'Aimless, feckless, hopeless': Eddie Mair explores Boris Johnson's writing career
11 January 2022, 19:09 | Updated: 16 January 2022, 09:01
Eddie Mair searches Boris Johnson's writings to describe partygate
Eddie Mair took a dive into the Prime Minister's written work to see if he's published anything that could summarise the situation he is in.
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Following a day of serious criticism of the Prime Minister amid the news of a Downing Street drinks party, Eddie Mair thought of an alternative way to approach the topic.
"Boris Johnson's had the benefit of a very expensive education" Eddie Mair observed, pointing out the PM is a scholar of Ancient Greek.
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Eddie did some outside work to "see is there any word in [Boris Johnson's] lexicon" to describe the situation he finds himself in as partygate embroils the Prime Minister in yet another scandal.
He decided to look and see if there was "anything he's said about other people that would apply to how he is today".
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"Could we describe him as a tank-topped bumboy? Well no, you should never describe anyone that way."
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Eddie then wondered if a 2004 comment on Liverpudlians could be used to explain the situation: "Could we say that he's hooked on grief? No, we couldn't."
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He noted however that "there's been a lot of grief in this country during his handling of the pandemic."
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"Could we call him a bank robber? What about a letterbox?"
He finished the observation with what he thought may have been the best description.
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In 1995 when writing about blue-collar or working-class men, he had this to say. You tell me if you think this applies to Boris Johnson."
"He is likely to be drunk, criminal, aimless, feckless and hopeless.
"You tell me."
