Boris guns for Rishi, telling successor to cut taxes to win election

Boris Johnson guns for Rishi Sunak: Ex-PM demands his successor cuts taxes and puts ‘growth back into the economy’ while sending even more British tanks to Ukraine in cosy TalkTV appearance with supporter Nadine Dorries

Boris Johnson has done an interview with Nadine Dorries for new Talk TV show
Gave a glimpse into how he has been spending time since leaving Downing St

Boris Johnson laid into Rishi Sunak today as he demanded tax cuts and policies aimed at going all out for economic growth before the next election.

The former PM, who quit in the summer after a scandal-dogged three years in office, used a television interview with close ally Nadine Dorries to put pressure on his successor in No10.

In a wide-ranging interview on TalkTV he said the government needed to get ‘on the front foot’ over the economy with tax cuts ‘when the time comes’.

Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who will present his Budget next month, have said they will only bring in tax cuts when inflation has been brought under control.

In the cozy sit down with Ms Dorries, one of his most vocal cheerleaders, he also said that the UK should increase the number of tanks it is sending to Ukraine from the current 14.

He also insisted that the Tories could still be win the next election, despite trailing Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party massively in the polls, because the public would reward the party for ‘for cutting their taxes’.

After a week in which he has conducted a plethora of media interviews, mainly in the United States, he also mocked the PM for how many times he had been on television, claiming: ‘He’s been on TV a lot more than me lately’.

opened up on how he has been filling his time in an interview with close ally Nadine Dorries for her new Talk TV show

In the Talk TV appearance – being broadcast at 8pm tonight- Ms Dorries asked him whether he was now able to spend more time with the two small children he share with wife Carrie

In an interview broadcast this evening, Mr Johnson discussed the economic problems facing the UK.

‘The fiscal position was pretty robust when I left office, we had scope to do all sorts of things and we were going to do them and I have no doubt that when the time comes, the Government will make sure that they start to reduce the tax burden and get the economy growing again and that is what needs to happen,’ he said.

‘We need to be on the front foot out there talking about the benefits of Brexit, not being shy about it, not being bashful and getting some growth back into the economy.’

He suggested that the tax cuts should come before the next general election, expected late next year or in early 2025.

‘The fact is that the Conservative Party can certainly win the next election,’ Mr Johnson said.

‘[Keir Starmer] thinks that he’s going to get people to vote Labour just by standing there and doing nothing. It’s not going to happen.

‘The economy will start to improve, inflation will come down, people will reward the Conservative party, they will reward the Government for being sensible, for cutting their taxes and for getting things done that they need done.

‘Fixing the things that Rishi has said that he’s going to fix and never forget when it comes to it, it’s going to be a very clear choice.

‘Do you want the Conservatives who are going to manage the economy, not put taxes up any further? In fact, cut taxes.

‘Of course the taxation situation has been very, very difficult because of Covid. The huge expense that we had to go to, 480 billion we had to spend on looking after people during Covid, it was massively expensive. It had a big fiscal impact but Labour, everything they say makes it perfectly obvious that the taxes would be even higher.’

Mr Johnson’s remarks are likely to raise some hackles in No10, which sees inflation, currently running at more than 10 per cent, as a bigger problem than the tax rate, though it is the highest it has been since the war.

He also appeared to make trouble for Mr Sunak by demanding more tanks be sent to Ukraine. The UK has agreed to send 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks.

‘I was making the case last week for the tanks and I’m delighted to say that the British Government once again is in the lead in sending tanks to Ukraine,’ Mr Johnsoin said.

They’re going to need about 300 tanks so we need a big international effort.

‘The Germans have said that they’re lifting the ban on export of the Leopard tanks, the Americans are giving tanks – I’m not saying it’s anything to do with my article. The key thing is that other countries have got to do the same thing. I tell you this, Nadine, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if we gave some more tanks ourselves.’

In an interview that ranged across a wide plethora of subjects he also gave a glimpse into his post-Downing Street life – reading to his children more, doing DIY and painting cows.

The former PM opened up on how he has been filling his time in an interview with close ally Nadine Dorries for her new Talk TV show.

