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Boris Johnson refuses to answer questions over altercation with girlfriend in first interview since police called to flat

'I've made it a rule over many, many years and I think you've interviewed me loads of times, I do not talk about stuff involving my family, my loved ones,' frontrunner says

Henry Austin
Tuesday 25 June 2019 00:39 BST
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'I've made it a rule over many, many years' Boris Johnson refuses to talk about his personal life in BBC interview

Boris Johnson has again declined to discuss in detail the late-night quarrel at his home, saying it was “simply unfair” to “drag” his loved ones into the political arena.

The Tory leadership frontrunner was involved in a spat in the early hours of Friday morning, which saw police called by worried neighbours after his partner Carrie Symonds was heard screaming and shouting “get off me”.

Mr Johnson held out on making any statement about the row in his partner’s flat for three days.

But in his first media interview since the incident, he refused to elaborate on the incident, telling the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg that he did not want to “drag” his family and loved ones into the political arena.

“I’ve made it a rule over many, many years and I think you’ve interviewed me loads of times, I do not talk about stuff involving my family, my loved ones,” he said. “And there’s a very good reason for that. That is that, if you do, you drag them into things that, really is, is, in a way that is not fair on them.”

Asked whether privacy meant more to him than public trust and responded: “Yes I get that, I totally get that.

“But my key point though is that the minute you start talking about your family or your loved ones, you involve them in a debate that is it is simply unfair on them.”

The issue of a photograph of the couple that emerged at the weekend was raised, with Ms Kuenssberg suggesting the former mayor of London could be “trying to have this both ways”.

Dodging the question, Mr Johnson replied: “I just do not go into this stuff”.

He said: “Actually I think what people want to know is what is going on with this guy, does he, when it comes to trust, when it comes to character all those things, does he deliver what he says he’s going to deliver? And that is the key thing.”

Defending his record as foreign secretary and mayor of London, pledging to be a politician “who sticks by what (he) believes in”.

Apologising for upset caused by gaffes during his tenure, he said he did not enjoy offending people but also claimed the public deserve a prime minister who speaks their mind.

The politician has previously come under fire for his handling of the continuing incarceration of British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.

Mr Johnson was previously accused of risking an additional five years being added to her sentence when he told a parliamentary committee that she had been in Iran to train journalists.

He later apologised in the Commons, retracting “any suggestion she was there in a professional capacity”.

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“What I pledge to, you know, and what I think the people of this country want to hear is, I will be a politician who sticks by what I believe in,” he said. ”Yes occasionally I may say things as I’ve said before, that cause offence, and I’m sorry for the offence and I’m sorry for the offence I caused, but I will continue to speak my mind because I think people deserve to hear what’s going on in my head.”

Mr Johnson has previously dodged interviews during his campaign to be prime minister, including taking part in head-to-head television debates until after ballot papers have gone out to party members.

In an article in The Times, Jeremy Hunt accused Mr Johnson of cowardice, saying a new prime minister needed the “legitimacy” of having arguments subjected to proper media scrutiny.

Asked for his response to being called a “coward” by his rival, Mr Johnson said: “Look you know I just always invoke the 11th commandment of Ronald Reagan which is ‘thou shalt never speak ill of a fellow conservative’.”

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