Boris Johnson’s sister questions his staycation claims

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Boris Johnson’s sister has questioned his claims that the family had enjoyed the ‘happiest holidays’ in the UK when they were younger.

Rachel Johnson, journalist and radio presenter, said she had to ‘rack’ her brains to figure out which holiday her brother had been referring to when he mentioned it in a press conference.

In a briefing on the recent lockdown measures in North West England, Johnson urged Britons to consider a staycation in order to avoid being caught out by last minute quarantine restrictions on international travel.

‘There all sorts of fantastic destinations, the best in the world I would say,’ Johnson said referring to the UK.

Rachel Johnson and her father Stanley Johnson at the Conservative Party conference. Picture: Stefan Rousseau – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

‘All my happiest holiday memories are vacations in the UK, bucket and spades or whatever, and I thoroughly recommend it.’

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But Johnson’s sister cast serious doubts over that claim in a Daily Mail column.

‘I racked my brains to think which holidays he meant. The time it rained in Ireland or on Mull? Or one of the childhood summers in West Somerset, one of the wettest places in the kingdom?’

She said she ‘agreed in principle’ with her brother’s plea for Britons to holiday before plunging into the details of her own ‘underwhelming’ getaway to Scotland.

‘It was so cold that fires were lit at breakfast, I kept my coat on at all times, even in bed, and I had to crouch by the electric fire in my room to stay alive,’ she wrote.

‘And before you accuse me of being a softie southern townie, I grew up in a farmhouse so cold, one guest claimed that ‘in the night it snowed on my head’.’

Johnson complained about needing to ‘rug up’ in the middle of summer and cursed the rainy, miserable weather north of the border.

‘As I write, I am looking out over the River Clyde, the rain is lashing down, and the hills are so green and lush I have to shield my eyes.’

‘If anyone suggests another patriotic staycation next year, they can take a hike,’ she concluded.