If you think I covered parties up you’re mad, says Johnson

BORIS JOHNSON has accused anyone who suspected he deliberately covered up lockdown parties in No10 of being “out of their mind”.

The former prime minister said claims he lied to Parliament over partygate were “strictly for the birds” as he faces a highly anticipated investigation into whether he misled MPS about rulebreaking gatherings in Downing Street.

In an interview with diehard loyalist and ex-cabinet minister Nadine Dorries for her new Talktv show, Mr Johnson said he must be “respectful” of the parliamentary inquiry into his conduct. But he protested his innocence, insisting he thought the mid-pandemic gatherings were “within the rules”.

Mr Johnson had repeatedly told the Commons there were no rule-breaking parties in Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police issued 126 fines for breaches of Covid rules, including to the former prime minister himself, for offences spanning a series of gatherings in 2020 and 2021.

“I’ll just repeat what I’ve said before, that anybody who thinks I was knowingly going to parties that were breaking lockdown rules in No10, and then knowingly covering up parties that were illicit, that other people were going to, that’s all strictly for the birds,” he said. “If anybody thinks like that, they’re out of their mind.”

Mr Johnson, whose allies are pushing for him to make a political comeback, said he needs to wait for the investigation to conclude.