Top UK official on storm-ravaged Anguilla waves ‘good riddance’ to Boris Johnson
2 min read
A top official on a British protectorate devastated by storms last year has bid "good riddance" to Boris Johnson.
John McKendrick, the attorney general of Anguilla, said Mr Johnson was "the worst Foreign Secretary we’ve ever had".
Mr Johnson - who on Monday dramatically quit as Foreign Secretary over Brexit - paid a visit to the island in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which ravaged the UK's overseas territories last year, devastating infrastructure and claiming the life of one Anguilla resident.
As news of Mr Johnson's resignation from the Government broke, Mr McKendrick tore into the ex-Cabinet big beast on Twitter.
Sharing a picture of himself alongside the Tory heavyweight, Mr McKendrick said: "Meeting the worst Foreign Secretary we’ve ever had amongst the destruction of Hurricane Irma in Anguilla. Disinterested and out of his depth he cared nothing for our situation. Good riddance."
Mr McKendrick, who unsuccessfully stood for Labour in Scotland at the 2010 election, went on to defend his tirade as he came under fire from some social media users.
He hit back: "I’ll let you work on 'tone' when you’ve lived without running water or power for 3 months without much FCO concern. And for the people of Anguilla it was worse."
Mr Johnson's visit to Anguilla last year came amid questions over the speed of the Government's response to the major storms.
Ministers pledged £57m to help Anguilla, Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands recover from the effects of Irma, deploying hundreds of troops to help with the relief effort.
But MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee lamented the Foreign Office's lack of "an agreed, collaborative, international strategy ready to go" in a report published earlier this year.
On his visit to Anguilla, Mr Johnson praised the "incredible amount of tidying up" that had taken place, and said residents had suffered an "absolutely hellish experience".
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