Boris Johnson challenged over how 'relatable' he is to general public

Boris Johnson has said the “whole potential of this country” can be realised if Brexit is pushed through, in a BBC interview in which he was challenged on how “relatable” he is.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Friday morning, the prime minister talked about his vision for the country post-Brexit, the NHS and the economy.

The BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty said she hoped the interview would bring clarity to voters, and she kicked things off by challenging the PM on his “Let’s get Brexit done” campaign slogan. Brexit would not be “done” anytime soon, she protested, what with the transition period and second phase of negotiations on the future relationship.

Johnson laid the blame for the delay at parliament’s door and launched a barrage of well-oiled Brexit-related soundbites along the lines of “taking back control”. He said Brexit would “turbo-charge” the one-nation agenda.

Johnson gave an “absolute guarantee” that he would not ask for another Brexit extension.

Asked when he had last used the NHS, the PM said he had gone to Hillingdon hospital after cutting his foot with a piece of glass last year. “Someone dropped a cafetiere. There was music playing. I jumped on a piece of glass and it went straight into my foot,” he said, adding that staff had asked for more funding during his visit.

He said the best way to fund the NHS appropriately was a robust economy, which he said Labour was committed to wreck. His government would build new hospitals and recruit “thousands” of GPs and nurses.

Munchetty pointed out that similar promises made by Jeremy Hunt when he was health secretary had not materialised. She grilled Johnson on record A&E waiting times and challenged the PM’s claim that his government would give the NHS a £34bn funding boost. The number she had was £20.5bn, Munchetty said.

Johnson insisted £34bn was the correct number, but he seemed uncertain. He said: “Debts Labour would rack up with their economic policies would make it impossible for us to make the long-term investments in public services that we need.”

Asked about immigration, and whether net migration would fall or rise under his government, Johnson said: “We’ve got to do better,” before adding that this did not mean he was not “incredibly proud” of the NHS.

Johnson said it was “a great thing” that there were now “more EU nationals in the UK than ever before”. But once Brexit was done in January, he insisted, “we will take control of our borders”. When pressed for particular migration target numbers, Johnson said he did not want to play the numbers game.

He brought up proposals for an Australian-style points-based system and emphasised that Labour was pursuing “uncontrolled” immigration. Would a brain surgeon or a porter get more points under such a system, Munchetty asked. His analysts hadn’t decided yet, the PM responded.

Asked whether he felt he had done enough for the victims of flooding this month, Johnson said one could never do enough for someone who had suffered a flood, but he would make sure insurers did not “weasel out of their obligations”.

A question about his family life at the end put Johnson into a visibly uncomfortable spot and caused a few moments of stammering as the PM struggled to tell Munchetty how people could relate to him as a family man.

Johnson said he wanted every child in the country to have “the most amazing opportunities”, and in order to achieve that, Brexit needed to get done.

Munchetty said she would like to get a “feel” for who he was, and played a clip of him awkwardly prodding a mop at a puddle somewhere, prompting her to question whether the PM had ever used a mop before.