• Boris Johnson has insisted he is "honest" but "inadvertently" made wrong statements about partygate.
  • He appeared on ITV's "Good Morning Britain" for the first time since hiding in a fridge to avoid the show in 2019.
  • Johnson said he did not know if he would receive a further fine for breaching lockdown rules.

Boris Johnson has insisted he is "honest" as he faces an investigation into whether he misled the House of Commons by insisting no lockdown rules had been broken in events held at Downing Street.

Johnson, who has received a fine for attending one lockdown-breaching event, was asked about his trustworthiness during an interview with ITV's "Good Morning Britain" on Tuesday – his first appearance on the show since he hid in a fridge in the 2019 general election campaign to avoid an interview.

Susanna Reid, the show's presenter, kicked off by asking the prime minister if he is honest.

"I think you – yes. And the best way to judge that is to look at what this government says it is going to do, and what it does," Johnson replied.

National Insurance rates recently rose by 1.25% despite a pledge by Johnson in the Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto that "we will not raise the rate of income tax, VAT or National Insurance."

"That's what matters", he said. "I do my best to represent faithfully and accurately what I believe. Sometimes it's controversial, and sometimes it offends people, but that's what I do…"

An investigation by the Privileges Committee of the House of Commons into whether Johnson misled Parliament will begin once the police inquiry has completed and all fines have been issued. The Commons probe is leading to further pressure on Johnson to quit from his own MPs. 

Johnson said he was "inadvertently" wrong when he told MPs that rules had not been broken.

The prime minister, whose initial fine was for attending a ruke-breaching birthday party during one of the UK's many lockdowns, said he did not know if he would receive any further penalties.

Although the Metropolitan Police has reportedly dished out a second set of fines for the infamous BYOB party that Johnson has admitted attending, he told ITV had not received a second fine.

The Metropolitan Police has said it will not confirm whether it has given out any more fines until after the local elections on May 5.

Johnson declined to comment further on the "partygate" affair until the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police's investigation.

 

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