Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Chalk Excerpts

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I think Her Majesty the Queen is well capable of taking this or any American President in her stride, as she has done over six remarkable decades. She has seen them come and she has seen them go. If the hon. Lady seeks advice on whether to invite the President of the United States to visit this country—she will remember that we are very close allies—I invite her to ask the person next to her, the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), who said only last year:

“I think we have to welcome the American President to Britain. We have to work with him.”

Those are the words of the right hon. Lady.

[Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)]

T3. The “Fire and Fury” book about the Trump presidency has reheated some debunked claims about the role of British intelligence. Although the ordinary stance of the British Government is neither to confirm nor deny, given the highly unusual facts of this case will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity, as the intelligence chiefs have, to slay those myths?

[Boris Johnson]

As my hon. Friend rightly says, we do not normally comment on such matters, but in this particular case GCHQ made it clear last year that the allegations are “nonsense”, stating:

“They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”