Boris Johnson urged to ‘consider his position’ after ‘crass, poorly-judged and insensitive’ joke about Libya as PM’s deputy demands he use ‘careful’ language
Foreign Secretary has doubled down on his comment that Sirte could become ‘the next Dubai’ once they ‘clear the dead bodies’
BORIS Johnson has been urged to apologise for his “crass, poorly-judged and insensitive” joke about Libya as he faces calls to be sacked as Foreign Secretary.
The Prime Minister’s deputy has also demanded he be “careful in our use of language”, saying it was not a “sensitive” thing to say.
But Mr Johnson has refused to back down over the controversial comments - laying into his critics for “playing politics” in a Twitter tirade.
The row began when the Cabinet minister spoke at a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference last night, and was asked what he thought of Libya after his recent visit.
He told a room full of activists that: “It's an incredible country, beautiful white sands, beautiful seas, Caesars Palace - the real one - incredible place.
“It's got real potential. Young people who want to do all sorts of tech stuff. There is a group of UK business people, wonderful guys, who want to invest in Sirte on the coast, near where Gaddafi was captured."
He then added: “They literally have a vision to turn Sirte into the next Dubai - the only thing they have got to do is clear the dead bodies away and then they will be there.”
The room burst into nervous laughter before the host intervened to move the debate on - but straight away it led to calls for him to resign as Foreign Secretary by his own Tory colleagues.
Heidi Allen, the MP for South Cambridgeshire, said the remark was “100 per cent unacceptable” adding: “Boris must be sacked for this. He does not represent my party.”
And Anna Soubry, MP for Broxtowe, added: “As I said yesterday Boris Johnson is embarrassing and PM should sack him.”
Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said he was “unbelievably crass, callous and cruel”, saying “there comes a time when the buffoonery needs to stop”.
This morning another Tory colleague Sarah Wollaston called on him to “consider his position” after the comments.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was “crass, poorly-judged and insensitive”, and the minister should “unequivocally apologise”.
But Mr Johnson was unrepentant overnight, posting on social media just before midnight his anger at the way the joke had been reported.
He wrote: “Shame people with no knowledge or understanding of Libya want to play politics with the appallingly dangerous reality in Sirte.
“The reality there is that the clearing of corpses of Daesh fighters has been made much more difficult by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and booby traps.
“That's why Britain is playing a key role in reconstruction and why I have visited Libya twice this year in support.”
But he was ordered to be more “sensitive” in his use of language by Theresa May’s number two Damian Green.
The First Secretary of State went on a media round this morning ahead of the PM’s big speech to Tory delegates but it was overshadowed by the row over Mr Johnson, as has much of the conference week.
He told Sky News “we should all be careful in our use of language”, and repeated the phrase in several more interviews.
When pushed further on Radio 5Live he said it was “not an acceptable - not a sensitive use of language”, and on Today he added “lessons need to be learned” from the row.
But he refused to be drawn on whether Mr Johnson should apologise, saying his colleague was an "expert" on Libya and was trying to make a serious point.
A spokesman for Number 10 also slapped Boris down, saying: "The First Secretary of State said this morning that politicians should be careful with their choice of words and the PM would echo that sentiment.
“We did not feel it was an appropriate choice of words."
