Boris Johnson news: PM admits 74 convicted terrorists released early and falsely claims his Queens speech was blocked by parliament

Boris Johnson denies Tory cuts played role in London Bridge terror attack

Boris Johnson has appeared on a combative edition of the BBC's Andrew Marr Show - following a pledge by the broadcaster to refuse the prime minister a platform unless he agreed to an on-air grilling with Andrew Neil.

His on-air appearance comes after a BMG Research poll reveal the Conservative party's lead has been more than halved since the election was called.

Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has accused Boris Johnson of being “the world’s leading sycophant” towards Donald Trump as the Labour leader outlines his approach to foreign policy if elected.

Key Points

• Corbyn: 'The war on terror has manifestly failed'
• Watch Jeremy Corbyn's response to questions on how to handle detained terrorists in the UK
• Labour's David Lammy has accused the prime minister of "bare-face lies" during his Marr interview​
• Boris Johnson confirms 74 terror convicts released early

[1 December 2019 09:48 · Vincent Wood]

Watch: Raab not concerned over seat

While the Lib Dems have made the seat a key target, Mr Raab has been dogged by national problems haunting him in his local area - with the parents of Harry Dunn arriving to campaign against him in the area.

However Mr Raab has said he is not concerned about the challenge.

Here's Dominic Raab on his concern he might end up losing his seat following a surging Liberal Democrat campaign.

[1 December 2019 09:50 · Vincent Wood]

Boris Johnson arrives on Marr

The PM is now appearing on the BBC to discuss Friday's terror attack and stricter sentencing legislation.

According to the Guardian's Helen Pidd, who was on the show earlier, he managed to make it on air by a fine margin.

[1 December 2019 09:54 · Vincent Wood]

Why is Boris Johnson's appearance on the BBC controversial?

The BBC had previously said they would not allow the prime minister to appear on the channel until he agreed to an interview with Andrew Neil - following the lead of Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon.

The broadcaster said it was necessary to provide a slot for the prime minister in the wake of the terror attack on London Bridge that left two people dead and three injured after convicted and released terrorist Usman Khan stabbed members of the public.

In a statement, the corporation said: “As the national public service broadcaster, the BBC’s first priority must be its audience. In the wake of a major terrorist incident, we believe it is now in the public interest that the prime minister should be interviewed on our flagship Sunday political programme.

Here's more:

[1 December 2019 10:09 · Vincent Wood]

Boris Johnson dodges calls to apologise over probation services

Boris Johnson has dodged calls to apologise for the state of probation services under a Conservative government – while laying the blame for the London Bridge terrorist’s early release from prison on the previous Labour government.

Friday's attacker Usman Khan was automatically freed after six years in prison on terror charges with no involvement from probation officials.

In his BBC interview Andrew Marr repeatedly put to the prime minister that his party had been in power for nine years – and asked whether he would like to apologise for cuts to the probation service under his party.

Mr Johnson said “Obviously I think we should be investing more in the criminal justice system” – but disagreed that his government had made a mistake on policy.

[1 December 2019 10:13 · Vincent Wood]

Johnson - 74 more terror convicts released early

Boris Johnson has says there are 74 convicted terrorists in the UK who have allowed out of prison on early release.

“I don’t want to go into the operational details" he said "I am sure that people can imagine that what we are doing with the other 74 individuals is to ensure that they are being properly invigilated to ensure that there is no threat"

[1 December 2019 10:28 · Vincent Wood]

Boris Johnson appears to agree to Andrew Neil interview

The Prime Minister has said he would be willing to be interviewed by Andrew Neil, following on from Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon who have already faced a grilling from him.

Mr Johnson said he would be "perfectly happy" to be interviewed by "any interviewer called Andrew on the BBC".

However he did add "no previous prime minister has done one-on-one TV debates" - despite the format put forward by Mr Neil being a typical broadcast interview.

Theresa May and David Cameron both took part in similar events, with the latter being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on live TV. 

His agreement came as part of a blistering interview with Andrew Marr - who put forward a more combative than usual performance on his Sunday show.

[1 December 2019 10:33 · Vincent Wood]

David Lammy- PM has 'normalised deceit'

Labour's David Lammy has accused the prime minister of "bare-face lies" during his Marr interview - arguing that Boris Johnson has "normalised deceit and destroyed trust".

He added: "Boris Johnson on Marr is a slow motion car crash of lies, blame-shifting and deflection.

"No one watching this could consider this man fit to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom."

It is not clear which specific element of the interview Mr Lammy is referring to as false.

Meanwhile, in reference to the PM stating he had 'a record of campaigning against prejudice', Chuka Umunna added: "This a lie and he knows it.

"The litany of offensive things he has said about black people, Muslim people, women, etc speaks for itself.

"He is treating the public like fools".

[1 December 2019 10:36 · Vincent Wood]

Johnson - Austerity not to blame for terror attack

Boris Johnson has denied huge Conservative funding cuts to probation services were “a mistake” and insisted they played no part in the London Bridge terror attack.

A former top prosecutor says he personally warned the prime minister about the risk posed by freeing terrorists who had not been deradicalised, but was told there was “no money” for a programme.

But, put under pressure on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, the prime minister claimed Labour early-release rules alone were responsible for Friday’s atrocity.

More from Rob Merrick here: 

[1 December 2019 11:32 · Vincent Wood]

Conservatives either heading for colossal majority or Pyrrhic victory

A bit of poll aggregation here – and as it stands it’s a fine margin between all out victory for Boris Johnson and all out failure.

Electoral Calculus puts the potential Conservative majority projected at this stage at somewhere between four – the same as the 2017 election dubbed a catastrophe for Theresa May – and 110.

Here’s The Independent’s John Rentoul with the numbers:

[1 December 2019 11:34 · Vincent Wood]

Jeremy Corbyn to speak from election rally

Jeremy Corbyn has taken to the stage at a campaign rally in Yorkshire to outline his views on foreign policy

You can watch it live here.