Boris is ‘one of the sad heroes of today’
EU president launches damning attack on Leave
BORIS Johnson has been accused of being a fallen hero by EU president Jean-Claude Juncker, in a damning attack on the leading Leave campaigners who have stepped away from the spotlight.
In a speech discussing Brexit negotiations, Mr Juncker said the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP, along with the now resigned UKIP leader Nigel Farage, had shirked responsibility after leading the country to vote Leave in the European Referendum.
“The glorious Brexit heroes of yesterday are the sad heroes of today,” Mr Juncker told the European parliament in Strasbourg. Those who have contributed to the situation in the UK have resigned – Johnson, Farage and others.
“They are, as it were, retro-nationalists, they are not patriots. Patriots don’t resign when things get difficult; they stay.”
Westminster has experienced a wave of political surprises after a string of resignations, beginning with Prime Minister David Cameron’s on the morning of the referendum results announcement.
As the Conservative party leadership runners were announced, Boris Johnson declared in a shock announcement he would not be running for the Prime Minister position.
The MP said ‘having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, [he has] concluded that person cannot be [him]’.
And less than a week later, UKIP leader Nigel Farage stepped down as leader of the party and said he ‘wanted his life back’.
Senior Liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt also criticised the situation after the timeline of events and said: “Brexiteers remind me of rats leaving the sinking ship.”
But the former Conservative mayor remains adamant it is the best decision for the country and that free trade is still possible while having a points based immigration system.
Mr Johnson wrote in his Telegraph column recently: “There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales.”
The glorious Brexit heroes of yesterday are the sad heroes of today”