WATCH: Boris Johnson suggests allegations about his personal life motivated by his determination to deliver Brexit
3 min read
Boris Johnson has suggested that allegations about his personal conduct have been motivated by people opposed to his policies on Brexit.
The Prime Minister has faced accusations about his friendship with American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri when he was mayor of London.
Journalist Charlotte Edwardes has also alleged that Mr Johnson groped her and another woman when he was editor of The Spectator - claims he insists are "not true".
Asked about the accusations on BBC Breakfast, the PM said: “Well I think I’ve said pretty much all I have to say on all of those things.
“But what i do want to say is that… this is a very difficult time and people are thinking of the country in the sense that Brexit is about to be done and a lot of people don’t want Brexit to be done.
“And I think rightly or wrongly they conceive of me as the person who is helping to deliver Brexit, and it’s inevitable that I’m going to come under a certain amount of shot and shell.
“I don’t mind that in the least.”
And he repeated the assertion in an interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari, who asked him why he was facing accusations about his personal conduct,.
The PM said: "I've been tasked to get Brexit done by October 31 and there are quite a lot of well-meaning and highly-intelligent people who think that is something they don't want to see."
Pressed on whether he was taking these issues seriously enough, after Ms Edwardes said he had grabbed her inner thigh at a Spectator lunch in the 1990s, he told the BBC it was “sad to make such allegations that are not true”.
But the PM added: “I don’t want to minimise the importance of such allegations if they were true, do you see what I mean? Is that clear to you?
“I’m not minimising the significance of this as an issue, but in this case [it is not true].”
Speaking later on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was asked if he had “a woman problem”.
Mr Johnson replied: “I’ve always been a big champion of women at the top of every organisation I’ve run.”
And he said: “All those who wish to see a return of the old generous-hearted, loving, caring, mayor of London - that person has not gone away, I am a one nation Tory.
“But we are in a position where the only way we can take this country forward and unite our country again is to get Brexit done.”
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