Politics
Kate Plummer
Apr 22, 2022
Indy
The Tory MP who said Boris Johnson was"ambushed with a cake"when he broke lockdown rules on his birthday in June 2020 has returned to face the media.
Conor Burns appeared on Sky News this morning and was asked about his infamous past comments which he made in an interview with Channel 4 News, after reports first emerged about the prime minister's birthday gathering.
He said at the time: “Well he, as far as I can see, he was in a sense, ambushed with a cake. They came to his office with a cake, they sang ‘happy birthday’, he was there for 10 minutes.”
Since then, the police have ruled that Johnson wasn't exactly ambushed with a cake as they have slapped him with a £50 fine for attending the event. His wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak also had to scrabble together the sum for their role in the event.
So, did this make Burns change his mind?
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"Do you think the prime minister broke the law or do you still maintain that he was ambushed by a cake?" asked presenter Niall Paterson.
Burns said: "It is not often you get to write a line in your obituary live on national television" before explaining that on the day that Johnson broke lockdown laws he had several other meetings and visited a school.
"In between that, there was a spontaneous gathering to wish him a happy birthday."
He went on to say all that was "irrelevant" as Johnson has "accepted the decision of the police" and paid the fine.
"I do not believe the prime minister has lied," he continued and said Johnson told the house what he believed was true "in good faith".
Niall Paterson - Do you think the PM broke the law or do you still maintain he was ambushed by cake? \n\nConor Burns - He was conducting the business of govt\n\nNP - 80% of the public think he's lying & 61% of 2019 Tory voters don't believe him\n\nCB: I don't believe he's liedpic.twitter.com/JP0aChU95I— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1650609270
People loved seeing Burns get ambushed with his infamous comment, and deputy leader of the Labour party Angela Rayner quipped he had been "ambushed by the truth".
Conor Burns has been ambushed by the truth.pic.twitter.com/1xOS2RP11c— Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39 (@Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39) 1650610116
Conor Burns MP being ambushed by his being ambushed by cake comment.\n\nLove to see it.pic.twitter.com/D64eeC6f2Q— Helen the Zen \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f \ud83d\udc99 (@Helen the Zen \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f \ud83d\udc99) 1650610780
He will never live those comments down...
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