By Lia Nici says ‘PM did nothing wrong’ and labels leaking ‘a stitch up’
The Conservative MP for Great Grimsby has stated her full support for the Prime Minister amid growing calls to resign, calling the leaking of images ‘a stitch up’ by anti-Brexit workers.
“I can understand why people are upset and angry but I’m also upset and angry because quite frankly, I think that this is a stitch up,” Lia Nici told BBC Radio Humberside.
She reiterated her support for Boris Johnson, saying “I can’t see that the Prime Minister did anything wrong but I think it was right that he apologised.”
The controversy comes after the PM apologised after it emerged that he had attended a “bring your own booze” party for “25 minutes” in the No 10 garden during a national lockdown in 2020.
An email was sent out to around 100 Downing Street staff, urging them to “make the most of this lovely weather” with some “socially-distanced drinks”.
Lia Nici was “angry” about the email, saying that civil servants “clearly thought it was either appropriate or amusing to send out an email that the PM was not made aware of by anybody on the day or afterwards, to then clearly encourage him or invite him out.
“Clearly somebody, somewhere is being mischievous and operating illegally when there are lots of police around No 10 if this email went out to 100 civil servants why didn’t somebody whistle blow before why did the civil servants think it was appropriate to do.
“I’m angry because we have a PM for the first time in generations who cares about places like Grimsby and Hull and Scunthorpe and wanting to do things for them and is being discredited by what I would call a civil service blog who didn’t want us to leave the EU.”
The PM had been tight-lipped on whether he had attended the event, telling people to wait for Sue Gray’s inquiry, before admitting and apologising during PMQs for attending.
Ms Nici said “of course he was there, his office and his flat are there”, but also encouraged people to wait for the report before questioning the PM’s position.
However, she did not want to wait for the report to state that his private secretary should be “disciplined” explaining: “whether they are senior or junior, we were in a lockdown – it was quite clear what we should and shouldn’t be doing.”
Lia Nici has been contacted by Gi Media for comment but has not yet responded.
