Brady: 'Boris could have survived if he'd trusted his instincts'

BORIS JOHNSON could have survived as Prime Minister if he had followed his freedom-loving instincts and not brought in the lockdown rules that doomed his career, one of the central figures in the last 14 years of Tory rule believes.

- David Williamson and Lucy Johnston

Lord Graham Brady may not be a house hold name, but as chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs it was his job to deliver harsh truths to prime ministers and tell them when the game was up.

He has now swapped the Commons for the red benches of the Lords and has a new freedom to speak his mind. He is in no doubt the worst decision of the Conservative era was shutting down the country.

Not only did this damage children’s education and health, hurt the economy and force up NHS waiting lists, he argues, it also paved the way for the “partygate” scandal which plunged Mr Johnson’s Downing Street into turmoil.

When asked if the landslide-winning Prime Minister could have survived, he said: “The simple answer is that I think if Boris had followed his own instincts, which would have been to allow people to make their own decisions, their own choices, then the complex web of restrictions and regulations would not have been in place and he wouldn’t have ensnared himself in them.”