Britain: Brexit fallout! BoJo Appointed new Foreign Secretary!
No, not a joke! Boris Johnson (dubbed BoJo by the tabloids) is indeed Britain's new Foreign Secretary. The man who has offended hundreds of people with his special brand of humour will now be in charge of leading foreign affairs in the UK at this particularly sensitive time when the country needs to craft a cohesive post-Brexit policy!
Let's catch up! BoJo is a UK legislator (Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and Ruislip) and a former mayor of London. He played a major role in the "leave" European Union campaign at last month's Brexit referendum, and was the initial favourite to succeed former Prime Minister David Cameron. Like a scene played out in a Shakespearian tragi-comedy/farce, BoJo's leadership ambitions (and those of other Brexit-eers) came crashing down when key ally, Michael Gove, stood against him; Boris took himself out of the race leaving others to "clean the mess he'd made," according to media observers. One by one, the slew of Prime Minister-wannabes dropped out of the running, leaving only current PM Theresa May (ironically, not a Brexit supporter) standing.
Gaffes and Racist Remarks
Boris is known for his gaffes and racist comments in newspaper articles. Among his choicest remarks, he called Turkish President Erdoğan a "wankerer" (masturbator) who had sex with a goat! This was in response to Turkey's censorship crackdown. (Johnson's limerick won a poetry competition and was published!)
After Obama supported the "remain" campaign, Boris called him "part Kenyan" and accused him of an “ancestral dislike” of Britain (shades of Trump and birther-ism?). He has compared Hillary Clinton to a “sadistic nurse in a mental hospital" and used the derogatory term "piccaninnies" when referring to Black people. He said the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with "regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies," and mentioned their "watermelon smiles!" Yes, clearly an equal opportunity offender!
The EU as "Ill-fitting Underwear"
Boris has likened the European Union to "badly designed" and ill-fitting underwear that was too tight and constrictive in some places and "dangerously loose" in others! He finished that little homily on undergarments (which can be found online) with the slogan, "knickers to the pessimists and all those who talk Britain down!" This was of course when he was campaigning to "take back control of Britain," before the Brexit vote.
Readers will recall his criticism of former PM Tony Blair in a 2006 Telegraph column. He wrote, “For 10 years we in the Tory party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing and so it is with a happy amazement that we watch as the madness engulfs the Labour Party.” He did apologise later but insisted that he'd seen pictures of PNG warfare (and cannibalism!) in a Time-Life book!
Downgrading the FCO?
Observers are astonished that Boris (who did more than anyone to mislead the British people about Brexit) should be "rewarded" with the Foreign Office. Some have suggested that his appointment is a huge demotion for Britain's much vaunted FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), a model for former colonies and Commonwealth partners, and that it might lose its status and heft in the world!
The FCO used to be in charge of aid, but lost that to DfID (the UK's Department for International Development, responsible for administering overseas aid) which separated from the FCO nearly two decades ago, under a former Labour Government. Now the FCO is losing trade to Liam Fox, the new Secretary of State for International Trade, who will negotiate trade deals with Europe, the US, China, India, and so on. Clearly no one thinks Boris is up to the task!
The newly-created role of Secretary of State for Exiting the EU has gone to David Davis, a Eurosceptic lawmaker who says the risk of losing a key export partner will force EU leaders such as Angela Merkel to agree to a free trade deal. So Boris - the man who was the face of Brexit - will not lead the charge to take the UK out of the EU, after all!
Insulting Allies?
Johnson's presence may accelerate the FCO's transformation to a "glorified trade promotion agency," according to some analysts. The Brexit department and department of trade are expected to do the heavy lifting while the PM's office takes over foreign policy at critical times (which also happens in New Delhi), leaving Boris to do what, exactly? Fly around the world, insulting allies?
Some might have thought that George Osborne, the former chancellor of the exchequer, would be a better choice for foreign secretary but he is out in the cold as is Cameron - two figures that ran conservative politics for more than a decade.
Mark Toner, State Department spokesperson - who clearly struggled not to laugh at his Washington briefing when asked for a reaction on Johnson's appointment - said the US-UK bond “is frankly a relationship that goes beyond personalities” and that "we're always going to be able to work with the British no matter who is occupying the role of foreign secretary because of our deep abiding special relationship with the UK.” One wonders if that was a little dig against Boris for what he said about Obama and Hillary!
Good for Laughs?
If nothing else, Boris will be good for a few laughs after the major doom and gloom of the Brexit vote and its mindless chucking overboard of the EU, an essential pillar of influence. He will be a showy "celebrity" presence as he travels the globe, selling an image of a new free-trading "independent" Britain; hopefully, not some neo-isolationist xenophobic "little England" throwback! With apologies to Shakespeare's "Henry VIII," if David Cameron is Hamlet or Prince Hal, then BoJo must be the big buffoon, Falstaff!
