Boris Johnson allies deny he has ‘thrown in the towel’ after PM is spotted in Greece with wife Carrie on his SECOND holiday in two weeks – while Keir Starmer brands him a ‘lame duck’
- Boris Johnson was spotted in the Greek coastal town of Nea Makri, on his second holiday in two weeks
- The outgoing Prime Minister was seen with his wife Carrie in a Greek supermarket, buying their groceries
- The couple loaded two baskets with food and drink before using packing their bags at the checkout
- The couple recently returned from their belated honeymoon at an eco alpine report in Slovenia
- Mr Johnson has been accused of leading a ‘zombie government’ in his final weeks as Prime Minister
Boris Johnson’s allies today denied he has already ‘thrown in the towel’ after he was spotted in Greece on another holiday.
Senior Tories insisted the PM is ‘still working’ despite being seen shopping for groceries with his wife Carrie in Nea Makri, a coastal town close to Athens.
The jaunt comes hot on the heels of their trip to Slovenia for a belated honeymoon.
The couple were seen adding a bottle of wine to their shopping baskets, according to footage on Greek website In.
The premier then packed his shopping into a bag at the tills, before it was loaded into a black SUV.
Mr Johnson’s father Stanley has a villa a few hours away in Horto.
Labour jibed that Mr Johnson was ‘laughing’ at Britons who are struggling with a huge cost-of-living crunch, branding him a ‘lame duck’ with just weeks until he is replaced in No10 by either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak.
However, former Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis insisted the PM was still working whether he is in the UK or abroad.
Mr Lewis told LBC: ‘Even when you are not in the office in Downing Street you are working.’
He added: ‘He’s probably in about his second week [of] holiday in the last year or so, certainly this year. So while somebody is away, whether they are secretary of state or let alone the Prime Minister, they will be continuing to work.
‘I can assure you he will still be going through inboxes, he will still be dealing with national security issues where relevant. Being out of the country does not mean the Prime Minister stops working.’
https://youtube.com/watch?v=731obOKdTr4%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
The Prime Minister has been spotted with his wife in Greece on his second holiday in two weeks, while Britons face misery over cost-of-living crisis back in the UK
The outgoing premier was seen shopping for groceries with his wife, Carrie, as they filled baskets with food
The couple were seen in Nea Makri, a coastal town close to Athens, according to Greek website In
Former Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis insisted the PM was still working whether he is in the UK or abroad
Keir Starmer – just back from holiday himself – today tried to capitalise on the sense of drift in government by unveiling plans to freeze energy bills for at least six months.
The Labour leader said on the cost of living crisis: ‘We’ve got to grip it because at the moment what we’ve got is two Tory leadership candidates who are fighting each other in a sort of internal battle, where their main argument seem to be about how awful their record in Government has been and a Prime Minister who’s a lame duck because he’s acknowledged there’s a problem with energy bills, but says ‘I’m not going to do anything about it”.
Labour hit out at the Prime Minister, accusing him of treating recent months as ‘one big party’.
A spokeswoman said: ‘On the evidence of the last few months it seems to make little difference if the Prime Minister is in the office or on holiday as he has continually failed to meet the challenge of the Tory cost-of-living crisis. It’s all just one big party for Boris Johnson while the country struggles to pay their bills.’
Labour MP for the City of Durham, Mary Kelly Foy, shared her criticism for the Prime Minister on social media, in a commentary on ‘Boris Johnson’s Diary’.
‘Thursday: Announce no new help for people struggling to pay rising bills. Saturday: Holiday in Greece,’ she tweeted.
‘He’s laughing at you.’
Last week Mr Johnson suggested there could be new types of support for energy bills.
He made a surprise appearance at a crunch meeting with energy bosses in No10 — just days after Downing Street said he would not intervene in the cost-of-living crisis.
Boris Johnson last week joined Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng as he made a surprise appearance at a crunch meeting with energy bosses
Mr Johnson’s presence at the meeting was not expected, with Mr Zahawi and Mr Kwarteng previously thought to be the ministers who would lead the talks
The outgoing PM joined Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng as they grilled gas and electricity company executives over soaring prices.
Already stuggling families were last week stung by new forecasts that showed energy bills for typical households are set to soar to more than £4,200 next year.
Mr Johnson’s presence at the meeting with 15 energy firms was not expected, with Mr Zahawi and Mr Kwarteng previously thought to be the ministers who would lead the talks.
As the Bank of England predicted the UK’s worst recession since the 1990s this month, the premier was on his belated honeymoon in the alpine report of Vila Planinka in the Jezersko region of Slovenia.
The resort, situated in a valley around half an hour from Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana, promises a soothing ‘balance of energies’ and where guests dine on bear prosciutto.
He told local media: ‘We’ve had an absolutely wonderful time. We’ve climbed every available mountain, we’ve jumped in the lakes, we’ve been on bicycles and we’ve had a wonderful time.’
With Mr Johnson now holding a caretaker role after announcing his resignation, Downing Street has insisted any decisions on further support for Britons should be left to the new prime minister.
The PM repeated this message to energy bosses last week, telling them ‘significant fiscal decisions’ would be made by his successor.
No 10 declined to comment on the Prime Minister’s holiday in Greece.
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