‘Comedy gold. Tragic comedy that is!’
The deputy PM has come under fire for a painfully naïve and ironic response about Johnson’s connections with Russian oligarchs.
As the PM jetted to Saudi Arabia to ask for help in supplying the UK’s oil, his deputy stood in at PMQs this week, where he bumbled the answer to a question about Johnson’s closeness to wealthy Russians.
Matt Western, Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, raised the issue of PM’s relationship with Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Russian minister, who is reported to have given £1.7 million to the Conservative Party, including paying to spend time with the last three prime ministers.
Western informed the Commons how Johnson had played tennis with Chernukhin, while questioning why the prime minister had attended a party hosted by former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev, the day after he won the general election in 2019.
Western asked Raab:“What first attracted the prime minister to the billionaire Russian oligarchs?”
Of which the deputy PM responded: “The prime minister is not just a very social individual.
“He wants this country to be open and outward looking to the world.”
‘Comedy gold’
Raab’s response was immediately subjected to ridicule online, referred to as, “Comedy gold. Tragic comedy that is!”
Dr. Jennifer Cassidy of Oxford University expressed her disbelief to the comments, saying, “There are no words for this man.”
“Raab is as bad at his own language as he is at geography. We are all ‘social’ people. Some of us are more ‘sociable’ than others; #LiarJohnson turns on his sociability only when it suits his selfish desires and goals,” another baffled Twitter user wrote.
Others noted how even Raab himself and his colleagues couldn’t conceal their amusement over the response. “Asked about the prime minister’s enduring association with Russian oligarchs, Dominic Raab’s explanation – I kid you not – is that the “prime minister is a very social person.”
“Even he and his own colleagues cannot keep a straight face,” said international advocacy group, Best for Britain.
Evgeny Lebedev peerage questioned
Fuelling the mockery towards Raab’s excruciatingly naïve answer to a very serious question is the fact it comes amid questioning over the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords.
Lebedev – now Lord Lebedev – owns the Evening Standard and the Independent, and is son of Alexander Lebedev, a Russian businessman and former officer of the Soviet Union’s KGB.
In an article about the prime minister’s relationship with Evgeny Lebedev despite M16 concerns, The Times contends Johnson was a ‘willing partner’ as the newspaper owner spent a decade “eager to integrate himself with the British establishment.”
This week saw the prime minister’s former chief advisor Dominic Cummings rouse further controversy, saying he was present when Johnson was informed of security concerns about his plan to award a peerage to Evgeny Lebedev.
Following the publishing of an article in The Times’ about Johnson pushing ahead with the nomination of Evgeny Lebedev, Labour said the prime minister has some “serious questions” to answer over his friendship with the Russian oligarch.
The best his number two could come up with when quizzed about the PM’s associations with wealthy Russians is that the prime minister is “very social” and wants the country to be “open and outward looking”.
The response opened the floodgates for mockery and doubts on exactly who and what the PM wants the UK to be open and outward looking towards.
As one Twitter user wrote:
“… open, outward looking” to the world’s dirty money.”
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.