Ludi Joseph
Washington, DC
July 13, 2016
No, not a joke! Boris Johnson (dubbed BoJo by the tabloids) is indeed Britain's new Foreign Secretary. The man who has offended hundreds of people with his special brand of humour will now be in charge of leading foreign affairs in the UK at this particularly sensitive time when the country needs to craft a cohesive post-Brexit policy!
Let's catch up! BoJo is a UK legislator (Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and Ruislip) and a former mayor of London. He played a major role in the "leave" European Union campaign at last month's Brexit referendum, and was the initial favourite to succeed former Prime Minister David Cameron. Like a scene played out in a Shakespearian tragi-comedy/farce, BoJo's leadership ambitions (and those of other Brexit-eers) came crashing down when key ally, Michael Gove, stood against him; Boris took himself out of the race leaving others to "clean the mess he'd made," according to media observers. One by one, the slew of Prime Minister-wannabes dropped out of the running, leaving only current PM Theresa May (ironically, not a Brexit supporter) standing.
Gaffes and Racist Remarks
Boris is known for his gaffes and racist comments in newspaper articles. Among his choicest remarks, he called Turkish President Erdoğan a "wankerer" (masturbator) who had sex with a goat! This was in response to Turkey's censorship crackdown. (Johnson's limerick won a poetry competition and was published!)
After Obama supported the "remain" campaign, Boris called him "part Kenyan" and accused him of an “ancestral dislike” of Britain (shades of Trump and birther-ism?). He has compared Hillary Clinton to a “sadistic nurse in a mental hospital" and used the derogatory term "piccaninnies" when referring to Black people. He said the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with "regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies," and mentioned their "watermelon smiles!" Yes, clearly an equal opportunity offender!
The EU as "Ill-fitting Underwear"
Boris has likened the European Union to "badly designed" and ill-fitting underwear that was too tight and constrictive in some places and "dangerously loose" in others! He finished that little homily on undergarments (which can be found online) with the slogan, "knickers to the pessimists and all those who talk Britain down!" This was of course when he was campaigning to "take back control of Britain," before the Brexit vote.
Readers will recall his criticism of former PM Tony Blair in a 2006 Telegraph column. He wrote, “For 10 years we in the Tory party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing and so it is with a happy amazement that we watch as the madness engulfs the Labour Party.” He did apologise later but insisted that he'd seen pictures of PNG warfare (and cannibalism!) in a Time-Life book!
Downgrading the FCO?
Observers are astonished that Boris (who did more than anyone to mislead the British people about Brexit) should be "rewarded" with the Foreign Office. Some have suggested that his appointment is a huge demotion for Britain's much vaunted FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), a model for former colonies and Commonwealth partners, and that it might lose its status and heft in the world!
The FCO used to be in charge of aid, but lost that to DfID (the UK's Department for International Development, responsible for administering overseas aid) which separated from the FCO nearly two decades ago, under a former Labour Government. Now the FCO is losing trade to Liam Fox, the new Secretary of State for International Trade, who will negotiate trade deals with Europe, the US, China, India, and so on. Clearly no one thinks Boris is up to the task!
The newly-created role of Secretary of State for Exiting the EU has gone to David Davis, a Eurosceptic lawmaker who says the risk of losing a key export partner will force EU leaders such as Angela Merkel to agree to a free trade deal. So Boris - the man who was the face of Brexit - will not lead the charge to take the UK out of the EU, after all!
Insulting Allies?
Johnson's presence may accelerate the FCO's transformation to a "glorified trade promotion agency," according to some analysts. The Brexit department and department of trade are expected to do the heavy lifting while the PM's office takes over foreign policy at critical times (which also happens in New Delhi), leaving Boris to do what, exactly? Fly around the world, insulting allies?
Some might have thought that George Osborne, the former chancellor of the exchequer, would be a better choice for foreign secretary but he is out in the cold as is Cameron - two figures that ran conservative politics for more than a decade.
Mark Toner, State Department spokesperson - who clearly struggled not to laugh at his Washington briefing when asked for a reaction on Johnson's appointment - said the US-UK bond “is frankly a relationship that goes beyond personalities” and that "we're always going to be able to work with the British no matter who is occupying the role of foreign secretary because of our deep abiding special relationship with the UK.” One wonders if that was a little dig against Boris for what he said about Obama and Hillary!
Good for Laughs?
If nothing else, Boris will be good for a few laughs after the major doom and gloom of the Brexit vote and its mindless chucking overboard of the EU, an essential pillar of influence. He will be a showy "celebrity" presence as he travels the globe, selling an image of a new free-trading "independent" Britain; hopefully, not some neo-isolationist xenophobic "little England" throwback! With apologies to Shakespeare's "Henry VIII," if David Cameron is Hamlet or Prince Hal, then BoJo must be the big buffoon, Falstaff!
Ludi Joseph
Washington, DC
July 13, 2016
