Photo: Sky News
‘It doesn’t really add-up, does it?’ – That’s how Labour Deputy leader Angela Rayner has responded to yet another calamity engulfing Downing Street. After news emerged that Boris Johnson had met Sue Gray ahead of her ‘Partygate’ report being published, Minister Nadhim Zahawi was sent to defend the PM on Sunday.
It didn’t end well, though…
Some observers have already called it ‘the car crash interview of the year’. During an appearance on Ridge On Sunday, Zahawi was asked several times who called the meeting between Johnson and Gray.
In another embarrassing episode for the Tories, Number 10 told the media that Gray herself had initiated the discussion – only for her representatives to say the opposite, stating that the Prime Minister summoned HER for crunch talks.
With the government’s official line now called into question, Nadhim Zahawi was on a mission to set the record straight. However, he failed this task with the aplomb of an early-departing contestant on The Apprentice.
He failed to explain which party had called for the meeting, and dodged a number of queries on the matter. Zahawi claimed that the PM did not try to interfere with the findings of her report – while also admitting he didn’t know what was discussed between the pair.
His attempts to straddle two contradictory positions resulted in the senior Tory giving a rather half-baked version of events.
“All I can say… the meeting that took place between Sue Gray and the Prime Minister… the answer is simple: The Prime Minister would never intervene in her investigation. He wants her to go wherever the evidence takes her.”
“The PM does not, and did not intervene in this report. I’ve worked with Sue Gray and her integrity should not be questioned. However, I cannot tell you who actually called the meeting. When the report is published, [Boris Johnson] will respond.”
Nadhim Zahawi
