Jo Swinson brands Boris Johnson a 'liar' as she launches Lib Dem general election manifesto

Jo Swinson accused Boris Johnson of “lying" to the British people as she launched the Lib Dem general election manifesto.

She said the PM is “deluded” if he thinks he can negotiate a new trade deal with Europe in the coming months, adding: “He refuses to confirm he won’t crash us out of the European Union at the end of 2020.

“We don’t know what reassurances he gave to Nigel Farage but we do know this – Boris Johnson only cares about Boris Johnson, and he’ll say and do whatever it takes to keep him in Number 10.

“This is a man who lied to the Queen, who has lied to you before and he’s lying to you now.”

Ms Swinson also said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn “still won’t answer” the “biggest question of the election” over how he will campaign in a second referendum.

She said: “Elections are about choosing the kind of country you want to build. A man who refuses to tell you what that looks like doesn’t deserve your vote.”

The Lib Dem leader added the country had “wasted” the past three-and-a-half years on Brexit.

Addressing supporters at the party’s manifesto launch in Camden, north London, she said: “Instead of addressing these very real problems, from in-work poverty and inequality and funding for our schools, the mental health crisis and the climate emergency, we have wasted the last three-and-a-half years, talking about Brexit on pursuing a path that we know will make all of these problems worse.

“There is no form of Brexit that will be good for the future of our country. It would put our jobs at risk, hurt our NHS, reduce our environmental protection, threaten workers’ rights, and it would make us less safe.

“Whether Brexit is done by Boris Johnson, or sorted by Jeremy Corbyn, they are both gambling with your future.”

Ms Swinson added that her party’s policy of providing free childcare from when babies are nine months old until the first day of school would mean women would no longer have to miss out on having a career.

She told supporters she was “so proud” that the biggest investment in the Lib Dem manifesto was “to help parents” with “free, high-quality childcare”.

“Currently, when those nine months of paid parental leave are up, the cost of childcare just makes returning to work impossible for far too many people,” she said.

“We all know someone – a friend, a family member, usually a woman – who has had to give up her career to care for the family.

“They take time out of work for a couple of years until the current childcare starts and then if they have a second or third child, then soon enough they have lost out on six or seven years’ worth of work experience, opportunities and promotions and pay rises.

“We are deluded if we think at the moment that families have a choice with how they balance work and taking care of their little ones.”