Boris Johnson has refused to apologise for publishing slurs about Liverpool.
Johnson was challenged by Maria Eagle on his first day as the UK’s new Prime Minister over comments he approved as editor of The Spectator in 2004.
He had edited and given the green light to a piece written by Simon Heffer in which several smears were made about the city and the Hillsborough tragedy.
In the article, Heffer wrote about the beheading of Liverpool-born Ken Bigley in Iraq and launched a scathing attack on the late engineer’s native city.
Johnson allowed claims that Liverpool people ‘see themselves whenever possible as victims, and resent their victim status; yet at the same time they wallow in it’.
Heffer also made false and damaging slurs about Hillsborough, where 96 Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed before the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.
One alleged that South Yorkshire Police, who were responsible for crowd safety at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground on the fateful day, were made a ‘scapegoat’.
Heffer later claimed that he had written the article at the request of Johnson.
Johnson has faced repeated requests to say sorry for approving the comments, including by Ms Eagle, Labour’s MP for Garston and Halewood, on Thursday.
Ms Eagle said: “He said he wants to govern for the whole of the country, but in a previous role the Rt Hon Gentleman has accused my constituents of wallowing in their victim status, repeated offensive and proven untruths about the cause of the Hillsborough disaster and called Liverpool self-pity city.
“So will he now apologise from the dispatch box to the people of Liverpool for the offence that he has caused?”
Johnson brazenly responded to the question in the House of Commons but the Tory leader declined the chance to apologise.
He said: “I ask the Honorable lady to look at my political record and look at what we’ve achieved and look at what I’ve done as a one-nation Conservative, helping with policies that are uniformly delivering better outcomes for the poorest and neediest in society – and that is what I stand for and that is what I believe in and that is what this whole government is going to deliver.”