'Real anger' in Johnson's immigration spat with Neil

A state reception dinner for British right-wingers descended into a bust-up between Boris Johnson and other senior Tories over the party's record in government.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

In an astonishing turn of events, a witness described “real anger” as the meeting of minds led to a spat between Liz Truss, Mr Johnson and his former boss, broadcaster Andrew Neil.

The event, at the luxury Peninsula hotel in London’s Mayfair, was hosted by US broadcaster Newsmax and included guests of honour Marco Rubio and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Both were in the UK for Donald Trump’s state visit.

Nigel Farage and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg were also there representing the right of British politics. After canapes, Mr Farage and the US cabinet members left, before the rest of the guests, who also included Sir Sajid Javid and Mark Harper, were treated to dinner.

Mr Johnson then gave a speech defending his record on Brexit, and it was at this point that a witness said “tensions were evident over the last government’s record”. Right-wing critics have rounded on Mr Johnson for overseeing mass migration into Britain as PM, with Reform UK dubbing it the “Boris wave” of migration.

The witness told