Emily Maitlis delivers stunning takedown of Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishment scandal

Newsnight’sEmily Maitlis has been praised on social media for her succinct monologue which brilliantly explains why Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishment scandal matters to the British public.

At the beginning of her speech, she says: “This is not a story about furnishing, wallpaper and mood lighting, it’s not even a story about John Lewis. It’s a story about which money changed hands to pay for them, why it’s not been formally declared and why we still don’t know what happened.”

The Electoral Commission has now launched a full investigation into the matter, saying they have reasonable grounds to consider an offence may have occurred.

This is not the first time, the prime minister has faced questions about his conduct this week.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, he was forced to deny a quote, widely attributed to him, about Covid deaths: “Let the bodies pile up” [in reference to the possibility of a third lockdown.]

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But if his denial later proves to be untrue, he may be forced to resign for misleading Parliament.

The Newsnight presenter goes on to explain how this scandal has stemmed from an “internal row” between the prime minister and his former advisor, Dominic Cummings and that “any donations have now been repaid.”

She adds: “...the fittings and fixtures are the least of Britain’s problems right now.”

“Why does all this matter?” Maitlis questions.

“Well it matters because it involves standards, rules and integrity in public office and once those values start to erode, can the public ever expect to get them back?”

Many people on social media commended Maitlis for her accurate and concise introduction:

It remains to be seen what will happen in regards to the scandal but Keir Starmer isn’t willing to let it go away. The Labour leader was pictured at a John Lewis store of Thursday pricing up a roll of wallpaper.