BORIS Johnson has been blasted for missing three COBRA meetings as Britain swelters in record-breaking heat. 

Instead, it was left to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Kit Malthouse to chair the government’s response to the national emergency.

Over the weekend Mr Johnson held a party for friends at his country retreat, Chequers, where they were reportedly treated to burgers and sparkling English wine. He then attended Farnborough Air Show on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, Wales has recorded its hottest day on record, with the temperature reaching 35.3C in Gogerddan, near Aberystwyth.

The heat has also caused widespread travel disruption. Luton Airport has been temporarily shut to flights following a runway defect - believed to be due to the record temperatures. 

In an angry Commons exchange, Mr Malthouse accused some of those criticising the Prime Minister for not taking part in COBRA of trying to “create some air of panic about the next 36 hours.”

Despite a national emergency being declared, the minister was only in the chamber because the Speaker granted Green MP Caroline Lucas’ request for an urgent question. 

In a highly unusual development, Lindsay Hoyle expressed his “disappointment” that no minister had asked to make a statement on the heatwave. 

“Members need to be able to scrutinise all issues arising from the current high temperature,” he said, “especially as the government felt it appropriate for COBRA to meet. If it’s good enough COBRA to sit to discuss, it’s good enough for this House to hear it as well.”

Ms Lucas asked the minister to detail how many COBRA meetings “on this heat emergency the Prime Minister has missed and why?” 

She also asked him to “condemn” other Tory MPs who, she said, had “sought to make a culture wedge issue” out of the heatwave. 

The Green referenced comments made by John Hayes - who was previously a minister at the climate change department - describing people who wanted to take precautions as “cowards and snowflakes.” 

Labour’s Fleur Anderson said the Prime Minister was “too busy planning parties instead of planning for Britain.”

“This finished Prime Minister has already clocked off it's clear, but with 49 dangerous days to go. 

“The heat wave is a reminder that government has not tackled the growing climate emergency facing our country and the leadership election gives us little hope this will change.”

Mr Malthouse defended the Prime Minister’s absence. 

He told MPs: “It’s literally my job as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to chair Cobra, in particular where the civil contingencies secretariat is involved, and then to brief the Prime Minister accordingly – which I did yesterday morning at 8am.”

Mr Malthouse later added: “It feels like a political attempt to create some air of panic about the next 36 hours and indeed it seems a politically-motivated assault upon the Prime Minister, which is completely unfair.

“He has been in touch with our work to coordinate across all of the nations of the United Kingdom, and I’m sure he will continue to do so.”

This morning, at the Farnborough Airshow, the Prime Minister explained that he had been given a shot of a Typhoon aircraft last Thursday. 

He told the audience: “So I pushed the joystick right over to the right and we did an aileron roll, and I pulled the joystick right back and we did a fantastic loop the loop, and then I did a more complicated thing called a barrel roll and I pushed the stick up and right a bit,” he said.

Mr Johnson said they then “started to pull a few Gs” before he apparently lost consciousness and entered a dream about wind farms “harvesting the drained prairies of the North Sea”.

“This reverie must have gone on for quite a while because then my colleague said ‘I’m taking back control now’, and we headed happily home,” he continued.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Mr Johnson should resign immediately rather than enjoy a “joyride” on a fighter jet and “go on a jolly”.

“The Met Office, for the first time ever, have issued a level 4 red alert warning, the Chief Medical Officer is advising everybody to be careful as a consequence of this extreme weather, the Prime Minister is hosting a lavish party at Chequers and obviously going on a joyride on a Typhoon plane,” the Labour politician said.

“This idea of a Prime Minister, who has been voted out by his party, having a jolly for six months is treating the British public with contempt – he should go now.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman argued that Mr Johnson has a role in directing the RAF in worst-case scenarios, “so it is important he is aware of some of these capabilities they have”.

Asked if he needs first-hand experience to understand this, the spokesman said: “It’s important that he has a detailed understanding of the working capabilities of the RAF.”

 

The spokesman also insisted that no taxpayer money was used for the Chequers party and added: “It is not unusual in Cabinet Government for Cabinet ministers to chair these sorts of things.”