Frontrunner to be PM refuses to comment on picture that emerged in wake of row

Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to say whether his campaign team passed a photograph of him and his partner to newspapers as a PR strategy during a radio interview which saw the Tory leadership frontrunner quizzed again about his personal life.

Speaking to LBC, Johnson refused at least half a dozen times to comment on the photo of himself and Carrie Symonds seemingly sitting in the garden of a pub. He would not answer when the host, Nick Ferrari, pressed: “This is quite an old picture isn’t it?”

Johnson also argued that the country should be “more positive” on the prospects of a good Brexit outcome, and seemingly roll back on his plan to focus tax cuts on high earners.

The pictures appeared in selected newspapers on Monday, and were reprinted on several front pages on Tuesday, without any details of where and when they were taken, or by whom.

Play Video 0:47 Boris Johnson challenged over timing of photograph with girlfriend – video

The presumption was they were put out by Johnson’s team as a PR move in the wake of a damaging weekend of headlines. Police were called to the London home he shares with Symonds in the early hours of Friday after neighbours heard a furious row – an event Johnson has repeatedly refused to comment on.

Quizzed by Ferrari, Johnson said he understood why the event had prompted media interest. “Yes, of course, and I readily accept that and understand that. Newspapers and other media outlets, of course, are going to want to print and to speculate what they choose,” he said.

Insisting again he would not disclose details about those close to him, Johnson refused repeatedly to say how or why the photos of him and Symonds had reached the press, trying numerous times to change the subject.

“Newspapers will print whatever they are going to print,” he said. “The longer we spend on things extraneous to what I want to do, the bigger the waste of time.”

Pressed by Ferrari, he said: “There are all sorts of pictures of me on the internet, which pop up from time to time.” Asked if he knew the picture was coming out, he said: “I am aware of all sorts of pictures of me out on the internet, and it is entirely up to newspapers to decide what they want to print.”

Johnson also declined to say where and when the photo was taken, saying: “It’s not a state secret; it just happens to be something that I don’t want to give to you.” Asked why his hair seemed longer in the photo than it is currently, he said: “This is beyond satire.”

On the substance of his Brexit plans, Johnson dismissed the idea he could be hampered by Tory rebels, saying the party was “staring down the barrel of defeat” if it did not deliver a departure plan, which would focus minds.

Johnson said he would “disaggregate the elements of the current withdrawal agreement – you need to take the serviceable bits” to seek a new arrangement with the EU, and prepare for possible no deal as “the other leg of the proposal”.

He insisted no deal would not cause a hard border in Northern Ireland, but gave no details on how this would be avoided beyond the general idea of so-called maximum facilitation checks using technology, which would not be ready for several years.

Johnson also argued against the view of the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, that the UK would be hit automatically by tariffs on exports to the EU in a no-deal Brexit, arguing the country could rely on article 24 of the general agreement on tariffs and trade (Gatt).

“He’s wrong in thinking that it’s not an option. It’s certainly an option,” Johnson said, adding: “Let’s be more positive about this. It’s time this country stopped being so down about it’s ability to get this done.”

Q&A What is Gatt XXIV or article 24? Show Hide Gatt XXIV, or article 24 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a piece of international trade law from 1947 which pre-dates the existence of the World Trade Organization (WTO). If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, then by default it means the end of tariff-free trade between the two parties. Some supporters of a no-deal Brexit have claimed that the UK can use Gatt XXIV to implement a period of up to 10 years where trade between the UK and EU continues under existing arrangements while a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) is negotiated.

Under the WTO’s most-favoured nation rule (MFN), if the UK offered tariff-free access to the UK market to the EU, it would also have to do so to any other trading partner with which there was not an already established FTA. With Gatt XXIV, Brexiters say, the UK can maintain its existing zero tariffs and quotas EU access as part of a ‘standstill’ arrangement.

However to invoke Gatt XXIV, both the UK and the EU have to agree an ‘interim arrangement’ leading towards a FTA within the 10-year time limit - and that agreement has to meet the conditions and approval of the WTO. The UK cannot invoke article 24 unilaterally, and even if it could, it only applies to goods, and not to services. In 2017, services made up 79% of the UK’s economic output.

In previous cases where the article has been used, the two sides had a deal in place, and it was used as part of a process of implementing new trade arrangements. It has never been used to replicate something of the scale and complexity of the EU and the UK’s trading relationship - and if the UK truly leaves the EU with no deal, then there is no interim arrangement to apply Gatt XXIV to.

Martin Belam

Responding to listeners’ calls, Johnson defended his tenure as London mayor, and as foreign secretary, repeating his contentious claim that a gaffe he had made about the status of the jailed British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had made no difference to her plight.

On tax, Johnson dismissed an analysis that his plan to raise the earnings threshold for the higher 40p rate of tax from £50,000 to £80,000 would most benefit the richest 10% of households, saying: “I don’t recognise those figures.”

Johnson indicated any future tax policy would be more broad, saying: “We will bring forwards a tax proposal that actually begins by lifting thresholds for those on lowest pay.”

In response to another question, he dismissed the idea of links to Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s controversial former campaign manager, as “the biggest load of codswallop I have ever heard”.

Video footage of Bannon has emerged in which he discusses having had regular consultations with Johnson last year.

Johnson said: “It is perfectly true that when the president came to this country last year, Steve Bannon texted me on a couple of occasions, trying to fix a meeting. I texted back to say it was not possible.”