Boris Johnson—you can love him, you can hate him...
...but who is he?
In some ways, he’s a very, very familiar figure
He’s a very colourful character
He has a very distinctive persona
And he’s a global superstar
My friends, we export French knickers to France
Everybody thinks they know him around the world...
...but the more you look at him...
...he’s really difficult to understand...
...because there are at least two very distinctive Boris Johnsons
So let’s find out more about who these two Boris Johnsons are
One is of the globalist, open-minded person
A liberal who is in favour of open immigration
I’ve been one of the few British politicians to speak up...
...in favour of the benefits of immigration
He has Turkish ancestry, he has some Jewish ancestry...
...he’s a very cosmopolitan figure
My father’s father’s father was a Muslim…
…and he knew large chunks of the Koran off by heart
On the other hand, he claims to be the leader of...
...the nationalist, populist sort of wing of the Conservative Party
What do they know of the impact of immigration on school places...
...on hospital waiting lists and GPs’ surgeries?
They know nothing about it, they know absolutely nothing about it
He’s more recently talked about Muslim women wearing burkas...
...looking like letter boxes and things like that
So two very, very distinctive personas there
But he’s hardly the anti-establishment figure he claims to be
Boris Johnson is very much part of the British upper classes
And he’s got quite a name to show for it
He went to Eton
The English boys boarding school...
...educated Princes William and Harry...
...and also 19 previous prime ministers
Then he went to Oxford, then he immediately went into journalism...
...so he’s really been a creature of the English upper classes...
...and of the metropolitan, journalistic elite
But with Boris things are never quite what they seem
Well Boris Johnson has an extraordinary history of lying in public
His first job was on the Times...
...and he was sacked for making up a quotation
Then he went on, in the Telegraph, to make a number of claims...
...about the European Union...
...including the fact that they wanted...
...to straighten bananas and things like that...
...which were either exaggerations or lies
During the referendum campaign...
...he appeared all around the country with buses...
...on the side of which were claims about Britain...
...getting £350 million back from the EU
There is no evidence that he will be good at being precise with his words...
...and there’s a lot of evidence that he is willing...
...to say things that are flat out false
OK, so he’s consistently inconsistent...
…doesn’t rate facts too highly…
…and yet he’s still flying high
How?
Boris Johnson has enormous strengths
He is a very, very good campaigner
He was re-elected as mayor of London despite being a Tory
And above all he makes people feel good about themselves
I have nothing to say about this matter except to offer you some tea
Those are great and important qualities in a politician
They’re not enough but they’re certainly important
So who is the real Boris Johnson?
Clown? Statesman?
Or something else altogether?
I think Boris Johnson is a dangerous politician
The rather narcissistic individual...
...who wants to be not just liked but loved
And that means that he is willing to pander, bend the truth...
...and when the going gets really tough...
...there’s no evidence that he can really push through and solve problems
I don’t think he really believes anything...
...and I think, not believing anything in good times is probably alright
But when you’re in very difficult times...
...as Britain most certainly is at the moment...
...when you’re the prime minister you need to have a star to be guided by...
...and I don’t think he has a star to be guided by
Yeah if you say so Boris