Boris Johnson in bust-up with Truss and Andrew Neil at right-wing dinner
A state reception dinner for British right-wingers devolved into a confrontation between Boris Johnson and other senior Tories over the party’s record in government.
In a surprising turn of events, a witness described "real anger" as the meeting of minds led to a spat between Liz Truss, Mr. Johnson, and his former boss, broadcaster Andrew Neil.
The event, at the luxury Peninsula hotel in London’s Mayfair, was hosted by US broadcaster Newsmax and included guests of honour Marco Rubio and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Both are in the UK for Donald Trump’s state visit.
Nigel Farage and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg were also there, representing the right of British politics.
After canapés, Mr. Farage and the US cabinet members left, before the rest of the guests, who also included Sir Sajid Javid and Mark Harper, were treated to dinner.
Mr. Johnson then gave a speech defending his record on Brexit, and it was at this point that a witness said "tensions were evident over the last government’s record." Right-wing critics have turned on Mr. Johnson for overseeing mass migration into Britain as PM, with Reform UK dubbing it the "Boris wave" of migration.
The witness told The Telegraph that tensions came to a head when former transport secretary Lord Harper raised the need for welfare reform and immigration control, before being rebuked by broadcaster Mr. Neil about why the Tories had not done so in power.
The witness added: “At that point, Boris robustly defended his government’s record. Boris argued that Brexit gives us powers to reduce immigration if we wish, and said he did reduce it. He also said we shouldn’t disparage the contributions migrants make to Britain.
“There was a robust exchange of views, and everyone defended themselves well, but real anger is obvious. The Reform attendees were of the view that this is why the Conservatives don’t function well as a party anymore.”
Sir Jacob reportedly attempted to make peace between Tory critics supporting Reform and those defending the Conservatives’ record, apparently believing the two parties should work together.
Mr. Neil has long been critical of the former PM after his stint as Mr. Johnson’s boss at The Spectator magazine.
A series of scandals erupted at the weekly publication under Mr. Johnson’s editorship, including several affairs leading to it being dubbed the “Sextator.”
More recently, Mr. Neil delivered a scathing verdict on Mr. Johnson’s trustworthiness after he failed to submit to a BBC grilling before the 2019 general election and was the only major party leader not to do so.
In a damning monologue, he said: “The theme running through our questions is trust.
“And why, so many times in his career in politics and journalism, critics and sometimes even those close to him have deemed him to be untrust
Head of Investigations
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
