IT seems Boris Johnson is attempting to do the impossible - go from a dead cert favourite for the PM job, to finding a way to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.

I’ve written previously why Mr Johnson would be a disastrous PM but that still appears to be where we are heading. A few more revelations like the police being called to the home of his partner Carrie Symonds last week, could see him yet miss out.

A lot has been written and said about what took place in that incident in the early hours of Friday morning and it has even reopened the debate on whether politicians private lives should be public.

Let’s get something clear though - what the neighbours did in calling the police was sensible, and they should not be criticised for it. Yes couples have rows but the recording revealed it seemed to be more than just a normal argument with loud crashing noises, a neighbour saying they heard a woman screaming, and Miss Symonds being heard to tell Johnson to “get off me” and “get out of my flat.”

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Police later released a statement saying they attended and there was “no cause for police action,” but that doesn’t mean the neighbours weren’t correct in calling 999. Let’s not forget 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic abuse in this country, and two women are murdered every week, so we all should be doing more to act on any suspicions, whatever the outcome.

After going to the press suddenly the neighbours were the ones in the spotlight, and criticised for recording and raising the issue. Be in no doubt though, this was a story in the public interest. How can it not be when it goes to the heart of the character of the man potentially a few weeks away from becoming our next PM.

Whether the neighbours were politically motivated, whether they are supporters of the Labour Party, or just being “too nosy” is all completely irrelevant.

And these political columnists joining in the criticism of the neighbours are all being hypocrites. Any journalist getting that call would take that story on, and be doing the right thing publishing it.

Mr Johnson in recent days has been keen to not discuss the incident or indeed his private life at all, but of course seemed happy with a photo, (suspiciously staged) of the loved-up pair appearing in the papers.

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