The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Boris Johnson apologises to London Irish community

Mayor says his comments in the New Statesman were exploited to suggest he had anti-Irish fe

By Samira Shackle Published 13 March 2012 12:40

Boris Johnson, no stranger to gaffes, is well-practiced in the art of laughing off any offence caused. However, the mayor's buffoon act did not deflect his comments about London Irish community in last month's New Statesman, and he has now apologised.

Interviewed by Jemima Khan, Johnson made this throwaway remark:

"I'll tell you what makes me angry -- lefty crap," he thunders in response. Like? "Well, like spending £20,000 on a dinner at the Dorchester for Sinn Fein!"

As my colleague Mehdi Hasan pointed out, this was not founded in fact:

Is the mayor referring to the annual St Patrick's Day Gala Dinner, the £150-per-ticket black tie event that ran between 2002 and 2008 and was, ahem, self-financing? The dinner that Boris cancelled in 2009 to save money despite the fact that it was, um, er, self-financing? The dinner that wasn't held "for Sinn Fein" but at the request, and for the sake, of the Irish community of Kilburn, Cricklewood and other parts of the capital?

The remarks triggered a strong reaction among the Irish community. The front page of the Irish Post proclaimed "Boris: your attitude stinks".

Now, a month later and struggling to get ahead in the polls, Johnson has apologised for any offence caused. He told the Irish Independent: "I am profoundly sorry if I have offended any Irish person." He added: "I hope that people will see I was making a point about cost cutting."

The mayor's office has also released a letter send to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith to clarify his position. In it, he says that his comments were exploited to suggest he had anti-Irish feelings, saying that this was "deeply upsetting". In a rather non-apologetic apology, he said:

Although I note that the guests of honour at the 2008 St Patrick's Day dinner were Martin McGuinness and Pat Doherty, these were not dinners for Sinn Fein and, of course, I make absolutely no assumptions about the political allegiances of those who attended the dinners.

He makes no mention of the fact that the dinner included Irish public figures from across the spectrum, with a guestlist including Bob Geldof, Dermot O'Leary, the mayor of Dublin and the Irish ambassador to the UK.

In a classic Johnson move, he emphasised his apology for the "unintended offence that I may have given" with the gag: "Mayoral culpa, mayoral maxima culpa." One wonders whether this will be enough to undo the damage done by his reiteration of the old stereotype that all Irish people are Provos.

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Tags: London Mayoral Race 2012 Boris Johnson

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29 comments

Tue, 2012-03-13 19:26 — demonax3

Bit heavy on the racial slurs this Blonde Beast.

Tue, 2012-03-13 19:28 — seanyprawny (not verified)

@Mr D

Neither have you. While I failed to detect any irony in your comment, I can't help but smell the bullsh*t in your defence of it. I think you should admit that you got it wrong and apologise to David Wearing like the gentleman your parents hoped you'd grow up to be. x

Tue, 2012-03-13 19:58 — Mr Danger

I'll admit it is quite subtle, so no surprise you missed it.

Boris used the expression in imitation of Labour's patronising attitude to Africans, in other words he was putting the words in other people's mouths. By quoting Boris out of context, Wearing carries on a long and proud Labour tradition of deliberately misrepresenting the quote.

I turned the tables by misrepresenting David's use of the quote the same way he misrepresented Boris. This is the irony you missed.

Of course all of this is in defense of Ken Livingston, who says the Conservative party is "riddled" with homosexuals, which is of course an offensive thing to say. I myself don't believe Ken is homophobic (he just hangs out with people who are), but its funny that the left thinks they have a permit to say that kind of thing, while at the same time castigating Boris for a quote they need to misrepresent to begin with.

Tue, 2012-03-13 21:17 — Teacher Dan (not verified)

I can't believe some of the comments on this wall! It's not about Londoners being interested in Sinn Fein, Boris Johnson has insulted the most important immigrant group to this capital and indeed the largest. The Irish built the roads, drains and tunnels of the is great capital pritty much single handedly whilst enduring discrimination and blatant ill treatment by the natives. For some you (Mr. Danger, Stuart and MacDonald) to flippently dismiss Johnson's clear disrespect, stereotyping and racsim is absolutely disgusting - all just to engage in some political point scoring agaisnt Ken Livingstone. The fact of the matter is is that every London Irish person I know will not be voting blue on election day and he has effectively alienated 1 in 10 of the people in London. His apology is too little too late and a clear move to attempt to maximise his position in the polls - the damage has been done. What makes it worse is that he is refusing to attend the celebrations which is tactless considering the contributions of the Irish community to London and indeed the UK.

Tue, 2012-03-13 22:34 — reddeviljp

What a racist dick Johnson is.His old right wing attitudes towards the Irish are nothing new from him but to perceive every London-Irish gathering as a front for Sinn Fein is beyond the pale.Time's up for the Bullingdon Tory boy.

