““I genuinely believe that the UK is not remotely a corrupt country”
(Picture: Getty Images)Boris Johnson abruptly left the Cop26 press conference stage in Glasgow after just 22 minutes.
Looking at his watch, the Prime Minister turned to the audience on Wednesday and said, “Sorry, gotta go”, before hurrying off stage to catch his “climate-friendly transport” (the train) back to London.
During his speech, Johnson hit back at allegations saying the UK is not “remotely a corrupt country.”
When asked whether he had anything to say to voters concerned by Tory sleaze headlines, he responded: “I genuinely believe that the UK is not remotely a corrupt country, and I genuinely think that our institutions are not corrupt.
“We have a very, very tough system of parliamentary democracy and scrutiny, not least by the media.
“I think what you have got is cases where, sadly, MPs have broken the rules in the past, may be guilty of breaking the rules today. What I want to see is them facing appropriate sanctions.”
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While MPs can take on second jobs, they must declare their additional income, gifts and donations. This prompted him to take a swipe at Geoffrey Cox, who has been criticised for his sideline, saying that they “must put your job as an MP first.”
“On second jobs, I would say that for hundreds of years MPs have gone to Parliament and also done work as doctors, lawyers or soldiers or firefighters or writers, or all sorts of other trades and callings,’ he said.
“And on the whole, the UK population has understood that that has actually strengthened our democracy, because people basically feel that parliamentarians do need to have some experience of the world.
“But, if that system is going to continue today, then it is crucial that MPs follow the rules.
“And the rules say two crucial things: you must put your job as an MP first and you must devote yourself primarily and above all to your constituents and the people who send you to Westminster, to Parliament.
“And they also say that you should not use your position as an MP to lobby or otherwise intervene on behalf of any outside commercial interest. And it is not only that you have to register those interests – you can’t lobby or make representation while an MP on behalf of those interests.
“Those are the rules and they must be enforced and those who don’t obey them should of course face sanctions.”
