BORIS Johnson told the SNP's Westminster leader that his dog had made a "more sensible contribution" to Prime Minister's Questions than he did. 

Ian Blackford was challenging the Prime Minister over Tory cronyism and "sleaze" allegations, as well as a lack of support for 3 million people during the coronavirus crisis, when a dog began barking in the background.

The SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber was taking part in the question session remotely when he was interrupted by the animal as he was trying to quiz Mr Johnson over transparency for Covid contracts.

It comes after the BBC revealed text messages appearing to show that Mr Johnson had "fixed" tax rules, assuring technology entrepreneur James Dyson that his employees would not pay extra tax if they came to the UK to make ventilators during the pandemic. 

Sir James said it was "absurd to suggest that the urgent correspondence was anything other than seeking compliance with rules" and that his company did not receive "any benefit from the project".

The Herald: SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons

Mr Blackford said called on Boris Johnson to publish all communications.

He told the Commons: "Whether it’s cash for questions in the 90s, or texts for contracts during this pandemic, people know this is the same old story – this is how the Tories do Government.”

He added: “Will the Prime Minister reveal today how many more Covid contracts he personally fixed, and if he has nothing to hide will he publish all personal exchanges on these contracts before the end of the day?”

Responding, Mr Johnson said: “There’s absolutely nothing to conceal about this and I am happy to share all the details with the House, as indeed I have shared them with my officials immediately.

He added: “We’ve had to work at incredible speed and I think the people of this country understand that it’s sometimes necessary to act decisively to get things done.”

The Herald: James Dyson

Mr Blackford added that the Prime Minister and Chancellor “didn’t have any time to support the millions of self-employed” at the start of the pandemic.

He said: “Those three million people didn’t have a David Cameron or a James Dyson to text the Prime Minister for them. They were on their own and they were left behind by this Prime Minister."

The dog then started barking while Mr Blackford was asking ythe Prime Minsiter to "commit to a public and comprehensive inquiry into himself and his own Government".

The Herald:

The PM replied: "He says we had all the time in the world in fact, as this House will recall, at the end of March last year the pandemic was taking off very fast and we had to act very fast as I think people up and down this country understand.”

He added: “I thought that his dog just made a more sensible contribution just now than he did.”