{"id":9675,"date":"2019-12-04T16:55:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T16:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=9675"},"modified":"2019-12-05T14:29:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T14:29:11","slug":"no-no-no-mr-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"No, no, NO Mr Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You see you\u2019re doing what you\u2019ve done throughout this campaign. You get asked a question and then you go on to something else which is a sideline to the actual issue<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You try and avoid the question. This bluster may get you through the hustings, it doesn\u2019t work with me.  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was Andrew Neil interviewing Boris Johnson, then candidate for Tory Prime Minister, in his BBC show broadcast on 12 July 2019. Fast forward five months and Boris Johnson seems to be doing his unlevel best to avoid following Jeremy Corbyn into the hot seat of general election scrutiny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since it seems the BBC is letting Mr Johnson off the hook \u2013 inexcusably agreeing to let him speak as Prime Minister, making political capital on the Andrew Marr show, in the aftermath of the tragic murder of two young people in the London Bridge terrorist attack of 29 November \u2013 Sceptical Scot is replaying that summer interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttpss:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R7hdt4w9SpE\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seconds into the first question [from 31:00 mins<\/em>] you might see why Boris Johnson would rather not face Andrew Neil again. The current Prime Minister’s answers are tellingly revealing. A hostage to fortune \u2013 or Britain’s misfortune. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Neil: No, no, no\u2026NO! You will follow the questions I want to ask, not the ones you want to be asked.<\/p>

Boris Johnson: Mutter, mutter [exact words inaudible<\/em>] <\/p>Andrew Neil: July 2019 <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From the first question it is clear that Andrew Neil will use facts and well researched figures to challenge the man opposite him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On ‘falling crime’ in London (it fell further throughout rest of UK)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson: If people are interested in my character and political credo then look at what I deliver. Neil: Compared to the rest of the country it’s nothing special.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On Kim Darroch (failure to support the British ambassador to US: would Mr Johnson be as craven to Mr Trump when he is Prime Minister?) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson: Have I been craven towards the US? Don’t be ridiculous if I may say so. When it comes to sticking up for UK interests over, say, climate change or disputes with Iran, Iran nuclear, I have been very forthright with the US and I will continue to be so… <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On Iran and the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (‘carelessness may be acceptable in a columnist but not in high office…it could cost lives’)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Brexit (‘Are you seriously telling us you would walk away on 31 October?’) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Irish backstop ( ‘EU agreeing to a crucial change would be enough, you would back it?’)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On proroguing parliament (‘it won\u2019t be necessary’ says Johnson) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On EU negotiations (content of \u2018paragraph 5B and 5C\u2019 Do you know what\u2019s in paragraph 5C?) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the economy (‘We will continue to reduce this country\u2019s debt’ Johnson ) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson: It’s the poor that matter most (asked if tax cuts for people on \u00a350K a year or NIC cuts for those earning less than \u00a312.5K matter most).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Can you be trusted? (‘We cannot let the country fall to the Marxist rule of Jeremy Corbyn’)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Nick Cohen<\/a> forcefully pointed out in Sunday’s Observer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Andrew] Neil. He isn\u2019t a monster, just a journalist who does his research and asks hard questions. Politicians who have done their research and subjected their policies to hard questions have nothing to fear ..\u2019 Cohen also cites Corbyn but it\u2019s Johnson we need to focus on here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Johnson is running away from Neil and other interviewers because he is no different. For all the contrasts in style, Johnson lies to his supporters and in all probability to himself.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, as Paul Mason underlined <\/a>after Johnson’s appearance on Marr, he’s still at it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marr struggled to get a word in, as Johnson blustered and bluffed. By the end it was just the spectacle of two middle class white men shouting at each other. But in the process, the BBC had allowed Johnson to tell four finely crafted lies.<\/p>

First: that Labour wants to withdraw from NATO (it doesn’t). Second: that Jeremy Corbyn wants to disband MI5 (he doesn’t). Third: that child poverty has fallen in the last ten years (it has risen by 400,000 since 2011). Fourth: that Parliament had blocked the Queen’s Speech (it was passed with a 16 vote majority).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Peter Oborne highlights how the BBC has let people down<\/a> in its failure to hold Boris Johnson to account, most notably on ‘Get Brexit Done’: “The nonsensical Conservative position that the country will leave the EU on 31 January \u2013 and that the transition period will end in December 2020 \u2013 has hardly been scrutinised.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: Oborne<\/a> on the NHS lies, on a complaisant media<\/a> and his growing dossier, Boris Johnson Lies <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But bear in mind the observation of David Allen Green. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttpss:\/\/twitter.com\/davidallengreen\/status\/1197604928925118472?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\nhttpss:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R7hdt4w9SpE\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The only thing you need today <\/p>(Mike Galsworthy on Twitter re: Momentum troll squad post)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boris Johnson’s “serial mendacity” or constant lying is a big issue in this election so we go back to Andrew Neil’s interview of July 12 to highlight how he distorts facts and figures \u2013 and he’s still at it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":9679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,125,12],"tags":[428],"class_list":["post-9675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-elections","category-politics","category-uk","tag-ge2019"],"yoast_head":"\nNo, no, NO Mr Johnson - Sceptical Scot Staging Site<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No, no, NO Mr Johnson - Sceptical Scot Staging Site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boris Johnson's "serial mendacity" or constant lying is a big issue in this election so we go back to Andrew Neil's interview of July 12 to highlight how he distorts facts and figures \u2013 and he's still at it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sceptical Scot Staging Site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-04T16:55:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-05T14:29:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/No-No-No-No.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"386\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fay Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fay Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/\",\"name\":\"No, no, NO Mr Johnson - Sceptical Scot Staging Site\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/No-No-No-No.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-04T16:55:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-05T14:29:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/bb3ea4c31fb1f95aaeeb039dc3ce2a53\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/No-No-No-No.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/No-No-No-No.png\",\"width\":801,\"height\":386},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/12\/no-no-no-mr-johnson\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"No, no, NO Mr Johnson\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/\",\"name\":\"Sceptical Scot Staging Site\",\"description\":\"Asking Questions. 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