Boris Johnson is facing allegations that he planned to build a £150,000 bulletproof tree house in the grounds of his Chequers country residence. The Prime Minister, who is facing fresh calls to step down after two crushing by-election defeats following the fall-out over 'Partygate', declined to deny a report in The Times on Saturday that he was forced to abandon the idea after police raised security concerns.
The report said Mr Johnson and wife Carrie had wanted to build the tree house at the grace and favour retreat in autumn 2020 for their son, Wilf. Sources said Tory party donor Lord Brownlow was considered to draw up the project, which was said to have been dismissed because of the security risk of the structure being visible from the road, despite the design featuring bulletproof glass.
Mr Johnson refused to discuss the allegations during an interview with journalists travelling with him in Rwanda, where he is attending a Commonwealth leaders summit. "I'm not going to comment on non-existent objects or non-existent jobs to do with my family,” he said.
A Government spokesperson said: "We do not comment on private or family matters which do not involve any ministerial declarations or taxpayer funds."
Mr Johnson, speaking earlier today, urged Conservative MPs plotting to oust him not to focus on the issues he has “stuffed up” after his authority was diminished by a double by-election defeat. And he insisted he will not undergo a “psychological transformation” as pressure piles on his leadership in the wake of the Tories’ double by-election defeat.
The PM insisted questions over his leadership were now settled after the loss of Wakefield and former stronghold Tiverton and Honiton triggered a Cabinet resignation. He insisted the “endless churn” of allegations is “driving people nuts”, as he pushed on with his Rwanda trip despite suggestions further ministerial resignations could follow.
Mr Johnson is clinging on to his leadership after Oliver Dowden resigned as Tory party co-chairman, saying he and Conservative supporters are “distressed and disappointed by recent events” and telling the Prime Minister that “someone must take responsibility”.
Former Conservative leader Michael Howard also urged the Prime Minister to resign for the good of the party and the nation, and he called on the Cabinet to consider resigning to force him out.
But Mr Johnson was in a buoyant mood as he said: “I love my colleagues and of course I would urge them respectfully: golden rule of politics, the more we focus on Westminster politics the more irritating it is to voters.”
He told journalists at the British high commissioner’s residence in Kigali that it is “reasonable” to suggest he might need to change to win back voters’ trust. “But the answer is always to remember, it’s not about me, it’s about them,” Mr Johnson said.
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