carolinenokes's questions to Boris were. She looked like an actual reasoning focu… https://t.co/rFEPUdy9TG— Caitlin Moran (@Caitlin Moran) 1590596773
Strangely Nokes apologised on Twitter as her questions was clearly too tough for some.
My job as the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee is to scrutinise the Government and hold it to acc… https://t.co/vmWsHNBAAW— Caroline Nokes MP (@Caroline Nokes MP) 1590596767
Johnson also appeared to have literally no idea that people who are legally allowed to be here have no access to public funds. Once again, this man is the prime minister.
Does Boris Johnson really not know what it means to have no recourse to public funds? 😳 https://t.co/UUhFXcq19C— Pippa Crerar (@Pippa Crerar) 1590650239
Under questioning from Stephen Timms it wasn’t clear that Boris Johnson actually knew there were people - who have… https://t.co/IwVv0ReUhV— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@Krishnan Guru-Murthy) 1590595819
I've spent the past few months interviewing people who are struggling to survive during the pandemic because of No… https://t.co/2HwsdJ2ksM— Maya Goodfellow (@Maya Goodfellow) 1590596266
Boris Johnson did two terms as Mayor of London and emerged not knowing what "no recourse to public funds" means. He… https://t.co/cxuFe1kcSt— John Harris (@John Harris) 1590599235
Boris Johnson not knowing what no recourse to public funds means was quite phenomenal.— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1590595588
Comedian Josh Berry managed to sum up the entire fiasco in just over a minute.
CCHQ advisor congratulating Boris Johnson on his performance before The Liaison Committee https://t.co/eLJ6hfnPR8— Josh ‘On Tour Link in Bio’ Berry (@Josh ‘On Tour Link in Bio’ Berry) 1590600087
Still, this probably isn't the worse thing that Boris Johnson has done this week.