BORIS Johnson has suggested he will reveal all over his colleagues ousting him from power after insisting Conservative MPs will “coalesce in loyally” around his successor amid a toxic leadership battle.
The Prime Minister boasted about his record in government as he spoke in favour of a confidence motion his administration had tabled itself in the Commons.
In a frantic exchange in Parliament, Mr Johnson, who resigned as Prime Minister after a string of his ministers and MPs turned against him, stressed he has “rock-solid confidence” in the next Tory administration.
But he faced an accusation from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of being “forced out in disgrace” and being “a vengeful squatter mired in scandal” over him remaining in officer until a successor is appointed next month.
But at a hint at having his say on the events that saw Mr Johnson finally let go of power, he pointed to “the rejoiners and the revengers” who he said “were left plotting and planning and biding their time”.
The Prime Minister added: “I will have more to say about the last weeks and months in due course.”
In a rambling speech, Mr Johnson spoke at length about Brexit, support for Ukraine and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic amid furious heckling from the Opposition benches.
The debate also offered the Prime Minister a chance to defend his record before MPs after the tumultuous events which led to his downfall, amid accusations of lying and rule-breaking.
Mr Johnson hailed his 2019 general election success and celebrated his Brexit record.
The Prime Minister turned to the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming: “A pandemic that was global, whose origins we do not fully understand but were nothing to do with the British people, and if anything the result of distant misbehaviour involving bats or pangolins, and whose spread was appallingly difficult to manage, and this Government never gave up through wave after wave.”
Mr Johnson praised the “resilience of the British people” in protecting the NHS, with one Labour MP heard shouting: “You partied in Downing Street.”
He also spoke about his flight in a Typhoon fighter jet last week, before adding on the Tory leadership: “After three dynamic and exhilarating years in the cockpit, we will find a new leader and we will coalesce in loyalty around him or her.
“And the vast twin Rolls-Royce engines of our Tory message, our Conservative values, will roar on – strong public services on the left, and a dynamic free market enterprise economy on the right, each boosting the other and developing trillions of pounds of thrust.
“The reason we keep winning is we’re the only party that understands the need for both. Whatever happens in this contest we will continue to fight for the lowest possible taxes and the lightest possible regulation.”
Labour former minister Kevin Brennan earlier said it was “highly unconventional” for Mr Johnson to put down a confidence motion in his own Government, adding: “Though I suppose he is an unconventional person, since only an unconventional man would want the opportunity to speak at his own funeral.”
Mr Johnson also denied his departure from Downing Street will be the end of Brexit, claiming some people believe Labour and the “deep state will prevail in its plot to haul us back into alignment with the EU as a prelude to our eventual return”.
The Prime Minister added: “This Government has fought some of the hardest yards in modern political history, we’ve had to take some of the bleakest decisions since the war and I believe we got the big calls right.
“And at the end of three years this country is visibly using its new-found independence to turbocharge our natural advantages as the best place in the world not just to live and to invest, but to bring up a family.
“And with a new and incontrovertible spirit of global leadership, I believe we can look to the future with a rock-solid confidence not just in what this Government has done, but in what it will do and will continue to do.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “The delusion is never ending. What a relief for the country that they finally got round to sacking him.
“And in many ways the chaos of the last fortnight is familiar. The third Tory leadership contest in six years. The latest bumper summer for graphic designers and brand managers. The latest parade of pretenders promising unfunded tax cuts.
“The latest set of ministerial jobs handed out on a wink and a shake in return for a nomination. And TV debates so embarrassing that even the contestants are pulling out.
“Every other year they switch out a failed prime minister.”
Sir Keir called on Tory MPs to “face up to what they have done” and “what they have put this country through” by allowing Mr Johnson to lead the United Kingdom.
Ian Blackford said the Prime Minister does not deserve another day in office, “never mind another seven weeks”.
The SNP’s Westminster leader said: “Let’s reflect on a man who should never have been put in office in the first place. A man that simply shouldn’t be here for a minute longer, because he demonstrated no dignity in office, in the highest office in the land.
“And he has shown no dignity today in departing. And so every single member of this House needs to ask themselves a very simple question: why on earth does the Prime Minister deserve the dignity of a long goodbye and a seven-week chance to rewrite his own legacy?
“He doesn’t deserve another day. Never mind another seven weeks.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said Mr Johnson “has debased the high office of the British prime minister” and “shattered the public’s trust in our politics”.
He added: “This Government has plunged our country, our great country, into three serious crises: the cost-of-living crisis, the healthcare crisis and a political crisis.
“It’s shockingly evident that the Conservative Party opposite is totally out of touch with the financial and healthcare catastrophes facing millions of British families and pensioners later this year.”
In the “so-called” debates between the Conservative leadership candidates, he said “there’s this massive elephant in the room called the energy bill catastrophe”.
He argued: “He (Mr Johnson) has debased the high office of the British prime minister and he has shattered the public’s trust in our politics, but he didn’t act alone. For three years, those on the benches opposite have backed him to the hilt… Conservative MPs defended the indefensible and excused the inexcusable.”
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