Jeremy Corbyn calls for Boris Johnson to be sacked for 'damaging' Britain
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn has demanded Theresa May sack Boris Johnson for “undermining” the UK and putting its citizens at risk.
The Labour leader launched the fierce broadside after the Foreign Secretary made a major blunder that could leave a British mother locked up in Iran for ten years.
Mr Johnson has refused to apologise for telling the Foreign Affairs Committee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "teaching journalists" when she was detained in Iran 18-months ago.
Tehran has seized on the comments as proof against the claim she was on holiday and moved to increase her jail sentence from five years to ten.
It is just the latest diplomatic gaffe from Mr Johnson and came just weeks after he talked of clearing "dead bodies" in Libya to usher in investment.
In an statement to the Observer, Mr Corbyn argued the Tory heavyweight should never have been appointed to the Cabinet after his slurs about Barack Obama and comments about “flag-waving picaninnies”.
“After 16 months of the Foreign Secretary damaging Britain’s standing in the world, [Theresa May] should sack him,” he argued.
“His colonial throwback take on the world is completely out of step with the reality of our diverse and modern country and the views of our people.
“We should embrace the 21st century, not hanker after the 19th.”
Mr Corbyn added: “Britain’s top diplomat needs to be a leader in cultural sensitivity, but he repeatedly lets our country down…
“We’ve put up with him embarrassing and undermining our country through his incompetence and putting our citizens at risk for long enough.
“It’s time for Boris Johnson to go.”
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan this morning backed the Labour leader, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr: “I think he’s got to go… If Theresa May was a strong Prime Minister she would have sacked him a long time ago.”
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