Ian Blackford claims Boris Johnson has ‘no respect’ for Commons after India no-show

Ian Blackford has claimed Boris Johnson has “no respect” for his office or the House of Commons after failing to make a statement after his India visit.

The SNP Westminster leader criticised the Prime Minister for breaking convention by refusing to appear after his trip, with claims Mr Johnson is avoiding parliament over partygate.

It came in a session that also saw Mr Johnson accused of not raising “grave human rights abuses” during his trip to India.

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Mr Blackford said: “There is a clear convention that Prime Ministers have a duty to update this House following their attendance at major summits or following significant visits.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided the Commons on Tuesday.Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided the Commons on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided the Commons on Tuesday.

"This convention has been respected and followed by all prime ministers in recent years, but like on so many other matters, the only exception to that rule is the current Prime Minister.

“Following his visit last week the Prime Minister should have come to this House and given an update, he has once again failed to do so. Instead he chose to go campaigning for his party in the local elections, though I suspect that won’t do them much good.

“This Prime Minister failing to come before this House is by no means a one off. He has failed to come before the House after the extraordinary Nato summit in March. There is a very clear pattern here.

"This is a Prime Minister who has no respect for the office he occupies and even less respect for this House.”With Mr Johnson failing to appear and explain himsef, FCDO minister Vicky Ford faced heckles of “where is he” as she came to the despatch box to answer the urgent question.

She told MPs: “I thought we treated women with respect in this place.”

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She added: “The Prime Minister visited New Delhi and Gujarat on the 21 to 22 April to deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership with India. The relationship between the UK and India is one of friends, partners and equals.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance of greater and deeper partnerships between democracies. This visit enhanced our objectives on green growth, security and defence, as well (as) trade.”

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Mr Blackford’s comments were echoed by Labour, with shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds saying he should be giving a statement.

The shadow minister also claimed the trip was a wasted challenge the South Asian democracy over its neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said: “Instead we have a Prime Minister whose moral authority is so sullied, whose political authority is so weak, he did not challenge India to change its official stance of neutrality on the appalling illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“India has a right to remain neutral but why would a UK Prime Minister waste such an opportunity to at least try and convince our Indian friends to join us in standing up to (Vladimir) Putin’s aggression?

“It sends a worrying message that our Prime Minister lacks both the ambition and the ability to effectively used Britain’s diplomatic clout to influence others.”

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