Boris Johnson denies he was focused on his Shakespeare book as Covid hit

Boris Johnson has rejected claims that he was preoccupied with writing his book about Shakespeare as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded. The former Prime Minister was absent from several emergency Cobra meetings at the onset of the pandemic.

However, in an interview with ITV this evening (Friday), he dismissed the suggestion that his focus was on his upcoming literary work at that time, stating: "That's complete nonsense... a total, total myth".

Johnson explained: "What we expected and what I think, you know, everybody expected was that the Cameron government having called a referendum a 'yes', 'no' choice for the people - a leave, remain choice for the people - would bring forward a white paper."

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Boris Johnson has defended officials who attended parties in Downing Street during lockdown. Discussing the so-called partygate scandal in a new ITV interview, the former prime minister said: “I really don't think those officials set out to break the rules.”

It comes after it was revealed earlier that the former Tory MP said he regrets apologising for the lockdown-era gatherings, claiming the move had “inadvertently validated the entire corpus” as accusations were also levelled at officials who were “working very hard”.

The much-anticipated interview with Boris Johnson on the BBC was abruptly cancelled earlier this week after Laura Kuenssberg's admission of a serious error. The former BBC Political Editor took to social media to reveal the mishap that rendered the interview redundant.

"While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team. That obviously means it's not right for the interview to go ahead," said Kuenssberg in a tweet to her admirers on Wednesday evening. "It's very frustrating, and there's no point pretending it's anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked. But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday."

This was due to be Johnson's first rigorous interrogation on his period as PM on television since resigning in September 2022. Prior to the release of a severe standards committee report which concluded he had deceived the Commons about Number 10 gatherings in the lockdown-era of the coronavirus pandemic - dubbed 'Partygate' - Johnson had resigned from Parliament.

Still, he asserts his forced departure was unwarranted and anticipates presenting his side of the story in his upcoming book 'Unleashed', set to hit the stands soon.