UK politics live: Boris Johnson claims he considered raid into Holland to recover ‘kidnapped’ Covid vaccines
Boris Johnson promises ‘the unfiltered truth about Brexit, Covid and the Conservative Party’ in his new book, Unleashed
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Boris Johnson has claimed he considered sending the British Army on a daring raid to snatch Covid-19 vaccines from an EU warehouse, although he rejected the idea, saying: “The whole thing was nuts.”
The former prime minister demanded of senior military leaders whether he could launch a mission to a warehouse where the EU had stowed five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with global supplies dwindling in the height of lockdown.
Mr Johnson Johnson’s book, Unleashed, is being serialised in the Daily Mail and as well as defending his actions during “Partygate” and writing about his experiences in hospital with Covid, he discusses his wranglings with the EU after his post-Brexit deal was put in place.
He wrote: “I was angry enough to contemplate this clandestine operation, because after two months of futile negotiation I had come to the conclusion that the EU was treating us with malice and with spite; not because we had done anything wrong – we had not, far from it; but because we were vaccinating our population much faster than they were, and the European electorate had long since noticed.”
Defence Secretary watching Israeli ground invasion rumours ‘really carefully’
Defence Secretary John Healey is looking at a rumoured Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon “really carefully”.
Mr Healey said on Friday airstrikes and rocket fire exchanged between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah present a “risk that this escalates into something that is much wider and much more serious”.
Defence Secretary John Healey is looking at a rumoured Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon “really carefully”.
Mr Healey said on Friday airstrikes and rocket fire exchanged between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah present a “risk that this escalates into something that is much wider and much more serious”.
Asked about the rumoured ground invasion, Mr Healey replied: “We’re watching this really carefully. That will be a matter for the Israelis.
“At the moment, it’s airstrikes. At the moment, there are missiles from the Lebanese Hezbollah directed at Israel. This conflict serves no one.”
Boris Johnson claims the Downing Street event that sparked the partygate scandal was ‘feeblest event in the history of human festivity’
Boris Johnson has insisted that he had no birthday cake at the Downing Street event that launched the Partygate scandal.
The former Prime Minister wrote in Unleashed being serialised Mail +: “I saw no cake. I ate no blooming cake. If this was a party, it was the feeblest event in the history of human festivity.
“I had only just got over Covid. I did not sing. I did not dance. I ate a salad – but then it was lunchtime, and I do normally eat at my desk. I did not meet anyone that I don’t meet in the course of the working day.”
The scandal contributed to Boris Johnson‘s downfall as Prime Minister and his resignation as an MP.
He added: “I have no idea what version of events people gave the police. But I very much doubt that it was fair. I was obviously vulnerable to the testimony of some who were determined to bring me down.”
Exclusive: Starmer saved by Tory leadership chaos in Labour poll slide over freebies row
Starmer saved by Tory leadership chaos in Labour poll slide over freebies row
Exclusive: Despite being beset by criticism over freebies and gifts, Keir Starmer and Labour appear to be holding firm in the polls with the leaderless Tories struggling to make in-roads
Boris Johnson realised he had Covid-19 when he couldn’t finish the cheese in the fridge
The former Prime Minister has claimed he knew he was suffering from life-threatening Covid when he couldn’t finish the cheese in the fridge.
He wrote in Unleashed being serialised in Mail +: “By Sunday, April 5, there were more than 1,000 daily fatalities across the country. I was still flat out, floating in and out of consciousness, waiting for my fix of paracetamol, when Carrie came in like a ministering angel.
“‘Come on,’ she said. ‘You need to get something to eat.’
“I said that the kitchen really felt a long way away. So she brought up some apple and cheese. I looked at that cheese with such complete apathy that I knew – after a lifetime as a functioning cheese-oholic – that something was definitely awry.
He added: “Carrie rang Dr Price and explained things, and then passed the phone to me. He wanted me to come in right away, to St Thomas’ Hospital. No, no, I said... You have got to come in, he said. You have now spent too long getting worse, and it has got to the stage where it could go either way.”
Boris Johnson speaks of becoming the ‘most popular PM in history' when Brits thought he was going to die from Covid
Boris Johnson has written about his near-death experience from Covid-19 answering critics who thought he was exaggerating his illness.
Serialised in the Mail +, he wrote: “All I can say is that I felt truly lousy: the scratchy, breathless exhaustion that is familiar to Covid sufferers. I also know that at one stage my oxygen levels dropped to 72 per cent, and that below 70 per cent some nasty things start happening to your body.
“That night in April 2020, the doctors and nurses of St Thomas’ Hospital were preparing, if necessary, to intubate me – spike a hole in my trachea and stuff a tube down my windpipe to force-feed oxygen into my lungs.
“They mentioned the possibility, as they prepared to wheel me downstairs.
“Is that necessary? I said. Oh yes, they said, and made it sound like a routine procedure. What they didn’t explain is that, at that stage in the pandemic, patients who were intubated had about a 50 per cent chance of survival. Then I was being wheeled on a gurney into ICU – the intensive care unit.”
He finished: “One thing is for certain: at the moment it was announced I was going into ICU, when there was therefore believed to be a genuine chance that I was about to die, my popularity figures were higher than any PM in history.”
Boris Johnson explains how he plotted Netherlands raid EU on Google Earth
Boris Johnson has revealed he considered a daring raid on the Netherlands to grab doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from an EU warehouse.
Serialised in the Mail +, he wrote: “We knew exactly where the target was: I could see it on Google Earth. It looked pretty easy to burgle, if you know what to do.
“It was the plant where the EU had stowed five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – doses that the company was trying, in vain, to export to the UK.
“As long as people in my country were dying of Covid, which I am afraid they still were in substantial numbers, I believed it was my paramount duty to secure those doses, which belonged to the UK, and use them to save UK lives.”
Revealed: Starmer’s ‘three pillar’ blueprint to rebuild EU ties with youth mobility a negotiating chip
Youth mobility a negotiating chip as Starmer’s Brexit reset strategy is revealed
Exclusive: Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen have announced they will meet next week in Brussels and The Independent can reveal the government’s plan to reset the UK’s relationship after Brexit
Russell Findlay elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Russell Findlay has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, beating Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.
The new leader won 2,565 votes, the party’s returning officer Leonard Wallace announced on Friday, with Murdo Fraser coming second with 1,187 votes and Meghan Gallacher in third with 403 votes.
The turnout was 60%, with Mr Wallace announcing the party has just shy of 7,000 members, 4,155 of whom voted in the leadership contest.
Theresa May denounces Trump, Farage and Le Pen over climate change ‘hoax’ claims
Theresa May denounces Trump, Farage and Le Pen over climate change ‘hoax’ claims
Far-right leaders in Europe and the US are trying to wreck measures to save the planet, Theresa May warns. They want to ‘stir up a culture war’ to win votes, says the former PM, who criticises Trump for calling climate change ‘a hoax’ – and accuses Nigel Farage of ‘politicising’ the issue.
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
The chancellor stared down her critics at her first conference speech in power – but do they have a point?
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