Johnson ran away. And even Kuenssberg’s excuses couldn’t defend him.

Boris Johnson's empty podium in Luxembourg
Fréa Lockley


Boris Johnson dodged a press conference in Luxemburg. The BBC‘s, allegedly impartial, political editor Laura Kuenssberg tried to defend him. But even that wasn’t enough to save his bacon.

Noisy up

On 16 September, Johnson was due to give a press conference with Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel. But Johnson failed to show up. He claimed the no-show was because:

there was clearly going to be a lot of noise and our points would have been drowned out.

Reportedly, a crowd had gathered shouting and booing the UK prime minister. Earlier in the day, Johnson was also jeered following a meeting with EU president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Unfazed by this, as the EU Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt wryly noted, Bettel still showed up:

But Kuenssberg stepped in to defend Johnson:

So people swiftly challenged Kuenssberg’s defence:

Yet the right-wing press wasn’t far behind in defending Johnson:

And as another BBC journalist noted, protests didn’t stop other Conservative prime ministers:

“Brave sir Boris ran away”

Elsewhere, people’s response to Johnson’s no-show has been quite simply delicious. In his short time in office, the PM’s set himself up for some perfect takedowns.

In July, crowds in Scotland shouted “wanker” as Johnson met SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. Instead of facing them again, he snuck out of Bute House via the back door. In a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday, Johnson referred to himself as the ‘Incredible Hulk‘. Meanwhile, right-wing papers labelled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a “chicken“.

So Twitter turned on Johnson and the hashtags #BackDoorBoris #IncredibleSulk and #ChickenJohnson started trending:

As some noted, Johnson also failed to show up to debates during the Conservative leadership contest:

Others, meanwhile, took aim at his Conservative cronies:

Johnson’s behaviour creates perfect fodder for satire and full-scale piss-taking. But behind this, let’s not forget that he’s appointed a terrifyingly right-wing government, closed parliament at a crucial time and is marching the UK ever closer to a disastrous no-deal Brexit. So when the supposedly impartial Kuenssberg steps up to defend Johnson’s inability to attend a simple press conference, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Because it simply reflects the state we’re in.

Featured image via YouTube – Guardian News

We need your help ...

The coronavirus pandemic is changing our world, fast. And we will do all we can to keep bringing you news and analysis throughout. But we are worried about maintaining enough income to pay our staff and minimal overheads.

Now, more than ever, we need a vibrant, independent media that holds the government to account and calls it out when it puts vested economic interests above human lives. We need a media that shows solidarity with the people most affected by the crisis – and one that can help to build a world based on collaboration and compassion.

We have been fighting against an establishment that is trying to shut us down. And like most independent media, we don’t have the deep pockets of investors to call on to bail us out.

Can you help by chipping in a few pounds each month?

The Canary Support us

Related articles