Boris under fire for ‘dead bodies’ gaffe on Libya Britain ready if Brexit talks fail: May

Manchester, Oct. 4: British foreign minister Boris Johnson came under fire on Tuesday for saying Libya could become a magnet for tourists and investors — if it can “clear the dead bodies away” first.

Reflecting on his August visit to Libya, strife-torn since the toppling of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, Johnson said British businesses wanted to invest in the city of Sirte.

“They have got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte into the next Dubai,” he told Conservatives attending the party’s annual conference in Manchester, talking up its “bone-white sands, beautiful sea” and “brilliant young people”.

“The only thing they have got to do is clear the dead bodies away,” he added, before laughing.

Mr Johnson’s political career has been characterised by outspoken comments and personal controversy, which have won voters over but also led to despair among both detractors and colleagues. His comments on Sirte, from where Islamic State militants were driven out in December, were slammed by shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry. Manchester: Britain’s government wants Brexit negotiations to succeed but is preparing for a scenario in which they could fail, Prime Minister Theresa May told her Conservative Party’s annual conference on Wednesday.

“I believe it is profoundly in all our interests for the negotiations to succeed but I know that some are worried whether we are prepared in the event that they do not. It is our responsibility as a government to prepare for every eventuality,” she said. “I know some find the negotiations frustrating,” she said, adding: “But if we approach them in the right spirit... I am confident we will find a deal that works for Britain and for Europe too”.

“For Boris Johnson to treat those deaths as a joke — a mere inconvenience before UK business people can turn the city into a beach resort — is unbelievably crass, callous and cruel,” said Thornberry, a Labour MP.