Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Theresa May 'loses credibility after 90 minutes as Prime Minister' for Boris Johnson appointment

Boris Johnson has been appointed Ms May's new foreign secretary

Caroline Mortimer
Thursday 14 July 2016 08:29 BST
Comments
(Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Liberal Democrats have denounced the decision to appoint Boris Johnson as foreign secretary - saying Theresa May has "lost credibility after 90 minutes as Prime Minister".

The party, which has pledged to campaign on a platform of remaining in the EU at the next election, said the appointment showed Ms May was "not serious" about negotiating a deal with with Europe and the rest of the world.

A party statement highlighted some of Mr Johnson's more colourful recent exchanges with world leaders during the EU referendum - such as comparing EU leaders to the Nazis and referring to Barack Obama as "part-Kenyan".

May's new cabinet

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: “I cannot believe that Boris Johnson is now going to be the person to represent Britain abroad.

"Presumably Boris Johnson's first act as Foreign Secretary will be to apologise to the President of the United States, and then the leaders of our European partners.

"At this incredibly important time that will determine Britain’s economic and cultural relations with Europe, it is extraordinary that the new Prime Minister has chosen someone whose career is built on making jokes."

Mr Johnson's appointment is one of several key appointments for members of the Vote Leave campaign.

David Davis and Liam Fox also got two new roles to facilitate Brexit - the secretaries of state for leaving the European Union and international trade respectively.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Johnson said he was "very humble, very proud to be offered this chance".

He said: "I think Theresa made a wonderful speech this afternoon about her ambitions for the country and how she saw the Conservative government taking Britain forward.

"Clearly now we have a massive opportunity in this country to make a great success of our new relationship with Europe and with the world; and I'm very excited to be asked to play a part in that."

When asked if he planned to apologise to any world leaders for his comments in the past he said the US would be "at the front of the queue".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in