Boris Johnson has defended disparaging remarks he made about single mothers, telling a voter they were made before he was “even in politics”.
An article written by the Conservative Party leader for the Spectator magazine in 1995 has been unearthed in which he described the children of single mothers as “ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate”.
In the column, the Prime Minister said it was “outrageous” that married couples “should pay for ‘the single mothers’ desire to procreate independently of men”.
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Single mum Ruth calling in to speak to Boris Johnson on LBC just now has just annihilated him in two sentences: “I’m a single mother. I don’t appreciate what you’ve said about single mothers and, by implication, my family.” #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/HnasGsE5e5
— Sarah #VoteLabour (@ScouseGirlMedia) November 29, 2019
During a phone-in on LBC radio on Friday, Mr Johnson was put to task over the comments by a single mother named Ruth from Oldham.
She told the PM she was unhappy about the content of the article and questioned why he was reluctant to talk about his own family.
Mr Johnson said: “Ruth, I want to say to you, I mean absolutely no disrespect to you or anybody.
“These are 25-year-old quotations culled from articles written I think before I was even in politics.”
He said the quotes were stripped of context and formed part of a smear campaign by Labour.
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“They’re just trying to distract from the reality that they have no plan to get out of the EU.”
Nick Ferrari holds up a newspaper as he hosts a phone-in with Prime Minister Boris Johnson (LBC/PA)
In a separate incident during his interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC, Johnson appeared to give a signal to cut off his line of questioning about the cost of social care.
In his interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC, Boris Johnson appears to give a signal to tell him to cut off his line of questioning about the cost of social care. Ferrari does so.
— Adam Smith (@adamndsmith) November 29, 2019
Only 2000 people watched the live stream.
Full context, 23 minutes in: https://t.co/l781kYELFg pic.twitter.com/7IuNPuWq4Z
During the call-in, Mr Johnson also:
– Gave a “guarantee” to take Britain out of the European Union by January 31 if he secures a “workable” majority.
– Said the £58 billion compensation for Waspi women promised by Labour was “a lot of money”.
– Confirmed he would “walk out” of trade talks with the US if President Donald Trump wanted the NHS to be on the table.
– Told voters he wanted to come back with a “better answer” to the social care funding crisis – but said the politics had to be taken “out of this”.
– Refused to discuss how many children he has, telling LBC: “I love my children very much but they’re not standing at this election.”
– Admitted his new nurses pledge amounted to 31,000 extra nurses in the NHS – not 50,000.
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