Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

Boris Johnson speaks in Commons for first time in two months - to protest cuts

Holiday-loving Boris Johnson has made his first comments in the House of Commons chamber for nearly two months - begging for a police station in his constituency to stay open.

The disgraced former PM, who jetted off to the Dominican Republic - his third overseas break since July - after he last spoke in the House, today rallied against cuts ahead of the government's crunch Autumn Statement.

It is just the third time he has spoken in the House since he was forced out, despite still claiming a backbench MP's salary of £84,144.

He been absent from several crunch debates and votes - including one on fracking which brought Liz Truss's government to its knees.

But he made a rare intervention on behalf of his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, stating that Uxbridge "remains the most sensible place" for a police station in the London borough of Hillingdon.

The backbench MP, who rushed back from the Caribbean following Ms Truss's resignation as he tried to rally support for a leadership campaign which he later abandoned, took aim at London mayor Sadiq Khan.

He urged Home Secretary Suella Braverman to throw her weight behind saving the police station.

Boris Johnson today pleaded for Uxbridge Police Station to be kept open (bbc)

Incredibly it is just the fourth time Mr Johnson has mentioned Uxbridge in the Commons in more than seven years, according to the official Parliamentary record.

The Mayor's Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) is considering closing police stations in order to save £400 million across London - saying the cash will be diverted into putting extra officers on the streets.

Mr Johnson told the Commons: "Given that entry-pay rates have already, on the streets of London alone, attracted another 4,734 more police officers to join the Metropolitan Police, and given how vitally important it is to continue to provide the right place for those new recruits to be properly trained, will she agree with me that Uxbridge remains the most sensible place - in Hillingdon - to have a police station?

"And will she join me in passing that view to the present mayor of London?"

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "My right honourable friend speaks a lot of sense as usual. And he's absolutely right. And he has a huge amount of which to be proud of when it comes to increasing the number of police officers on the front line, fighting crime and standing up for victims.

"Something that Labour has opposed at every opportunity."

Boris Johnson aimed a dig at London mayor Sadiq Khan (Getty Images)

The last time Mr Johnson spoke in the House of Commons was September 22, when he accidentally praised Vladimir Putin for his "inspirational" leadership.

Raising awkward chuckles among MPs around him, the former Prime Minister said: "Thanks also to the inspirational leadership of Vladimir Putin... the inspirational leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, forgive me, the Russian forces have in recent days been expelled from a large part of the north east of the country around Kharkiv and they're under intense pressure in Kherson in the south."

Before that, Mr Johnson spoke following the death of the Queen.

He was one of the late monarch's final visitors when he travelled to Balmoral to tender his resignation two days before she died.

He recalled to MPs: "She was so radiant and knowledgeable and fascinated by politics as ever and as wise in her advice as anyone I know."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.