Shelagh Fogarty Challenges Liz Truss On Trusting Boris Johnson

22 July 2019, 16:34 | Updated: 22 July 2019, 16:53

Shelagh Fogarty quizzed Boris-backing Minister Liz Truss on whether Boris Johnson can be trusted as Prime Minister.

Shelagh told the Tory that the leadership frontrunner "seems to struggle with the facts either deliberately or in error".

"The posed fake photo of him with his partner, the nonsense about the kipper, the appalling lies and defamation of teenagers who died at Hillsborough, the completely avoidable mistake of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

"Speaking entirely for myself, I can not get past those to a character I can trust - tell me why you do trust that character."

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury said "the way he gripped issues" during his time as London Mayor, including housing or crime, that "he is someone who follows through on the pledges he makes politically".

"He's somebody I trust, and that's why I was the first Cabinet Minister to come out and back him."

Lizz Truss tells Shelagh Fogarty why she can trust Boris Johnson. Picture: PA

Shelagh said: "If he lies and delivers, is that okay?"

But the Minister replied: "I don't accept the premise of your question at all."

"He is a politician who says what he thinks, who inspires the confidence of the public - you saw him lead a great global city for eight years very successfully," Ms Truss said.

"I think that's what he can do for the whole of Britain.

"I believe what Boris did for London, he can do for our whole country and give us that self-confidence we need to get through Brexit, but also to thrive as a country beyond Brexit.

"We're the fifth largest economy in the world, I think we've got a huge load of opportunities and Boris is somebody who can lean into them."

The UK is currently the 7th largest economy, after being passed by both France (6th) and India (5th).

Watch above.