"Explains a heck of a lot"
An ardent Brexiteer he may have been, but as is the case usually with clueless Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister didn’t even know what the customs union was, it has been revealed.
Johnson, who campaigned for Britain to leave the customs union, had to have a Labour MP explain to him what it was after stopping him in the corridor to ask about it.
Labour MP Barry Gardiner revealed on Politics Live this week that Johnson ‘did not know as the foreign secretary what a customs union was’.
He said: “Boris Johnson when was the Foreign Secretary, one of the three people who was supposed to be in charge of Brexit, stopped me in the corridor one day in New Palace yard, and he said Barry I just published an article in the Guardian about the customs union and about a customs union and the Turkish customs union and the different asymmetries and exactly how it could be.
“And Boris says tell me, tell me what is all this stuff about a customs union?”
When Gardiner claims to have asked Boris what he meant by his question, Boris apparently then asked, “Well what is a customs union?”
Reacting to the revelation, one social media user wrote on X: “Explains a heck of a lot.
“Unqualified, nay incompetent people put in a position of power.”
Another user wrote: “No surprises.
“The most complex and risky negotiation since the last war was put in the hands of those least qualified to handle it.
“The continuing theme since the referendum has been the elevation of loyalty over ability.
The damage this caused will take a generation to fix.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn't have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.