Thread by @MirrorPolitics

Boris Johnson will become Britain's Prime Minister today.

To mark the occasion, here's 37 lies, gaffes and scandals that make him unfit for the job. #wearewatchingyouboris #BorisLieBuster

1️⃣ The Times sacked Boris in 1988 for making up a quote in a front-page story.

Rather than admit his lie, Mr Johnson wrote a further story saying “the mystery had deepened”.
#wearewatchingyouboris #BorisLieBuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣ When he was sacked for lying about an affair.

By 2004, now MP for Henley, Boris was sacked as Tory vice chair and Shadow Arts Minister after it was decided he had lied about an affair with a journalist.
#WeAreWatchingYouBoris #BorisLieBuster
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3️⃣ When he discussed having a journalist beaten up.

Boris asked an Eton pal looking for contact details of a journalist "how badly are you going to hurt this guy?" before saying "OK, I'll do it".
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

4️⃣ When he endangered a British mum jailed in Iran.

Boris wrongly told MPs the mum, held in Iran on spying charges, was 'teaching people journalism'. Four days later, she was threatened with five more years in jail.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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5️⃣ When he called black people 'piccaninnies'.

Boris branded black people ‘piccaninnies’ with ‘watermelon smiles’ in 2002. He later defended his comments, branding them 'wholly satirical'.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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6️⃣ When he mocked Muslim women as 'letterboxes'.

In 2018, Boris said it was “absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letterboxes".
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

Sticking with number 6️⃣, Boris also said any female student who turned up to school "looking like a bank robber" should be asked to remove their face covering.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster

7️⃣ When he used racist terms to describe Barack Obama.

Boris claimed a bust of Churchill was removed from the Oval Office, remarking: “Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan President's ancestral dislike of the British Empire."

#wearewatchingyouboris #BorisLieBuster

Barack Obama - who was born in the US - revealed he had actually moved the bust to a prime spot outside his private office, saying: "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy."
#wearewatchingyouboris #BorisLieBuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

8️⃣ When he propagated the £350m-a-week Brexit lie.

He rode a bus with the banner “Let’s give our NHS the £350million the EU takes every week". When it was debunked, he continued to use the figure for over a year.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

9️⃣ When he said Turkey was joining the EU - then lied about it.

In a BBC debate Boris said: “Last time I looked the government wants to accelerate Turkish membership.” He later claimed he didn't say it.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣0️⃣ When he repeatedly ignored conflict-of-interest rules.

Boris Johnson broke rules on financial interests three times in less than a year. Parliament’s Standards Commissioner accused him of a 'lack of respect'.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣1️⃣ When he blew millions on his Garden Bridge ‘vanity project’.

As mayor, Boris Johnson backed a failed plan for a “floating paradise” across the River Thames that blew £43million of public money.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣2️⃣ When he wasted £300,000 on illegal water cannon

Again, as London mayor he paid £322,000 for three second-hand water cannon devices after the 2014 riots. Their use was ruled illegal and they were sold for scrap.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣3️⃣ When his expensive buses became a ‘saunas on wheels'.

Boris' ‘New Routemaster’ buses cost £325,000 a pop. They had to be retrofitted with openable windows due to the stifling conditions on board.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣4️⃣ When he had a blazing row with his partner in her flat.

A neighbour said he heard the words 'get off me' during a shouting match between Boris and his 31-year-old girlfriend. The police were called.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣5️⃣ When we didn’t know how many children he has (and still don’t).

It seems more like a row from the Victorian era, but we have a Prime Minister who refuses to say how many children he has.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣6️⃣ When he called gay men 'tank-topped bum boys'.

In a 1998 column about Peter Mandelson's resignation, Johnson said it would lead to the blubbing of “tank-topped bum boys" in "the Ministry of Sound" nightclub.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣7️⃣ When he made a glib remark about ‘dead bodies' in Libya.

