Jo Swinson says Boris Johnson has 'no redeeming features' as she challenges him on Donald Trump visit
3 min read
Jo Swinson has ramped up her attacks on Boris Johnson by branding the Prime Minister a "liar" who has does not have any "redeeming features".
The Liberal Democrat leader, whose party is struggling to break through in the polls, launched the volley of insults at the Prime Minister as she urged him to stand up to American president Donald Trump when he flies in to the UK for a visit on Monday.
Ms Swinson has written to Mr Johnson urging him to make it clear to the US commander-in-chief the NHS will be off the table "under any circumstances" in a post-Brexit trade deal between the two countries.
And she has called on him to challenge Mr Trump over his record on climate change and his 2018 description of neo-nazi protestors as "fine people".
"I believe it is in the UK’s vital national interest for you to stand up to a president who has consistently shown himself to be a serial liar, a racist, a misogynistic and dangerously unfit for office," she said.
The letter came as Ms Swinson - who has been critical of both Mr Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - berated the PM in an interview with The Sunday Times.
She said of the Tory leader: "You can see he’s a liar, he’s been sacked twice for lying. It’s just part of what he does. Facts are a bit of an inconvenient detail to him."
Ms Swinson added: "I find him such a strange, strange character.
"Most people in politics have redeeming features, things I can agree with them on, things I can respect them for and Boris Johnson just seems to care about himself — No 1 priority, No 2 priority, No 3 priority.
"I do get on well with most MPs across parliament. I might disagree with what their prescription is and whether it is the right goal. But they are genuine in their motivation and I just don’t think Boris Johnson is. I just think he is somebody who is incredibly self-centred."
The Lib Dem leader also defended her party's election campaign promise to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit altogether if the party wins a majority later this month.
A major YouGov poll released on Wednesday shows that the Liberal Democrats - who began the campaign arguing that Ms Swinson could become Prime Minister - are on course to add just one seat to their tally.
Former leader Sir Vince Cable on Saturday described the promise to revoke Article 50 without another EU referendum "a distraction and not a very helpful one".
But Ms Swinson told The Sunday Times: "Seriously, what is a Liberal Democrat majority government going to do? We’re a party that wants to stop Brexit. If we win a majority do you seriously think we are not going to revoke Article 50? You have to be honest with people about that."
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