Boris Johnson accused of 'playing on his phone' as Theresa May delivered first major speech to UN

'So this is not the time to turn away from our UN. It is the time to turn towards it'

Theresa May struggles to keep her audience interested during first major speech at UN General Assembly, Tuesday 20 September 2016 in New York (UNTV)

Boris Johnson has been accused of playing with his phone instead of listening to the Prime Minister’s first major address at the opening of the 71st UN General Assembly.

Theresa May’s speech to the UN touched on a range of lofty and pressing concerns; the threat of global terrorism, an international refugee crisis the size of the entire UK population, and a commitment that Britain would not shy away from the world just because it voted to leave the EU.

But despite the severity of her subject matter, not everyone in the audience at the General Assembly in New York found the speech completely gripping.

Live video streamed from the hall cut away a number of times to the UK delegation, and each time the Foreign Secretary was seen clutching his mobile phone, only occasionally looking up to take in what was happening around him.

It could be put down to unfortunate timing on the part of the TV cameras - except The Independent’s correspondent at the UN on Tuesday also noted Mr Johnson “spent much of the speech sending messages on his phone”.

Viewers of the address took to Twitter, and they were unimpressed by Mr Johnson’s performance.

In a long session of addresses by world leaders, each allocated around 20 minutes, Ms May was not the only speaker who struggled to maintain the interest of her audience.

But she did pledge hundreds of millions of pounds to help fight international terrorism, while stressing the importance of helping people displaced by conflict to find aid, education and employment.

She condemned the air strike on a UN aid convoy in Syria which killed multiple aid workers and has put the US-Russian ceasefire in jeopardy.

And she stressed the important contribution made by British troops abroad, particularly in Somalia, where they are supporting local forces to fight established militant groups.

“So this is not the time to turn away from our United Nations. It is the time to turn towards it,” she concluded.