Tue, 2012-03-13 23:10 — Mr Danger

"For some you (Mr. Danger, Stuart and MacDonald) to flippently dismiss Johnson's clear disrespect, stereotyping and racsim is absolutely disgusting"

Who flippantly dismissed it? You deserved an apology and you got it.

Mon, 2012-03-19 18:08 — Des Demona (not verified)

It would be quicker to write an article about who this buffoon hasn't offended.

Wed, 2012-03-14 00:31 — Gravvers (not verified)

Samira, you and Jemima really should go and start a student paper. You seem incapable of grown up, reasoned debate. What next, insult Ken Clarke because he's fat? Silly little girls.

Thu, 2012-03-15 21:41 — matthew fox (not verified)

BoJo apologises for his mistakes, ha hah hee hee.

It seems Mr Danger hasn't heard of Petronella Wyatt or Anna Fazackerley.

Thu, 2012-03-15 21:57 — matthew fox (not verified)

24 carat Boris Johnson

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4012409.stm

Tue, 2012-03-13 12:43 — Mr Danger

So to make it clear, BoJo apologises for his mistakes, Ken defiantly evades taxes and tells everyone to get stuffed.

Wed, 2012-03-14 01:34 — used to like non-muslims (not verified)

Why does anybody in London care about Sinn Fein? In case they get upset, revert into a paramilitary and decide to start bombing us again?

Tue, 2012-03-13 12:56 — New statesman

"The remarks triggered a strong reaction in Ireland, where the front page of the Irish Post proclaimed "Boris: your attitude stinks"."

The Irish Post, being a paper for the Irish in Britain, is published in London, not Ireland.

Tue, 2012-03-13 12:59 — David Wearing1

Personally, I was never comfortable with having a casual racist as mayor of an international, cosmopolitan city. These aren't "gaffes" but reflections of who Johnson is: a thoughtless, conceited, right-wing air-head. His charactersitically flippant non-apologies only underline the contempt he has for the targets of his childish little jibes. "Watermelon smiles", anyone?

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:16 — Alex MacDonald (not verified)

Slagging off Sinn Fein...that's not going to sit well with London voters...

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:28 — CitizenSix (not verified)

Running a limited liability company isn't tax avoidance.

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:31 — frances smith (not verified)

the root of these types of prejudices is usually fear, i wonder what boris is scared of?

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:32 — Samira Shackle (not verified)

Thanks Marc - have amended that!

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:41 — Mr Danger

"Watermelon smiles", anyone?"

Typical Labour racist comment. All right for you though isn't it?

Tue, 2012-03-13 13:42 — Mr Danger

"Running a limited liability company isn't tax avoidance."

It is tax avoidance. It isn't tax evasion. And he did more than just run a LLC.

Tue, 2012-03-13 14:57 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Couldn't agree more Mr Danger, good old Red Ken right up there with the Bankers but it doesn't warrant space on here, lets' bash a baby face tory instead is about par for the course!

Wed, 2012-03-14 10:50 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Whats this? Teacher Dan, are you accusing me of being a racist, you silly chip on shoulder person. I was merely agreeing with Mr Danger that Ken Livingston needs to pay his taxes and stop accusing everyone he doesn't agree with of being a racist.

Ken Livingston is a good labour person in the mode of Tone and Peter, get over it!

Tue, 2012-03-13 15:15 — seanyprawny (not verified)

@Mr Danger
You do know that Boris was the orignal source of the "watermelon smiles" quote, don't you?

Tue, 2012-03-13 16:18 — Jeremy Doyle (not verified)

Prince Philip definately has a worthy contender !!

Tue, 2012-03-13 16:39 — Mr Danger

"You do know that Boris was the orignal source of the "watermelon smiles" quote, don't you?"

I do. You haven't figured out the irony?

Tue, 2012-03-13 16:52 — seanyprawny (not verified)

@Mr D
Sorry, I don't believe you intended to be ironic. If so, you failed.

Tue, 2012-03-13 17:45 — Mr Danger

You haven't even shown that you know what the irony is.

Tue, 2012-03-13 17:58 — Red Shift

Ideally we'd all be running LLCs and making a profit.

•Keep accounting records
•Produce audited accounts (if turnover > £5.6m)
•File accounts and an Annual Return with the Registrar of Companies. This information is available to the public.
•Keep Statutory Books.

I'm sure most big earners do!

How about someone from the Irish community standing for London Mayor.

Tue, 2012-03-13 19:11 — CitizenSix (not verified)

I'm sorry to make another entry on this slightly off-topic, but it's niggling me.

There are many reasons why running a small business is better than being a self-employed sole-trader, and tax is just one of them (and a doubtful one at that - income earned by a company belongs to the company and is taxed if it's profit; if the Directors then want it in their own bank account they have to pay tax on it themselves).

More important than that however is the limitation of liability especially if (as in Ken's company's case) you have employees or might be exposed to lawsuits.

Tax avoidance is when one's arrangements are legal, but solely designed to reduce tax *and-for-no-other-reason*. This isn't the case for Ken's company, and probably isn't for Boris', mine or many other people with more than one customer and an employee or two.