Then-Foreign Secretary Boris was slammed in 2017 for saying the Libyan city of Sirte had a bright future - as soon as they "clear the dead bodies away".
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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1️⃣8️⃣ When he recited a colonial-era poem in Myanmar.

In 2017, Boris recited a poem in Myanmar's capital Yangon which described the nostalgia of a retired serviceman looking back on his colonial service.

#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

1️⃣9️⃣ When he boasted about whisky in a Sikh temple.

Boris was berated at a Sikh temple for talking about whisky exports to India – despite alcohol being forbidden in the faith.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣0️⃣ When he wrote a dirty limerick about Turkey’s President and a goat.

It began: “There was a young fellow from Ankara, Who was a terrific w***erer", and got worse from there.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣1️⃣ When he insulted the entire city of Liverpool.

Boris was forced to visit Liverpool to apologise in 2004 after he blamed fans for Hillsborough - and accused citizens of “wallowing in victim status”.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣2️⃣ When he insulted the entire country of Papua New Guinea.

He wrote in the Telegraph: "For 10 years we in the Tory Party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing."
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣3️⃣ When he said Africa needs its old Colonial powers to come back.

In a column he said: "The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction."
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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2️⃣4️⃣ When he claimed money probing child abuse was 'spaffed up a wall'.

Boris said: "£60 million I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse."
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣5️⃣ When he tried to dodge questions over using cocaine.

He refused to give a straight answer for years. At one point he said he was given cocaine but “may have been doing icing sugar” and it did not go up his nose.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣6️⃣ When he ‘made up’ a story about small Italian penises.

In 1991, Boris wrote for the Telegraph claiming EU chiefs had rejected Italian demands for a smaller minimum condom width. It was dismissed as 'bulls***'.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣7️⃣ When he enraged Italy with a threat about Prosecco.

Boris angered Italy in 2016 by threatening to stop buying Prosecco in a bad Brexit deal.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣8️⃣ When he called the French ‘turds’ who ‘shafted Britain'.

BBC were reported to have removed the slur, but Boris refused to deny making it, saying with a grin: “I have no recollection of this comment.”
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

2️⃣9️⃣ When he compared the EU to Adolf Hitler.

Boris said they both wanted a united Europe. He refused to apologise over what he called an “artificial media twit storm”.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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3️⃣0️⃣ When he proclaimed ‘f*** business’.

Boris Johnson ranted “f*** business” over Brexit at a reception to mark the Queen's birthday.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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3️⃣1️⃣ When he allegedly said ‘f*** the families’ of the 7/7 bombings.

The alleged outburst came when he was Mayor of London and being briefed about the cost of inquests into the 2005 London terror attacks.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

3️⃣2️⃣ When he derailed a visit to the Middle East.

Boris prompted a diplomatic storm in 2015 during a trip to Israel after he denounced calls for a boycott of the Middle Eastern country over its treatment of Palestinians.
#WeAreWatchingYouBoris
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3️⃣3️⃣ When he branded Hillary Clinton a ‘sadistic mental health nurse’

“She's got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.”
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

3️⃣4️⃣ When he cosied up to a President he called ‘unfit to rule’.

He previously said Trump was "clearly out of his mind", "stupefyingly ignorant", "unfit to be President" and "playing the game of terrorists".
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

3️⃣5️⃣ When he refused to back our Ambassador to the US.

Sir Kim Darroch quit after Mr Johnson failed to promise he could keep his job over leaked memos about the "inept" White House.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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3️⃣6️⃣ When he took a £20,000 flight to avoid scrutiny on Heathrow Airport.

He blew more than £20,000 of taxpayers’ cash on a visit to Kabul - conveniently timed to miss a Commons vote on expanding Heathrow Airport.
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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3️⃣7️⃣ When be branded his £250k-a-year pocket money ‘chicken feed’.

Millionaire Boris Johnson’s huge wealth has lead to claims he is out of touch with what ordinary Brits face...
#wearewatchingyouboris #borisliebuster
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