Mr Johnson has kept a relatively low profile since leaving No10 last summer, while many MPs still hope he will make a comeback to the front line.

However, this week he did a series of interviews on a visit to the US, berating Vladimir Putin and urging the UK to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

After a week in which he has conducted a plethora of media interviews, mainly in the United States, Mr Johnson mocked the PM (pictured in an interview with Piers Morgan last night) claiming: ‘He’s been on TV a lot more than me lately’.

Boris Johnson has hailed Brexit for ‘literally saving lives’ as he was interviewed by close ally Nadine Dorries

In the Talk TV appearance – broadcast at 8pm tonight- Ms Dorries asked him whether he was now able to spend more time with the two small children he share with wife Carrie.

‘What’s it like being at home with the kids? Are they seeing more of dad?’ she said in clips released today.

Mr Johnson replied: ‘They are. Yes, and it’s fantastic because you know, I’ve got a very full day…

‘I’m doing lots of writing. Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, I’m doing stuff for Uxbridge and doing a lot of political work but yeah, it means I can do reading to them… building things. It’s great.’

Mr Johnson – who has previously spoken about his love of model buses – explained that his DIY activity involved constructing a garage for a mini-quad bike.

‘I’m building a garage for the quad bike. Not a big quad bike, it was a miniature quad bike. They’re too small for quad bikes,’ he said.

Sunak says it is a ‘good thing’ Boris is still speaking out

Rishi Sunak has dismissed fears that Boris Johnson is ‘on manoeuvres’ for a comeback.

The PM said it was a ‘good thing’ that his predecessor is still sharing his ‘experience’ in public life.

In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV last night, Mr Sunak said: ‘It’s great that we’ve got former Prime Minister’s and I speak to you know all former leaders actually…

‘I think all of our leaders have a way of continuing to contribute to public life and that’s a good thing. That’s not a bad thing actually, they’ve got experience that they want to share.

Pressed on whether he had any problem with Mr Johnson speaking out, Mr Sunak said: ‘No, gosh, as I say we’ve got a long list of previous Prime Minister’s and the fact that they still want to contribute.’

Mr Johnson also said he was enjoying doing more painting in his spare time. ‘I’ve got a project which is to master the form of the cow,’ he said.

Mr Johnson revealed during the Tory leadership campaign in 2019 that he had a hobby of making buses out of old wine crates.

He described how he would paint them red, populate the decks with small ‘happy’ figures, and add plastic wheels – although he acknowledged they were ‘not terribly good’.

Mr Johnson is also known to dabble in painting, emulating his hero Churchill, whose oil canvasses can command significant prices.

During a quickfire series of questions on Talk TV, Mr Johnson was pressed on whether he would rather be stuck in a lift with Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon.

‘Oh brother. Oh actually, it’s like all these things, and I’m sure viewers will understand this, both individuals are actually far nicer and more amusing than you might otherwise imagine,’ he said.

‘The kind of hostility you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life. I think, provided it wasn’t like 50 floors, I wouldn’t mind either of them.’

Mr Johnson has been urging Brits to ignore ‘gloom-mongers’ as senior EU players in the Brexit saga weighed in on three-year anniversary of Brexit.

The most left-field claim came from wacky former Belgian PM and arch federalist Guy Verhofstadt, who suggested Brexit was to blame for Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile former EU negotiator Michel Barnier suggested that the UK had seen ‘no added value’ from leaving. He also lauded Keir Starmer as ‘a European’, something the Labour leader may not appreciate as he tries to keep his party happy.

Speaking to Ms Dorries, MrJohnson said: ‘Thank goodness that era is behind us but one thing people forget – now let’s pray it’s behind us – but one thing people forget, thinking about the vaccine rollout is there we’ve got the, I think the third anniversary of Brexit, coming up, or the third anniversary of the day when we actually came out of the EU.

‘You don’t hear it much these days, but it is absolutely the case, that had it not been for our ability to do our own regulation, had it not been for the fact that we’d come out of the European Medicines Agency, the MHRA, the medical health regulation agency, was now totally free to decide how fast to approve the vaccine – we wouldn’t have been able to do that vaccine rollout so fast.

