Johnson ‘scared of a grilling on austerity’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of ‘‘running scared’’ yesterday after he refused to set a date for an interview with Britain’s most forensic political inquisitor.
Andrew Neil, the BBC presenter, had been due to interview the leaders of all the main political parties in the run-up to polling day. Conservative sources suggested yesterday, however, that Johnson may decline to take part, infuriating Labour figures after Jeremy Corbyn’s uncomfortable questioning by Neil on Wednesday night.
The Tories said that they had not been able to agree a date with the broadcaster. Labour sources said they had been told by the BBC that Johnson had agreed to an interview and that it would be broadcast next week.
The Labour leader was confronted by Neil over his failure to combat antisemitism in his party. The interview overshadowed Labour’s attempts to draw a line under criticism of Corbyn by the Chief Rabbi.
Ian Lavery, the party chairman, said: ‘‘Boris Johnson is running scared because every time he is confronted with the impact of nine years of austerity, the cost-of-living crisis and over his plans to sell out our NHS, the more he is exposed.’’
Yesterday Corbyn said that his party ‘‘regrets’’ antisemitism in its ranks but stopped short of personally apologising, adding: ‘‘The degree of antisemitic activity in the Labour Party is very, very small.’’
Asked whether he would apologise for incidents within the party and his handling of the issue, he said: ‘‘Anybody committing antisemitic acts is breaking party rules and they are appropriately disciplined and sanctioned. All those rules came in since I became leader and indeed the latest regulations came specifically on my own request. Jennie Formby, our general secretary, has written a substantial article in the Jewish News today making clear the party deeply regrets and is very sorry for what happened before the new rules came in and obviously I support everything that she has said.’’
The BBC said that it was in ‘‘ongoing discussions’’ with Johnson’s team but had not been able to fix a date.
In an interview with The Spectator the prime minister claimed that he had opposed austerity as early as 2010 as he sought to distance himself from the policies of David Cameron and Theresa May. He said that he had raised the issue of cuts to public services with ministers, telling them it was ‘‘not the right way forward for the UK’’.
He insisted that a future Tory government would have a different agenda from the policies pursued by his predecessors.
Polls have shown that most voters do not believe that the Conservatives will invest the amount they have promised in the NHS or other public services.
Tory strategists fear they could lose the battle for vital seats in the north and Midlands if Labour can portray Johnson as the austerity candidate against its plans for massive spending.
‘‘I have great respect for my predecessors, it goes without saying, but this is a new government and we have a new agenda and it will be a different agenda,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘If we can get in with a working majority, we will have a transformative agenda for the country.’’ He said: ‘‘I remember having conversations with colleagues in the government that came in in 2010 saying I thought austerity was just not the right way forward for the UK.’’
If elected, he would upend Treasury orthodoxy and change the criteria for investment decisions, he said. ‘‘The Treasury has basically looked at certain parts of the country and thought that they weren’t cash cows, from the point of view of delivering revenue,’’ he said. ‘‘I take a different view: that this country is so under-provided-for in brilliant infrastructure that you can make a good business case for many things.’’ – The Times