Brit in an Iran jail? It’s all a kerfuffle
Buffoon Sr brushes off gaffe
STANLEY Johnson has defended his son Boris’ bungled intervention over the British mum jailed in Iran – describing the crisis caused by her plight as a “kerfuffle”.
Speaking ahead of his stint on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Stanley added he would back his son to the hilt on the show if any campmates lash out.
Foreign Secretary Boris had wrongly said British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, had been in Iran “training journalists” before her arrest – when she had actually been on holiday visiting her family.
It is feared the comment could result in her five-year jail term being doubled.
After being told Boris had been forced to apologise for the blunder, Stanley suggested his son’s intervention had helped her. He said: “I am very glad to hear this has all gone swimmingly.
“As a matter of fact, it does seem to me to have been a terrifically good idea from the point of view of that Iranian woman because it has now become a diplomatic affair of the first order and I suspect that there might be a very strong case for a mission at high level.
“I can imagine you might have a mission from the British Foreign Secretary to Tehran.
“So out of this kerfuffle maybe something very good will come in terms of UK-Iran relationships. I am going to plead a little bit of ignorance for the detail here. But my feeling is this is absolutely moving in the right direction.” Stanley announced he will not stand for anyone in the camp on the ITV reality show suggesting his gaffe-prone son is failing in his Cabinet role. Stanley, 77, said: “You have no idea how much I will defend Boris. I will be 100 per cent on his side because I think he is doing a fantastic job.” Nazanin’s husband Richard Ratcliffe said BoJo’s comment was used in Iran to justify her being in jail. She has been accused of spying. The Foreign Scretary backtracked and said “any suggestion she was there in a professional capacity” was wrong. He announced he would fly to Iran to argue her case.
Stanley, an author and ex-Tory MEP, said that despite his political background, he expects campmates to want to talk about the heat rather than Brexit.
He added he is unfazed by being mostly known as Boris’ dad. Stanley said: “Lots of famous people have fathers. But not all fathers are famous people..
“Yes of course I am known as Boris’s dad but it might just be that there are some other things that come in there.
“I have written 25 books and won lots of environmental prizes.
“Maybe I am deluded. But if I am, it is a very sweet delusion.”
He said he has no concerns about coping with the demands of the show.
Stanley added: “I have climbed Mount Kilamanjaro twice in the last five years. I don’t have any worries about my health.
“I am not so sure I would like to do a bungee jump.
“I don’t think I’d have any problem jumping out of a plane but I’d prefer it if the parachute were to open.”
Stanley added he has never watched I’m a Celeb and insisted he did know even know who the hosts are.
He said: “There are two people and one is called and Ant and one is called Dec. I am pretty sure I have got that right.
“I’ve seen a photo of them but which is which? That I am not 100 per cent sure.” ● I’m a Celebrity... starts on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.