Protest forces PM to cancel speech

BORIS Johnson has claimed he scrapped his planned speech a longside h is counterpart in Luxembourg because the PM feared being drowned out by the heckles of pro-EU demonstrators.

Instead his lectern was left empty by Xavier Bettel, who ridiculed the PM.

Mr Johnson had already been greeted with cries of “Go home Boris” and “stop Brexit” when he left his two-hour lunch with EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday.

The PM then headed to the Ministry of State in Luxembourg City where he was again met by a noisy chorus, including chants of “bog off Boris” and “tell the truth”. Behind the ministry’s gates, Mr Johnson maintained a smile and greeted Mr Bettel with a handshake.

It became clear during the meeting that the planned press conference had been scrapped – and Mr Johnson headed to the residence of the UK ambassador to speak to a small group of media.

He conceded that he feared “our points might’ve been drowned out” because “there was clearly going to be a lot of noise”.

“I don’t think it would’ve been fair to the Prime Minister of Luxembourg,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Bettel appeared to be mocking the PM.

He gestured to the empty podium that had been slated for Mr Johnson.

Mr Bettel also fanned the flames, warning that EU citizens were facing mounting uncertainty due to Brexit.

“You can’t hold their future hostage for party political gains,” Mr Bettel said.

The criticism came after the EU expressed their frustrations with Mr Johnson after the “working lunch” with Mr Juncker.

Despite being described by Mr Juncker as “friendly” and as “constructive” by Downing Street, it contained tensions and there was little sign of any breakthrough.

Boris Johnson