Rachel Johnson’s defence of Boris Johnson might not be the slam-dunk she thinks it is
As you might already have seen by now, Boris Johnson has been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over new claims he broke lockdown rules at Downing Street and Chequers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The best thing – the very best thing – about this is that the Cabinet Office was obliged to pass on the information to the police because the legal fees were being covered by the taxpayer.
If he’d paid for his own lawyers, this probably wouldn’t have made it into the public domain (and you can read our 23 favourite reactions to the story here).
But we mention it again because the former PM’s sister Rachel Johnson was on LBC leaping to the defence of her brother, except it might not have been the slam-dunk she thought it was.
‘All the rules were followed whenever I went to Chequers.’
LBC’s @RachelSJohnson says if Boris Johnson has questions to answer he will ‘definitely be answering them’.@BenKentish | #CrossQuestion pic.twitter.com/IxVBPY9rRe
— LBC (@LBC) May 23, 2023
And it prompted no end of replies from people saying things like this.
"All the rules were followed whenever I um went to Chequers."
Er – I have questions here https://t.co/rogGyYSob7
— Otto English (@Otto_English) May 23, 2023
…why didn’t anyone ask why Rachel Johnson was at Chequers during lockdown..?
The ridiculousness of our media class is truly breathtaking
— Anthony (@whitecarz) May 23, 2023
Does everyone remember that lockdown rule where you weren’t allowed to go anywhere
…unless you were visiting your PM brother at his Chequers country house?
Thought not.
Don’t think Rachel Johnson thought this one through…pic.twitter.com/RgEtsHXMtU
— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) May 24, 2023
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) May 23, 2023
'All the rules were followed whenever I went to Chequers.'
The case for the prosecution rests, M’Lud
— Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% 🇪🇺🐟🇬🇧🏴☠️🦠💙 (@g_gosden) May 24, 2023
Why were you even at chequers? https://t.co/6c69WPkbFp
— Kit Yates (@Kit_Yates_Maths) May 23, 2023
🧐 ‘All the rules were followed whenever I went to Chequers.’ ? @RachelSJohnson pic.twitter.com/Ou4Tt2J7ki
— Dr Mark Twitchett 🔶 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@Mark_Twitchett) May 23, 2023
Rachel Johnson appears to have maybe just dropped Johnson it in#Toriesout320 #SunakOut211 #GeneralElectionNow #Sunackered https://t.co/PFtxQqpJ2l
— dave lawrence 🐟🐟🐠 (@dave43law) May 23, 2023
https://twitter.com/MrsVB/status/1661111757513826330?s=20
It remains to be seen exactly what the circumstances were of her visit(s), of course, as well as the outcome of Boris Johnson’s referral to the police (he has written to the Cabinet Office denying that he broke strict lockdown rules).
Lot of people dunking on this, but given the Johnsons had a baby in April 2020 they would have been eligible to form a bubble with another household. Maybe they picked Rachel's household to do that with? https://t.co/u2U6Dz3qRh
— Enough Of That Now (@AndyGilder) May 24, 2023
Source Twitter @LBC