Today Dominic Raab revealed that Peppa PigWorld was less enjoyable than the experience with the PM.
Boris Johnson gave a glowing report on the New Forest amusement park. On Sunday, he was joined by his wife Carrie and their son Wilf.
On a series of interviews, Mr Raab was asked whether he has been to the attraction with family. It was a great experience for my boys. The boys are now a little older.
Pressed for his personal opinion he told Sky News: ‘It’s a day of my life I won’t get back.’
Told that the premier had seemed to enjoy it rather more, he caveated: ‘When they are that age it’s quite fun.’
The comments came as Mr Raab batted away criticism of Mr Johnson’s performance at the CBI, saying the premier is ‘ebullient and tiggerish’ and on ‘great form’.
He said, “I know how the PM feels,” to BBC Radio 4’s Today program. He wanted to emphasize the nation’s optimism.
Raab claimed that Johnson is not like past politicians who stayed true to their scripts. He stated that he didn’t believe the show is about what most voters are focusing on.
Dominic Raab (left), revealed today that his Peppapig World experience was much less joyous than that of the PM.
The Johnson family looked happy on Sunday while they were at Peppa Pig World
After Johnson’s pathetic speech Monday to the CBI, the Tories have turned up their heat on Mr Johnson.
Amid rising Tory unrest, sources at Rishi Sunak’s (left) Treasury have hit out at Mr Johnson for ‘blowing’ announcements including a huge £96billion rail upgrade (right)
After losing his speech, Mr Johnson gave an extended pep-pig riff.
He started by conducting a straw poll among the crowd to find out how many have been to the amusement park.
Johnson stated that there were only a handful of business leaders who spoke up.
The only problem was that I wasn’t sure what to expect at Pepper Pig World. But, I still loved it. Peppa Pig World was a great place. It has very safe streets, discipline in schools, heavy emphasis on new mass transit system I noticed – even if they are a bit stereotyped about Daddy Pig.
“But, the true lesson I took from Pepper Pig World was the power and creativity of the UK.
Tony said, “Who would believe that a porc that looks like a hairdryer or Picasso-like hair-dryer would be exported to 180 countries in America, China, and the New Forest.
‘A business that is worth at least £6billion to this country… I think that is pure genius, don’t you? Peppa would not have been possible without any Whitehall government or civil servant.
Meanwhile, tensions between Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak are at risk of boiling over today with more vicious briefing.
Amid rising Tory unrest, Treasury sources have hit out at Mr Johnson for ‘blowing’ announcements including a huge £96billion rail upgrade.
The bruising swipe came after senior Conservatives vented fury at a series of bungles, demanding he brings in experienced big beasts to sharpen up his ‘f****** awful’ Downing Street team.
At the CBI conference, Premier failed to deliver a coherent speech and became a distracted rambler about Peppapig World. This fueled growing frustration.
19 rebel MPs voted against the reduction of social care caps earlier in this week. Several others abstained. Although the scandal continues to be a problem for the party, the election results show that the party is struggling in the polls. The decision to cancel HS2 link plans and Northern Powerhouse rail links with HS2 has also strained relationships between Tories who hold crucial Red Wall seats.
Some MPs are even alleged to have begun sending no confidence letters to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee – though there’s no prospect that they will reach the threshold necessary for the triggering of a contest.
The Guardian received information from a Treasury source confirming that the Integrated Rail Package was a failure partly due to its timing. They also suggested that’more attention’ should be taken before making any promises.
‘In the end what happened was that we blew a £96bn announcement that really should have been a lot more positive,’ they said.
A No10 source replied, “I don’t really know how moving a day on the calendar would make a substantial difference.”
Later, Mr Johnson will face a critical test when he takes on the House of Commons’ PMQs. The government benches were unusually thin last week, as a result of anger over the botched handling the sleaze dispute.
Asked yesterday whether the premier – who has been suffering a heavy cold – is in good health, his spokesman said: ‘The prime minister is well and he is focused on delivering for the public.’
The summer saw relations between No10-11 fall to a low point as Mr Johnson made no secret of his frustration at the free-spending behavior.
The Budget appeared to have secured an uneasy truce, with massive tax rises being pushed through to fund commitments such as the £12billion a year extra for the NHS and social care.
The latest storm however suggests that these problems are not solved.
