Boris Johnson compared the Irish border to Camden and Islington – our favourite 19 responses online
Boris Johnson confused people even more than he usually does today when he compared the challenge of avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland to the boundaries between different boroughs of London.
The future of the Irish border has loomed large in the Brexit negotiations with the UK planning to leave the EU’s customs union but without physical checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Here’s what Johnson told Radio 4 today.
“There’s no border between Camden and Westminster.”
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the Northern Irish border debate #r4today pic.twitter.com/UMDixRaoji
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 27, 2018
And if you can’t bear to him speak, here’s what he had to say.
“We think that we can have very efficient facilitation systems to make sure that there’s no need for a hard border, excessive checks at the frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
“There’s no border between Islington or Camden and Westminster… but when I was mayor of London we anaesthetically and invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from the accounts of people travelling between those two boroughs without any need for border checks whatever.”
“It’s a very relevant comparison because there’s all sorts of scope for pre-booking, electronic checks, all sorts of things that you can do to obviate the need for a hard border to allow us to come out of the customs union, take back control of our trade policy and do trade deals.”
And here’s what everyone else had to say in response, our favourite replies online today.
1.
— Joey Millar (@JoeyMillar) February 27, 2018
2.
Did our Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson really just compare the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the border between Camden and Islington on @BBCr4today just now? God help us all this isn’t just stupidity and ignorance but wilful recklessness #r4today
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 27, 2018
3.
Central London post-Brexit pic.twitter.com/xUzHOg5fjU
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) February 27, 2018
4.
Parallel universe where Boris gets treated with the respect he deserves pic.twitter.com/QiHaEXf3pF
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) February 27, 2018
5.
It’s not an act. Boris Johnson really is stupid https://t.co/axrHqVzfAj
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) February 27, 2018
6.
Islington Community Council holds press conference following Foreign Secretary’s inflammatory remarks pic.twitter.com/MR7y8LKYe6
— Chris Deerin (@chrisdeerin) February 27, 2018
7.
We're building a wall and Haringey is going to pay for it https://t.co/FQtKJc4vad
— Stuart Millar (@stuartmillar159) February 27, 2018
8.
Nobody wants to see this again on the Camden / Islington border. pic.twitter.com/SzjIGIjloB
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) February 27, 2018
9.
When I was a young boy we were told to stay away from the Troubles on the Caledonian Rd & marching bands in Regent's Park. The Chalk Farm Peace Agreement has brought peace in our time. People can get the tube from Camden Town to Finsbury Park without being searched at the border. https://t.co/Mok7Byylju
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 27, 2018
10.
Tensions escalating at the Camden – Islington border pic.twitter.com/sgX3D4e8xU
— Ciarán McGonagle (@cpmcgonagle) February 27, 2018