And in other news this week…Friday afternoon came with the shocking disclosure that Boris Johnson has done it again…opened his mouth…but on this occasion he said something that it is almost impossible to disagree with…unless you are a complete idiot…I’m sorry did I just say that out loud…oh dear…
What I should have said is…unless you are someone that is still seething with such a mighty angst at the result of the EU referendum that only an outbreak of bubonic plague could distract you from seeking vengeance on the most despised man at the FT…well when I say THE most despised man at the FT, I’m excluding Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and/or whoever Gideon Rachman has selected as his ‘Fascist of the Week’, which is usually Donald Trump anyway.
But I digress…here’s what happened:
“Boris Johnson has refused to apologise for publicly criticising Saudi Arabia, despite being called into 10 Downing Street by Theresa May for tense talks and being warned that his views do not represent government policy…
The foreign secretary travelled to Bahrain on Friday to give a speech on British policy in the Middle East, still fuming at the way Mrs May had allegedly undermined his authority by publicly rebuking him…
Mrs May’s spokeswoman said Mr Johnson was only giving his private views that Saudi Arabia was fighting “proxy wars” in the region and “puppeteering”, adding: “They are not the government’s position on Saudi Arabia and its role in the region.” - George Parker
https://www.ft.com/content/cbdaa484-be25-11e6-8b45-b8b81dd5d080
Needless to say, more than a few are calling for his blood…lots of it. This of course could only happen to poor Boris. Not that he’s an unsuspecting victim here – for it fits the 'theatrical' theme of Boris' political career to have somehow survived the backlash from all the rubbish he's uttered over the years…only to risk being fired one more time...for telling the truth:
Saudi Arabia is fighting 'proxy wars' and is involved in 'puppeteering'.
(He might have added 'openly slaughtering a good chunk of Yemen'...but clearly that was one career threatening step too far even for Boris)
But nevertheless...yes, Boris…the veracity of your statement can only be rivaled by gems like ‘The Pope is a Catholic’, ‘Cats climb trees’, and ‘Donald Trump's hair is even weirder than yours’.
And still…it gets you into trouble…so my advice to you Boris is this:
If you are going to pursue the line of cutting through the geo-political crap that our government conspires with, you should go back to being a journalist old fruit. God knows most of the hacks who call themselves journalists are better suited to being politicians. You might be able to arrange a swap...give Philip Stephens a call…
And on that cheerful note…I hope you all have a better weekend than Boris Johnson…