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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/23/boris-johnson-faces-growing-pressure-to-comment-on-row-with-partner
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| Boris Johnson faces growing pressure to comment on row with partner | Boris Johnson faces growing pressure to comment on row with partner |
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| Boris Johnson is under pressure from a Conservative cabinet minister to explain why police were called to his home after a row with his partner as the issue threatens to derail his campaign to become prime minister. | Boris Johnson is under pressure from a Conservative cabinet minister to explain why police were called to his home after a row with his partner as the issue threatens to derail his campaign to become prime minister. |
| Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, said the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May should speak out about the late-night altercation that was witnessed by several neighbours and first disclosed by the Guardian on Friday. | Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, said the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May should speak out about the late-night altercation that was witnessed by several neighbours and first disclosed by the Guardian on Friday. |
| The development follows two days of negative headlines that have damaged Johnson’s chances of beating the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in a race to become leader of the Conservative party. | The development follows two days of negative headlines that have damaged Johnson’s chances of beating the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in a race to become leader of the Conservative party. |
| Under close questioning at the first hustings before Tory party members on Saturday, Johnson refused to comment on the argument with Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative party head of press, at their home in the early hours of Friday. | Under close questioning at the first hustings before Tory party members on Saturday, Johnson refused to comment on the argument with Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative party head of press, at their home in the early hours of Friday. |
| This will be a contest, not a coronation, if Jeremy Hunt questions Boris Johnson’s character | Andrew Rawnsley | This will be a contest, not a coronation, if Jeremy Hunt questions Boris Johnson’s character | Andrew Rawnsley |
| Fox, a supporter of Hunt, said on Sunday it was time for Johnson to openly explain the incident so that the contest can get away from “these distractions” and return to the two candidates’ plans as prime minister. | Fox, a supporter of Hunt, said on Sunday it was time for Johnson to openly explain the incident so that the contest can get away from “these distractions” and return to the two candidates’ plans as prime minister. |
| “It’s always easier to give an explanation, then we can discuss the policies,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. | “It’s always easier to give an explanation, then we can discuss the policies,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. |
| The former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind also urged Johnsonto explain what happened or arouse suspicions that he was hiding something. | |
| He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “If you are a candidate to be prime minister and the police have been called to your house – fairly or unfairly – the fact is there was a police visit. You don’t just say ‘no comment’. That implies you may have something you don’t want to disclose. | |
| “It was a lack of judgment to refuse to even make a short comment. All he could have said, quite reasonably, would have been that in all relationships there are occasionally outbursts of anger and disagreement.” | |
| Police confirmed they were called to the couple’s south London flat after a loud argument was heard by neighbours, who said they heard slamming and banging, adding that at one point Symonds could be heard telling Johnson to “get off me” and “get out of my flat”. | Police confirmed they were called to the couple’s south London flat after a loud argument was heard by neighbours, who said they heard slamming and banging, adding that at one point Symonds could be heard telling Johnson to “get off me” and “get out of my flat”. |
| A poll conducted on Saturday showed support for Johnson had fallen sharply following the incident. His eight-point lead earlier in the week had fallen to three points behind Hunt by Saturday morning. Among Tory voters, when asked who would make the best prime minister, Johnson’s lead had slumped from 27% to 11% in the same period, according to Survation, which carried out the polls for the Mail on Sunday. | A poll conducted on Saturday showed support for Johnson had fallen sharply following the incident. His eight-point lead earlier in the week had fallen to three points behind Hunt by Saturday morning. Among Tory voters, when asked who would make the best prime minister, Johnson’s lead had slumped from 27% to 11% in the same period, according to Survation, which carried out the polls for the Mail on Sunday. |
| Andrew Gwynne, the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, said Johnson was “completely unsuitable” to be prime minister after police were called to his partner’s flat after reports of shouting and banging. | Andrew Gwynne, the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, said Johnson was “completely unsuitable” to be prime minister after police were called to his partner’s flat after reports of shouting and banging. |
| He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “In one sense, of course, it is a private matter, but when you’re running for public office, when you are wanting to be the prime minister of the UK, then these matters are in the public interest. | He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “In one sense, of course, it is a private matter, but when you’re running for public office, when you are wanting to be the prime minister of the UK, then these matters are in the public interest. |
| “I’ve long held the view that Boris Johnson is unsuitable to be prime minister of this country. I just think his record throughout his time both as mayor of London – wasting money on the garden bridge, wasting money on Routemaster buses, wasting money on water cannon that couldn’t be used – through to his disastrous tenure as foreign secretary just renders him completely, I think, unsuitable to be the prime minister of our great country,” he said. | “I’ve long held the view that Boris Johnson is unsuitable to be prime minister of this country. I just think his record throughout his time both as mayor of London – wasting money on the garden bridge, wasting money on Routemaster buses, wasting money on water cannon that couldn’t be used – through to his disastrous tenure as foreign secretary just renders him completely, I think, unsuitable to be the prime minister of our great country,” he said. |
| The neighbour who contacted the police, Tom Penn, 30, issued a statement saying he wanted to put the record straight on his reasons for recording the row and calling 999. | The neighbour who contacted the police, Tom Penn, 30, issued a statement saying he wanted to put the record straight on his reasons for recording the row and calling 999. |
| Penn, a playwright, said he acted only as a last resort and that he was speaking out because he was concerned by the “bizarre and fictitious allegations” made about him and his wife. | |
| Penn said: “In the early hours of Friday morning, I answered a phone call from a takeaway food delivery driver. At the same time, I heard what sounded like shouting coming from the street. I went downstairs, on the phone to the driver, and collected my food. On the way back into my flat, it became clear that the shouting was coming from a neighbour’s flat. It was loud enough and angry enough that I felt frightened and concerned for the welfare of those involved, so I went inside my own home, closed the door, and pressed record on the voice memos app on my phone. | Penn said: “In the early hours of Friday morning, I answered a phone call from a takeaway food delivery driver. At the same time, I heard what sounded like shouting coming from the street. I went downstairs, on the phone to the driver, and collected my food. On the way back into my flat, it became clear that the shouting was coming from a neighbour’s flat. It was loud enough and angry enough that I felt frightened and concerned for the welfare of those involved, so I went inside my own home, closed the door, and pressed record on the voice memos app on my phone. |
| “After a loud scream and banging, followed by silence, I ran upstairs, and with my wife agreed we should check on our neighbours. I knocked three times at their front door, but there was no response. I went back upstairs into my flat, and we agreed that we should call the police.” | “After a loud scream and banging, followed by silence, I ran upstairs, and with my wife agreed we should check on our neighbours. I knocked three times at their front door, but there was no response. I went back upstairs into my flat, and we agreed that we should call the police.” |
| Another neighbour, Fatimah, a nursery teacher who lives with her husband and four-year-old son in the top flat next door, told the Times she could hear “shouting and screaming … I’ve never heard anything like it.” | Another neighbour, Fatimah, a nursery teacher who lives with her husband and four-year-old son in the top flat next door, told the Times she could hear “shouting and screaming … I’ve never heard anything like it.” |
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