SNP leader Ian Blackford was thrown out of the House of Commons on Monday after he refused to withdraw a comment which accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being a liar. Following the incident, Mr Blackford told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House that it was vital that honesty and openness were at the core of our elected representatives.
Discussing the issue, Mr Blackford said: “I am quite frankly distraught at the political discourse that we have at the moment.
“The unpleasantness which is there and particularly that which we see on social media.
“Senior parliamentarians, perhaps party leaders and others, perhaps through the Procedure Committee… has actually got to have a wider review about standards in public life and how we communicate.
“I believe there is clear evidence that the Prime Minister has misled the House of Commons, it is a slightly ridiculous situation that if I can’t bring that case to the floor of the house.”
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But Mr Blackford was caught off guard when host Paddy O’Connell asked Mr Blackford if he himself had ever lied.
Paddy O’Connell asked: “As a human being, you’ve told a lie, haven’t you?
Mr Blackford hit back: “Well look, I try to be as truthful as I can be, and obviously there are shades of these things!”
But Mr O’Connell did not let the SNP MP wriggle out of the question as he ordered him to “just have a go! Have you told a lie?”
READ MORE SNP’s Ian Blackford kicked out of Commons as he refuses to take back ‘lying’ Boris quip
The SNP leader got into a heated exchange with the Speaker of the House after accusing the Prime Minister of “lying” to the House of Commons over partygate allegations.
Ian Blackford was urged to withdraw his comments at least three times but repeatedly renewed his attack on Boris Johnson.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle was ultimately forced to order Mr Blackford out of the House of Commons in order to allow the debate on the recently-released Sue Gray report to continue.
Sir Lindsay asked the SNP Westminster leader to confirm he had withdrawn claims that the Prime Minister had misled the House after he first appeared to U-turn on his remarks.
