Boris Johnson accused of squeezing female comedian’s hand under table, following groping allegations

Shappi Khorsandi said the incident was not assault, but made her inclined to believe groping claims against the PM

A female comedian has claimed that Boris Johnson once squeezed her hand under the table moments before they filmed TV show Question Time.

Shappi Khorsandi stressed that she did not regard his move as assault or a sexual advance, and was not frightened at the time.

But she told The Independent the experience was “odd and discombobulating” and made her instinctively ready to believe the claim of journalist Charlotte Edwardes that Mr Johnson had squeezed her leg at a lunch. Mr Johnson has denied the allegation.

“That moment came roaring back into my mind when I read Edwardes’ column,” said Ms Khorsandi. “It made her account instantly believable – and I wanted to stick up for her.”

Ms Khorsandi said she decided to speak out about her experience because of her anger at seeing Ms Edwardes accused of lying.

And she added: “In my experience, if a man is that comfortable holding the hand of a woman he doesn’t know, then I believe the other woman who says he grabbed her leg at a party.”

Recalling her encounter with the PM, Ms Khorsandi said: “He reached under the table and squeezed my hand while I was sitting on the panel for Question Time after knowing me for roughly 20 seconds. My hand, to be clear, was resting on my thigh.

“It wasn’t a frightening experience, just odd and discombobulating a few seconds before the beginning of a live TV debate.”

Ms Khorsandi said she had been told that the gesture was simply an attempt to reassure her in case she was feeling nervous about the coming broadcast.

But she said: “That’s exactly what it would have been if he’d been my mother, a friend, or someone I had a rapport with, who I’d been acquainted with for more than a few moments.

“It was not assault, and I’m not saying it was a sexual advance. But it was a gesture by a man who is not used to giving women the same respect he grants to a man.”

When contacted for comment a Downing Street source offered no response to Ms Khorsandi’s account