‘And you know, it is literally true that Brexit helped save lives. And people’s eyes bulge a bit when you say that, but it happens to be true… I’m proud of that. I’m proud of all the work that those people did.’

Mr Johnson also addressed the ongoing investigation by the Privileges Committee into his Partygate conduct.

He insisted he will be ‘respectful’ of the process, but said anyone who thought he had deliberately covered up lockdown parties in No10 was ‘out of their mind’.

Boris Johnson on…

Family time

‘It’s fantastic because you know, I’ve got a very full day…

Mr Johnson – who has previously spoken about his love of model buses – explained that his DIY activity involved constructing a garage for a mini-quad bike.

‘I’m building a garage for the quad bike. Not a big quad bike, it was a miniature quad bike. They’re too small for quad bikes,’ he said.

Painting

‘I’ve got a project which is to master the form of the cow,’ he said.

Brexit

‘One thing people forget, thinking about the vaccine rollout is there we’ve got the, I think the third anniversary of Brexit, coming up, or the third anniversary of the day when we actually came out of the EU.

Political rivals

During a quickfire series of questions, Mr Johnson was pressed on whether he would rather be stuck in a lift with Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon.

‘The kind of hostility you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life. I think, provided it wasn’t like 50 floors, I wouldn’t mind either of them.’

Partygate

Mr Johnson insisted he will be ‘respectful’ of the process with the Privileges Commitee, but said anyone who thought he had deliberately covered up lockdown parties in No10 was ‘out of their mind’.

Volodymyr Zelensky

‘I was lucky to meet Volodymyr Zelensky very early on in his time, he came to London, we got on very well. But the fundamental thing is that the UK just saw it very clearly and very early, and we saw that it was absolutely black and white. It was good and evil. It was right and wrong.’

Vladimir Putin

‘I went to Ukraine a few days ago and I saw the continuing barbarism of what Putin is doing. I went out, like so many others have done, it was incredible to see it for myself. I saw blocks of flats that had been obliterated by 500 kilo bombs, of no conceivable military value to Putin.

‘He does it purely as an act of terrorism. This is still going on, you know, across the front line. He’s continuing to wipe out towns. He’s absolutely merciless. He has no respect for the laws of war, or human life.’

‘I would never say never about Boris Johnson’: Ex-PM may yet find a way back to No10, says ally

Boris Johnson could find a way of becoming prime minister again, a former aide has claimed.

Lord Udny-Lister said he would never rule out a comeback by Mr Johnson who was ousted from power after three years last September.

It comes as Rishi Sunak flounders in the polls, with the Tories up to 25 per cent behind Labour. One survey suggested only 27 per cent of voters think he has done well since becoming Prime Minister in October.

And seven in ten believe he will not be PM after the next election, according to the poll for The Times.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson straightens his tie as he arrives at Parliament with Sir Edward Lister, his Chief of staff

Lord Udny-Lister predicts it is possible Boris Johnson could return to power

Lord Udny-Lister, who worked for years with Mr Johnson in No10 and when he was London Mayor, said: ‘I would never say never about Boris Johnson… because I think he has such tremendous skills. And I think there is a route back for him.’ He told radio station LBC that Mr Sunak can win the next general election – due in 2024 – but warned: ‘The path to victory is a very narrow one.

‘I think it is going to be quite difficult for him – he’s not a Boris Johnson. He can’t get out there and tell the story in the way Boris Johnson could.’

He hailed Mr Johnson as ‘probably the best campaigner we’ve ever seen’, adding: ‘Rishi Sunak hasn’t got those skills, but what he has got – and I’ve seen him at work – is he is a very analytical man, who does go through things in detail, is very cautious, is going to do the right thing.’

He stressed: ‘We have a prime minister who really is the chief financial officer rather than the chief executive… now can Rishi Sunak make the transition? Can he actually get out there and start telling the story?’

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson was asked about his political future in an interview with America’s ABC News Live. He said: ‘You never say never in politics. But the reality is that I am living a happy productive life.

‘I have got to write two books – and if you ask me what my passion at the moment it is making sure we… help the Ukrainians.’

Pressed again on his future, he added: ‘I’m thudding away on my computer… You know what it is like – books don’t write themselves.’

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