Tuesday 5 July 2022 07:36 PM Boris Johnson's apology interview in full trends now
Two of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top ministers resigned this evening while a grovelling interview by the Prime Minister was airing on BBC.
The government was plunged into chaos while Mr Johnson was addressing claims he had been told 'in person' about a past 'formal complaint' concerning shamed MP Chris Pincher.
Questions had been asked about what the Prime Minister knew of Mr Pincher's conduct before handing him a Government role.
At the same time Sajid Javid quit as Health Secretary and less than ten minutes later Rishi Sunak announced his resignation.
Below is the full transcript of Boris Johnson's answers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's grovelling interview about the Chris Pincher scandal was airing while Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid both quit their roles
Q: Prime Minister, do you accept it was a grave error to appoint Chris Pincher to your Government?
Prime Minister: Yes, I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it. I think, in hindsight, it was the wrong thing to do. I apologise to everybody who's been badly affected by it. I just want to make absolutely clear that there's no place in this Government for anybody who is predatory or who abuses their position of power.
Q: Did you once joke 'both Pincher by name, Pincher by nature'?
Prime Minister: Well, what I can tell you is that if I look at the background of this, and why I regret it so much, is that about three years ago, there was a complaint made against Chris Pincher in the Foreign Office. The complaint was cleared up, he apologised, it was raised with me. Already I was briefed on what had happened. And, you know, if I had my time again I would think back on it and recognise that he wasn't going to learn anything and he wasn't going to change and I regret that.
Q: Prime Minister, this is about truth, isn't it? It's about whether people can believe what you say. And we now know that those who speak for you over the last few days have said things that turned out to be untrue. Did you lie to them?
Prime Minister: No, and let me explain what happened. So this is the… we're talking about a series of events, or a series of appointments over several years. So Chris Pincher came into government a deputy chief whip before I became Prime Minister, he was moved to the Foreign Office. He then went on to be a minister for housing. And we then moved him back to be deputy chief whip. As I say, about two and a half years ago I got this complaint. It was something that was only raised with me very cursorily. But I wish that we had – I, in particular – had acted on it, and that he had not continued in government, because he then went on, I'm afraid, to behave – as far as we can see, according to the allegations that we have – very, very badly and I'm sorry for those who've been badly affected by it.
Q: I'm conscious that our time is limited. Let's look at what your spokespeople have said. On Friday your official spokesman said you were not aware of specific allegations. Bluntly, that wasn't true, was it?
Prime Minister: Well, what is certainly… let me tell you what is true. I was aware back in 2019, I was made aware of a specific allegation against Chris Pincher that was resolved…
Q:
