Tory Member Tells Question Time He Remains In Party Only To Remove Boris Johnson

It wasn't exactly a glowing review of the prime minister.
A member of the Conservative Party said he only remained in the party to remove Boris Johnson
A member of the Conservative Party said he only remained in the party to remove Boris Johnson
BBC Question Time

A Conservative party member spoke out against Boris Johnson during an appearance on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.

When he was chosen to share his opinions on the government’s controversial plan to fly supposedly illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda, the audience member also revealed his disdain for the prime minister.

He said: ″Regardless of what you think about the [Rwanda] policy itself, it’s absolutely incompetent – incompetence in the home office.”

Addressing the Conservative MP on the panel, Matt Vickers, he asked: “What on earth is going on?

″Regardless of the policy, this just strikes on incompetence which is through and through in this government, in every single department.”

Asked if this had shaken his confidence in the Conservative Party as a whole, he replied: “The only reason I’m a member of the party now is to get rid of Boris Johnson.”

“The only reason I’m a member of the party now is to get rid of Boris Johnson”

This #bbcqt audience member believes the Rwanda flights plan shows “incompetence” within government. pic.twitter.com/zh5suCDBDz

— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 16, 2022

Applause broke out around the studio in response.

Answering the question, Vickers spoke about the migration problem the UK faces at the moment rather than addressing the audience member’s attack on Johnson.

Vickers said the Rwanda policy was a “solution”, and alleged that Labour did not have one.

“We’ve made it an offence, for these people traffickers to bring people across, Labour Party wouldn’t support that.”

He claimed that the controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to East Africa is a “response, an effort to deter people from getting in that boat and coming across”.

He concluded: “If we had that control over people coming across, then maybe we could open more safe and legal routes.”

Approached again by presenter Fiona Bruce about the future of the Conservatives, the Tory member of the audience said he had hoped Vickers would have “some courage” by voting against Johnson in the recent confidence vote, but “maybe not”.

He also pointed out that Vickers has now been appointed as parliamentary private secretary for the home office.

The Tory MP hit back: “The reality is that we’ve had the Sue Gray investigation, we’ve had the police investigation, we’re having the privileges investigation – a lot of people now want to start talking about the real issues of the day.”

But, the audience member replied: “It really is just a matter of time. If it wasn’t this, what is it going to be? And it’s just an embarrassment frankly.”

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