Boris Johnson Embarrasses Himself, and the UK, again, in Parliament
By: Katy Preen
Tags: Europe, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Politics, Racism

Boris Johnson Embarrasses Himself, and the UK, again, in Parliament

Boris Johnson demonstrated once again in Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions that he hasn’t got a fucking clue, and we might as well have sent Larry, the №10 cat, to do the job.

He turned up looking like he’d just rolled out of bed, didn’t listen to a serious question and then incoherently rambled a non sequitur of an answer. It was so disrespectful. What makes it worse is that Johnson had no idea about an overseas matter that affects many British Indians (particularly Sikhs), confusing it with a general conflict that presumably was all Johnson knows of India. So he looked like a massive racist, again, as well.

MP for Slough, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, asked a question about the farmers protesting in India, and the PM confused the issue with the India-Pakistan conflict (although which particular aspect, I could not say. And neither could Johnson, as he delivered a load of barely intelligible waffle).

Here’s the exchange:

Speaker:

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi.

Dhesi:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Many constituents, especially those emanating from the Punjab and other parts of India, and I, were horrified to see footage of water cannon, tear gas and brute force being used against peacefully protesting farmers. However, it was heartwarming to see those very farmers feeding those forces who had been ordered to beat or suppress them. What indomitable spirit, and it takes a special kind of people to do that. So will the Prime Minister convey to the Indian Prime Minister our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock, and does he agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest?

Speaker:

Prime Minister.

Johnson:

Of course, Mr. Speaker, and our view is that the Honourable Gentleman knows well is that of course we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point.

Um, what?

The farmers protests in India are nothing to do with Pakistan. They are related to a disagreement between Indian farmers and their national government, over three laws passed on the trade of agricultural products. The Indian government has responded with violence against its own citizens, the kind of human rights violation the UK might once have condemned.

(That’s also an incorrect use of ‘pre-eminently’, which just goes to show that using big words doesn’t always make you look clever)

It’s true that Johnson wants to keep the nationalist Indian government on-side, but if this was an attempt at deflecting the issue, it went badly. You can’t just spout nonsense in reply and hope that gets you off the hook — what Johnson did showed that he didn’t even care to address the issue, the person who raised it, or the British Sikh community.

Boris Johnson comes across as erudite and eloquent on paper. He can write well-constructed and beautifully executed manuscripts. Although his journalistic integrity was woeful, damn can he tell a good story. But when he opens his mouth, you quickly wish he hadn’t bothered.

He seems incapable of thinking on his feet. If delivering a pre-rehearsed speech, his manner is powerful and pointed, almost statesmanlike, in the right light. But catch him off guard — and it’s very easy to do, as he seems not to think outside his narrow focus — and it’s like watching the Drunk Guy from the Fast Show*:

* I’ve just learnt this was known as ‘Brilliant’ in the US, which is where I’m guessing most of my readers are from.

Johnson will think he got away with it. And his gaffe will serve as a distraction from another gaffe, which will distract from another gaffe, which will distract from a crisis, which will distract from a disaster, which will distract from a preventable tragedy, and so on. But he can’t get away with it forever.