Tory insiders pointed fingers at Rishi’s friends for the brutal briefing. One line was attributed by BBC to a senior Downing Street source. “There’s a lot of concern about the PM…it’s not working.” Source said that Cabinet must wake up to demand major changes.
A friend of Johnson pointed out that Mr Johnson’s quote was now attributed to a “No10 source” rather than a “Downing Street source”, adding, “I think you need to look further down the street.”
Senior Conservatives said that tensions have resurfaced, and No11 was ‘pushing hard” to subvert Mr Johnson. MailOnline reported that Rishi’s 100 per cent are responsible. They are too different intellectually.
One of the suspects is Liam Booth Smith who was Mr Sunak’s key aide.
The Treasury, however, has categorically denied that it was involved in this vicious briefing and said the idea was ‘total made-up rubbish’.
Sources claim that the source did not say, “This is not Liam or anybody else at Treasury.” “That suggestion is just an attempt at deflecting the blame.”
Relations between Mr Sunak and No10 chief of staff Dan Rosenfield are said to have ‘not recovered’ from a bruising spending review last month in which the Chancellor was ordered to shell out a £35billion windfall from lower borrowing rather than build a warchest for tax cuts.
Mr Rosenfield has come in for particular criticism for failing to build a reliable machine that can see ‘elephant traps’, with a Tory aide dismissing him as ‘f****** awful’. Lynton Crosby is being called upon to join the knock-heads team as election guru.
MailOnline has been told by an ex-minister that top No10 staff lack the ability to handle the mission and that most of the operations are largely run by teenaged workers who struggle with getting the premier in line. The former ministers said that an experienced individual is necessary to give Margaret Thatcher the same kind of support Willie Whitelaw provided.
Boris Johnson (right), attends the memorial service for David Amess, murdered MP, with (left-to-right) John Major and David Cameron. Theresa May is also present. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Home Secretary, and Lindsay Hoyle are all there.
19 MPs rebelled against the reduction of social care caps earlier in this week. Hundreds more abstained.
Later, Mr Johnson will face a crucial test when he takes on the House of Commons’ PMQs. In anger at the botched management of the sleaze dispute, the benches in the government were unusually thin.
Many within Government feel the influence of Dominic Cummings who was the former chief advisor to the PM and has become Mr Johnson’s chief torturer.
Richard Holden is an influential Tory MP who was part of the 2019 intake. The Government is making some unforced mistakes.
Former leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Baroness Ruth Davidson called the CBI speech a ‘disrespectful” gesture that suggested the country deserved more than chaotic boosterism.
But Mr Raab insisted Mr Johnson is ‘on great form’, and shrugged off reports that MPs are sending no-confidence letters as ‘Westminster tittle tattle’.
BBC Breakfast told him that the Prime Minister was in great shape. It is a fact that people talk about Westminster village speeches and gossip.
“It’s the job and duty of Westminster commentators, to find one anonymous source to condemn the Government of that day.
Raab continued: “The Prime Minister has an exuberant, buoyant, optimistic, Tiggerish personality and he livesns up speeches in a manner that few politicians past or present have done. But actually, there’s a steeliness about him as Prime Minister, as well as his team and so we work together as a group.”
The situation seems to be getting more dire, despite No10 insisting that the PM is “focused on the issues” and does not appear under imminent threat.
Yesterday, Downing Street maintained that Johnson was ‘well’ and that he’s focusing on the delivery of public services.
Following the strange speech where the Prime Minister made car noises, lost his place and spoke about Peppa Pig World, Mr Johnson was asked whether he thought everything was okay.
His official spokesperson stated that the Prime Minister had briefly lost his position in a speech. He’s given many speeches. “I don’t believe it is unusual for people to lose their position in speeches on rare occasions.
According to the spokesperson, “The Prime Minister is focused on providing services for the public.”
No10 stated: “The Prime Minister is, as you can see from Cabinet, focused on the problems that we face as the winter months approach and delivering important changes such as social care.”
Questioned by Lord Hague, a former cabinet minister, Johnson was asked whether Johnson would form a group with a few ministers in his circle to provide support. The spokesman replied that Johnson had an entire Cabinet available to him who could offer guidance.
A spokesman for the Cabinet said that he wanted people to feel free to voice their views around it.