Boris: I’ve no memory of THAT lunch
BORIS Johnson admitted yesterday he had ‘no memory whatsoever’ of a magazine lunch in 1 during which he allegedly groped two women – after denying the incidents occurred at all.
The Prime Minister has refuted claims that he squeezed the thigh of journalist Charlotte Edwardes while editor of The Spectator magazine.
But when quizzed on the incident again, Mr Johnson said he could not, in fact, remember the lunch.
Asked by ITV’s Paul Brand what he remembered of the alleged incident, he said: ‘All I know is that it is not true.’ Asked again if he remembered the lunch, the PM replied: ‘I don’t, to be honest, I have no memory whatever.’
Pressed on how he could be sure it wasn’t true if he couldn’t remember it, he said: ‘Because it is not true, for all sorts of reasons, and I don’t wish, as I say, to minimise the importance of the subject. I don’t wish to, you know, cast aspersions on the motives of anybody who makes this type of allegation, but it is not true and what I want to do is focus on our domestic agenda.’
Mr Johnson’s denials came as the comedian Shappi Khorsandi said she had been ‘inappropriately squeezed’ by Mr Johnson when the pair were scheduled to appear together on BBC Question Time.
Miss Khorsandi, 46, a regular on comedy shows Live at the Apollo and QI, said she felt ‘duty bound’ to speak up.
On Twitter, Miss Khorsandi said that before the television recording began, Mr Johnson had ‘squeezed my hand which rested on my leg, under the table, to reassure my nerves.’
She added: ‘Only mentioning it as I’ve found it bloody annoying that some people are saying [Miss Edwardes] made it up.
‘Two other men have done it since (one a Leftie, inappropriate squeezing is not just a Tory thing)... [but] I was older/more confident and complained. Now shush about ‘‘lying’’.’
Mr Johnson was defended by his former mistress Petronella Wyatt.
In a series of tweets, she said: ‘I have to say that Boris is not a groper.
‘I have come across many men who are, but Boris is not one of them.
‘I have been groped by two politicians and both were as thick as mashed potatoes.’