Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson supported his wife Carrie at an event in Westminster last night.
The Johnsons were together at a campaign launch last night for cutthroat BA pilot Robert Brown to be kept behind bars.
Speaking to the public, Carrie said the release of the former BA pilot just 13 years after his 26-year prison sentence would be “a real bust in our system.”
Robert Brown, 59, beat estranged wife Joanna Simpson to death with a claw hammer in 2010 after she filed for divorce after years of abuse. He is due to be automatically released in November after serving 13 years for manslaughter.
Ms Johnson was joined by politicians, including former Home Secretary Priti Patel and former Justice Minister Robert Buckland, who called on ministers to block Brown’s release. And Boris was there to support her and the cause.
It is the first time the former Tory leader has been seen in public after the leak of 100,000 WhatsApp messages between ministers and public health advisers during the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his wife Carrie Johnson in Westminster, London, for the launch of a campaign to prevent the release of Robert Brown.
Photo that arrived in Westminster last night showed Boris Johnson at the launch of a campaign to prevent the release of a killer
Mr Johnson supported his wife Carrie at a campaign event last night
Ms Johnson said she was aware of Brown’s proposed release after meeting Ms Parkes and Joanna’s friend Hetti Barkworth-Nanton at an event at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen Consort last year.
Ms Simpson’s mother, Diana Parkes, fears Brown still poses a risk to her family and the public and has called on Dominic Raab to block his release.
Mr Raab this week agreed to meet Ms. Parkes in person about the matter.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell, said this month staff shortages had “serious” consequences for the agency’s ability to deal with offenders, including “those who pose a serious threat to the public.”
She met with former Home Secretary Priti Patel today alongside Ms Johnson and friend and chairman of the trustees at the domestic violence charity, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, as part of her push to keep the killer in prison.
Ms Parkes, 84, fears former British Airways pilot Brown could threaten her family and could pose a lasting threat to women if released.
It came as pressure grew on Matt Hancock because of his text messages.
Boris Johnson, who guided the UK through most of the pandemic, features in some of the WhatsApp exchanges, along with the then health minister – who was later forced to resign for breaking his own lockdown rules when his affair came to light.
Journalist Isabel Oakeshott shared the huge amount of messages with The Telegraph after receiving them while ghostwriting Mr. Hancock’s book, Pandemic Diaries.
They have raised serious questions about how some decisions have been made, including regarding face masks, testing in care homes and shielding.
Mr Hancock would ‘consider all options’ in response to Isabel Oakeshott’s leak of over 100,000 WhatsApps.
“She violated a legal non-disclosure agreement. Her behavior is outrageous,” said a source close to the former health minister.
Apparently leaked messages showed Mr Hancock rejected the Chief Medical Officer’s call to test all residents going to UK care homes for Covid at the beginning of the pandemic.
Mr Hancock’s representatives have vehemently opposed this ‘distorted’ impression, saying he ‘supported’ Whitty’s advice but was told it was ‘impracticable’ but urged those coming from hospitals to be tested.
Sir Chris Whitty told him there should be Covid tests for ‘all those going into care homes’ – but Mr Hancock’s WhatsApp messages showed he was not following the guidelines, instead telling advisers it’s ‘ muddy the waters’.
The message shows that in April 2020, Sir Chris demanded ‘testing of everyone who goes into care homes’.
Mr Johnson was pictured launching a campaign to prevent Robert Brown’s release.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has taken issue with the leaked messages, accusing the Telegraph of portraying a ‘twisted’ version of events
After initially supporting guidance, Mr Hancock seemed to change his mind, telling aides: ‘I’d rather drop it and just commit to testing and isolating ALL who go into care from hospital.
“I don’t think community involvement adds anything and obscures it.”
Mr Hancock denied the ‘twisted account’ with a spokesperson claiming that the messages leaked by journalist Ms Oakeshott after she worked on his Pandemic Diaries memoir were ‘spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda’.
The spokesperson said: ‘Because we were not approached in advance by the Telegraph, we reviewed the messages from one day to the next.
‘De Telegraaf has deliberately excluded the reference to a meeting with the test team from WhatsApp. This is critical because Matt supported Chris Whitty’s advice, held a meeting about its deliverability, said it was not deliverable, and insisted that everyone coming out of hospitals should be tested.
The Telegraph has been informed that their headline is wrong and Matt is considering all options available to him.
“This major mistake by Isabel Oakeshott and the Telegraph shows why the proper place for analysis like this is in the investigation, not a partial, agenda-driven leak of confidential documents.”
