Boris EU Gag Hypocrisy Farce

London’s increasingly occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson could not contain his anger the other day on The Andy Marr Show (tm) when the subject of British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) head man John Longworth was broached. Longworth had been suspended after failing to desist from backing one side in the EU referendum debate, and Bozza knew exactly who was behind it.

A complete Muppet. And Elmo from Sesame Street

“It is absolutely scandalous that John Longworth has been forced to step aside” frothed Bozza, adding that the BCC man had been “crushed by the agents of Project Fear”. Sadly, when Marr asked him to confirm that he meant 10 Downing Street, Johnson was of less than perfect courage and declined to take the bait. But viewers were left in no doubt that pressuring others to keep schtum or toe the line on the EU was A Very Bad Thing.

Bozza also told that “I think it's very sad that he's been stopped from speaking out in his capacity as director-general of the BCC … I think what will happen now is that he will join our movement [Vote Leave] and speak his mind. I hope very much that he will”. He also asserted that “The British public deserve to have the facts put before them. They deserve a proper debate”. So, clearly, all should be able to speak their mind.

Well, up to a point, it seems: overnight, it has been revealed that Bozza has been speaking with decidedly forked tongue. As the BBC has reported, “Boris Johnson's office has warned senior officials at London's City Hall not to speak out in favour of staying in the European Union … An email from his chief of staff, Edward Lister, seen by the BBC, tells deputy mayors and senior advisers to ‘either advocate the mayor's position or otherwise not openly contradict it’”. And there is more.

“The Mayor of London has accused pro-EU campaigners of trying to gag opponents”. So what was the excuse for this mildly embarrassing revelation? “His spokesman said the ruling applied only to those on ‘official business’”. Someone arguing in their spare time there. The Beeb noted “The instruction, in an email sent on 4 March, was circulated just 24 hours before Mr Johnson accused pro-EU campaigners of trying to silence those arguing for Brexit who he claimed were being ‘crushed by the agents of Project Fear’”.

And it got worse: we now hear that “Boris Johnson says a memo instructing his senior staff to back him over the EU referendum has been withdrawn”. So how does Bozza explain that? “Nobody has been gagged, I was only made aware of this edict very late last night and it ceased to be operative as soon as I was made aware of it”. Cripes chaps!

Would Sir care to dig himself in a little deeper? “All I can say is it obviously hasn't been operative because my advisory team take a very different view from me … it's a cock-up and not something I agree with”. The offending memo had been “wiped from the pages of history”. Except that it hasn’t, as the BBC has published a copy of it.

Once again, Bozza has been caught shambling badly. He is a complete clown.