Nigel Farage and liaison committee member react to Boris Johnson's answers

27 May 2020, 20:10

MP reviews Boris Johnson's answer to her liaison committee question

MP Meg Hillier told Nigel Farage what she thought about the Prime Minister's answer to her tough questioning during the liaison committee meeting.

Ms Hillier asked of the PM: "You said that a number of the allegations that are made about Dominic Cummings were false. You were with him for 6 hours, did you see the evidence to prove that?"

Mr Johnson did not directly answer and Ms Hillier pushed him until he conceded yes he had seen evidence that media reports were false. She then suggested the evidence should be published so the problem would be "off his table" with which he disagreed.

He said he "totally understands" public indignation in regards to Dominic Cummings' actions and urged ministers to move on.

Nigel Farage asked Ms Hillier if she thought this was a satisfactory answer.

"Remember this is something that Dominic Cummings raised in that extraordinary press conference the other night, said that he had evidence to prove he'd been where he'd said he'd been.

Meg Hillier question to Boris Johnson at the Liaison Committee

"If that evidence exists then why not give it to an independent party or indeed publish it? Then all these allegations that the Prime Minister has said some of which are false - and he's criticised the media for doing it - could possibly either put to bed or we'll know the truth.

"If you do something wrong, that's one thing but it's the cover up that gets you and we still don't know the truth of what's been going on I fear," the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch said.

Nigel pointed to Health Secretary Matt Hancock's announcement of the NHS test and trace system which will launch on Thursday at 9am; he asked if we should forget Dominic Cummings and concentrate on the success of this.

She responded: "They're not mutually incompatible. Of course test and trace is important, I'm proud that my borough of Hackney is going to be one of the areas in London to really get this going as it needs that local input and it's brilliant that we're getting there.

"But at the heart of Number 10 there's this issue still there about trust and integrity."

She pointed out that MPs agreed to give the government great power during this crisis and at the heart of that needs to lie trust and integrity - she cited many constituents who have contacted her and other MPs who feel that is not the case.