The journalist who broke the story about Boris Johnson attempting to give Carrie Symonds a £100,000-a-year role in the Foreign Office says he “stands by” his scoop, despite it being spiked by the Sunday Times.
Talking to the New European’s Mandrake reporter, Simon Walters said: “I stand by the story 100 per cent.
“I was in lengthy and detailed communication with No 10 at a high level, Ben Gascoigne and Mrs Johnson’s spokeswoman for up to 48 hours before the paper went to press.
“At no point did any of them offer an on-the-record denial of any element of the story.”
The award-winning political journalist adds: “Nor have any of these three offered an on-the-record denial to me since. No 10 and Mr Gascoigne did not deny it off-the-record either.”
Responding to the alleged cover-up, former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell said it was ‘the death of journalism’ in the UK.
“Right-wing papers cover up Johnson’s crimes and misdemeanours rather than expose them as real journalists would, and then broadcasters suspend their own judgments and follow suit. It is a form of moral as well as political corruption,” he said.
In case you missed it, this is the story the Sunday Times originally published:
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