QUESTION Time presenter Fiona Bruce has said allegations of domestic abuse levelled against Boris Johnson’s father were “a one off”.
During an episode of the programme broadcast from London on Thursday night, panellists were asked whether it was appropriate for Stanley Johnson to be nominated for a knighthood in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
Journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown responded by saying that “he was a wife beater, Stanley Johnson, on record”.
However, Fiona Bruce intervened to clarify Alibhai-Brown’s comment.
She said: “Let me just intervene, I’m not disputing what you’re saying but just so everyone knows what this is referring to.
Fiona Bruce trying to let Stanley Johnson off breaking his wife’s nose “it was a one off” is far more of a sackable offence than anything Gary Lineker has said #bbcqtpic.twitter.com/Kr3lfPl9zP
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@mrdavemacleod) March 9, 2023
“So, Stanley Johnson’s wife spoke to a journalist, Tom Bower, and she said that Stanley Johnson had broken her nose and she had ended up in hospital as a result.
“Stanley Johnson has not commented publicly on that. Friends of his have said it did happen, it was a one-off.”
Alibhai-Brown responded: “Yes, but it did happen.
“Anyway, what I think is that it’s not Stanley Johnson or Boris Johnson that bothers me.
“They are who they are and they do what they do. They think this kingdom is their fiefdom. But it’s the system.
“We need to look at system where these nominations happen. Why should any prime minister, good or bad, be allowed to do this?”
The allegation came from Tom Bower's book, The Gambler, in which Stanley Johnson's ex-wife and Boris Johnson's mother Charlotte said: "He broke my nose. He made me feel like I deserved it.
"I want the truth to be told."
Stanley Johnson claimed that the incident happened in the 1970s when his wife "flailed" at him and he had broken her nose while "flailing back".
The discussion followed a question from a member of the audience who asked if his own father could have a knighthood.
Stanley Johnson is among as many as 100 names put forward by Boris Johnson in his resignation honours list.
It isn’t the first time that the former prime minister has sought to reward members of his own family.
In 2020, he nominated his brother Jo Johnson for a peerage in the House of Lords after he stepped down as an MP. He now sits in the second chamber as Baron Johnson of Marylebone.
