Boris Johnson’s sister, Rachel, has spilt the beans on the real reason the former London mayor avoided the 2011 riots – and it is absolutely gobsmacking.
The ex-PM was criticised for not returning from his holidays when violence broke out between 6th and 11th August 13 years ago.
He eventually showed up brandishing a sweeping brush for photo ops as the big clean-up got underway, but was noticeably absent from the scene up until then.
Now Johnson’s sister Rachel has given a bizarre explanation for his absence in the crucial days when law and order broke down.
She said the former PM was holidaying in a camper van in Canada with his wife Marina and four children when he belatedly learned what was happening back home.
Johnson claimed her brother didn’t have any phone signal for much of the trip, and when he did learn of the emergency couldn’t leave his partner as she couldn’t reach the pedals.
Speaking to a caller on LBC, she said: “It is my understanding that he was with his four children in an RV in the wilds of Canada.
“He didn’t even have mobile phone signal for about 48 hours and then the message got through – ‘London’s burning’. He said ‘I’ve got to go back’. But the thing was Marina, his then wife, is 5 foot 2 and her feet could not reach the pedals of the RV. He could not leave her with four children in the RV.
“That is why – I kid you not – he didn’t come back immediately. He had to drive the RV to an international airport and then fly back.”
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