Boris unrepentant over attack on Saudi ‘puppeteers’
BRITAIN: Allies of Boris Johnson reacted with anger yesterday after Downing Street reprimanded him for criticising Saudi Arabia’s activities in the Middle East.
Downing Street said that his remarks reflected his personal views rather than those of the government. It also pointedly said that Johnson would have the chance to adopt the government’s official view when he met with Saudi officials at the weekend.
The foreign secretary had been caught on tape criticising Saudi Arabia, Britain’s regional ally.
He said that Saudi Arabia and Iran were ‘‘playing proxy wars’’ in the region, adding that Middle Eastern politicians were twisting and abusing Islam for political ends and that strong leadership was lacking.
His friends said that he was simply stating the truth. Some suspect that May’s team is still treating Johnson as a leadership rival.
It is understood that the foreign secretary has made similar accusations to the Saudis in meetings and was expressing a view based on accepted evidence. He is not expected to apologise when he travels to Saudi Arabia.
‘‘Boris’s private remarks were a statement of the bleeding obvious,’’ said one MP. ‘‘The vast majority of the population will agree with him. It is clear that whoever is trying to undermine [him] doesn’t like the fact that he’s still the country’s most popular politician.’’
The video of Johnson’s remarks became public as May returned from a visit to the Gulf, where she met the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
On the recording, which was made in Rome and released by The Guardian, the foreign secretary is heard saying: ‘‘There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives. That’s one of the biggest political problems in the whole region.
‘‘The tragedy for me - and that’s why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that
"There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives."
area - is that there is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves. You’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars.’’
Saudi Arabia, which is dominated by Sunnis, Iran, which is mainly Shia, have been accused of intervention in the Syrian conflict along sectarian lines.
May’s spokeswoman said: ‘‘The foreign secretary will be in ... Saudi Arabia on Sunday and will have the opportunity to set out the way the UK sees its relationship with Saudi and the work we want to do with them and other partners to bring an end to the appalling conflict in Yemen.
‘‘He will have meetings with senior representatives in Saudi Arabia and he will have the opportunity to set out the government’s position.’’
- The Times