Boris Johnson: what you need to know

by Olaf Stando
Posted on
4 years ago
5 min read

Boris Johnson is a man renowned for his inflammatory remarks, casual racism and a hardline Brexit agenda. Yet despite these facts, he is the Prime Minister.

Here are just some of the reasons Boris Johnson is unfit for office, never mind the office of Prime Minister – and why it’s time to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, not those of Boris Johnson.

He made outrageous racist comments

He has called Muslim women “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”, and despite the blatant islamophobia has repeatedly refused to apologise, despite numerous calls.

His history of racist comments goes way back – in a 2002 Daily Telegraph column, he referred to non-white people as “picanninies” with “watermelon smiles”, and later that year, claimed that that the problem with Africa was that Britain “are not in charge anymore”.

And worse still, Boris Johnson in 10 Downing Street has seemingly further legitimised the hatred and vitriol of the far-right by hiring advisors that have previously supported the idea of eugenics and compulsory contraception.

Some of the the most offensive things Boris Johnson has ever said

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said that “of course” he will run for the Conservative leadership. A trail of controversies have followed the Tory politician, and in the past he has been called a “bigot” and “ignorant” by his critics.

He’s pro-Boris above all else

In April 2016, Boris Johnson penned a column for the Daily Telegraph outlining the benefits of the EU but hours later turned face by coming out for Brexit as one of the leaders of the Leave campaign – judging that it would better serve his career prospects than back remain.

Boris Johnson’s whirl-winding hypocrisy knows no bounds: he backed single market membership during the Brexit campaign, only to later claim that single market is “not Brexit”, and he voted both for and against Theresa May’s Brexit deal on various occasions.

And after months of demanding that their be no border in the Irish sea, has signed a Brexit deal that does exactly that and puts Scotland had a competitve disadvantage with Northern Ireland for trade and business opportunities.

Boris Johnson is a man whose inflated ego far outstrips his judgement and principles, and his long history of flip-flopping deprives him of any credentials for leadership.

He authored the biggest Brexit lies

Boris’ claim about £350 million a week for the NHS in the event of Brexit was a lie – refuted not only by Nigel Farage the morning after the referendum, the Daily Mail, numerous independent organisations and even the UK Statistics Authority, who reprimanded Vote Leave for “clear misuse of statistics”.

Boris Johnson himself backtracked on his spurious claims, when he repeatedly refused to quote the £350 million figure and said that extra money only “could” be used on “priorities such as the NHS”.

And during the campaign, he famously claimed Brexit would be a “Titanic success”. It was an analogy which Boris didn’t really think through, although a sinking ship closely resembles the ever-deepening Brexit chaos.

7 broken Brexit promises the Tories want you to forget

Throughout the Brexit process, the UK Government has descended deeper and deeper into paralysis – with no plan, no direction, and no authority as Tory MPs wage an open civil war. Theresa May, by laying down her red lines, chose to be hamstrung by a narrow faction of Tory Brexit extremists – the engineers of Brexit who over-promised and delivered nothing.

Johnson is firmly rooted in the Old Etonian and Oxbridge ranks of the Tory party

The sight of old Oxbridge alumni backstabbing one another in pursuit of the top job is a familiar one in Tory ranks, and Boris Johnson is no stranger to it.

Like David Cameron, Boris Johnson was at Eton and later Oxford, where both belonged to the notorious all-male society, The Bullingdon Club.

While repeatedly claiming to champion “ordinary people” and talking of the “elite conspiracy to thwart Brexit”, he is a career politician, deeply embedded into the elite fabric of Westminster.

His admiration of Trump could help facilitate a disastrous, bargain-basement trade deal with the US

Shortly before Donald Trump’s inauguration to office, Boris Johnson claimed he had an “exciting agenda for change”. Later that month, audio leaked to BuzzFeed revealed that Johnson had said he is “increasingly admiring of Donald Trump”.

Boris Johnson’s clear lack of moral compass and admiration of Trump might mean he will be keen to sign up to a bargain-basement trade deal with the US – a shoddy agreement that would slash workers’ rights, privatise the NHS, and flood Scotland with chlorinated chicken.

What’s more, during his time as Foreign Secretary, he refused to condemn Trump’s cruel policy of separating children from their parents and putting them in cages, following pressure from the SNP MPs at Westminster.

He takes incompetence to a whole new level

So bad was Boris Johnson’s reputation for gaffes, that when Theresa May appointed him as Foreign Secretary in 2016, the former Swedish prime minister, Carl Bildt, tweeted that he wished it was a joke.

On his visit to Libya, he claimed that the only thing getting in the way of investment after its civil war was “clearing the dead bodies”. He also insulted Italy by saying the EU refusing the UK single market access would mean “you’ll sell less prosecco”, and if that wasn’t enough, he referred to Africa as “a country” during his speech at the Conservative conference in 2016.

He also rinsed £46m of public money on his botched Garden Bridge without ever beginning construction.

Boris Johnson gaffes: A look back as he confirms he will run to be Tory leader

Boris Johnson has said he will “of course” put himself forward to be the next Conservative Party leader when a contest begins. But if he eventually becomes prime minister, the Tories will be hoping he does not hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons anymore.

He wanted to cut benefits even more than George Osborne did

The cruel Tory policy of austerity, defined by the relentless slashing of benefits, cuts in public services, and a sharp rise in the use of food banks, has inflicted real pain on hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland.

But staggeringly, Boris Johnson – a self-avowed fan of Margaret Thatcher – thought the cuts did not go far enough, claiming that abandoning Osborne’s cuts in 2016 was “a mistake”.

As London Mayor, he dropped targets for new affordable homes and slammed the “lefty” idea of social housing as something that’s “not good for people”. For someone who owns several homes and whose net worth exceeds £1.5 million, that’s a bit rich.

London mayor Boris Johnson says abandoned welfare cuts a mistake

LONDON (Reuters) – London mayor Boris Johnson, the leading figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, said embattled finance minister George Osborne’s now abandoned welfare cuts were a mistake.

His disdain for Scotland knows no bounds

A string of Tory Prime Ministers have stifled Scotland’s potential – whether it’s through Theresa May’s power grab of devolved powers post-Brexit, David Cameron’s EVEL, or Margaret Thatcher’s cruel cuts, Tories can’t be trusted to deliver for Scotland.

With Boris Johnson now in No.10, and the new Tory leader in Scotland Jackson Carlaw becoming a fully signed up member of the Boris Fan club, it’s clearer than ever before that Scotland must become an independent country.