Voltaire Network

Boris Johnson

Member of Parlament (2001-08; 2015-). Mayor of London (2008-16). Prime minister (since 2019).

22 articles

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Boris Johnson’s speech in Greenwich

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson's speech in Greenwich

London (United Kingdom) | 3 February 2020
It is great to welcome everyone here to Greenwich and I invite you first to raise your eyes to the heavens.
The Vatican has Michelangelo.
Greenwich has Thornhill who spent 20 years flat on his back on top of the scaffolding, so rigid that his arm became permanently wonky, and he’s left us this gorgeous and slightly bonkers symbolic scene that captures the spirit of the United Kingdom in the early 18th century.
This painting above you was started in 1707, the very year when the union with (...)

Boris Johnson letter to Donald Tusk

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson letter to Donald Tusk

London (United Kingdom) | 19 October 2019
DearDonald
It was good to see you again at the European Council this week where we agreed the historic new deal to permit the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31 October. I am deeply grateful to you, President Juncker and to all my fellow European leaders for the statesmanship and statecraft which enabled us to achieve this historic milestone. I should also register my appreciation for Michel Barnier and his team for their imagination and diplomacy as (...)

Boris Johnson’s letter to the House of Commons

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson's letter to the House of Commons

London (United Kingdom) | 28 August 2019
Dear Colleague,
I hope that you had an enjoyable and productive summer recess, with the opportunity for some rest ahead of the return of the House.
I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the Government’s plans for its business in Parliament.
As you know, for some time parliamentary business has been sparse. The current session has lasted more than 340 days and needs to be brought to a close — in almost 400 years only the 2010-12 session comes close, at 250 days. Bills have been (...)

Boris Johnson’s keynote speech at the Paris conference to fight against impunity for the use of chemical weapons

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson's keynote speech at the Paris conference to fight against impunity for the use of chemical weapons

Paris (France) | 25 May 2018
I’m grateful to the French Chair of the Partnership for convening this important meeting.
We gather at a moment when the rules that guarantee the security of every country – including the global ban on chemical weapons – are gravely imperilled.
Almost a century ago, the world united to prohibit the use of chemical weapons with the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
More recently, 165 countries have signed the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 and agreed never to develop, manufacture or stockpile (...)

Boris Johnson responds to reports of chemical weapons attack in Douma

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson responds to reports of chemical weapons attack in Douma

London (United Kingdom) | 8 April 2018
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:
Reports of a large scale chemical weapons attack in Douma on Saturday causing high numbers of casualties are deeply disturbing. It is truly horrific to think that many of the victims were reportedly families seeking refuge from airstrikes in underground shelters.
Despite Russia’s promise in 2013 to ensure Syria would abandon all of its chemical weapons, international investigators mandated by the UN Security Council have found the Asad regime (...)

Boris Johnson’s Mansion House speech at the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet 2018

by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson's Mansion House speech at the Lord Mayor's Easter Banquet 2018

London (United Kingdom) | 29 March 2018
My Lord Mayor, Your Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen.
I’m going to talk about Britain’s global role and our work with our allies around the world but I turn first to the events of this remarkable week because never before has there been a collective expulsion of Russian diplomats on the scale that we have seen over the last few days.
As I speak there are now 27 countries that have themselves taken the risk of kicking out people whose presence they deem to be no longer conducive to the (...)

West takes a stand to halt reckless ambitions

by Boris Johnson

West takes a stand to halt reckless ambitions

London (United Kingdom) | 27 March 2018
Never before have so many countries come together to expel Russian diplomats. By last night, the total stood at more than 20 nations collectively deciding to remove more than 100 Kremlin officials. In the process these allies of Britain have consciously placed themselves at risk of retaliation.
Their principled stand in the aftermath of the use of a nerve agent in Salisbury on March 4 may well carry a price, perhaps in the form of some of their own diplomats being removed from Moscow, so I (...)

Oral evidence from Boris Johnson at the House of Commons

by Boris Johnson

Oral evidence from Boris Johnson at the House of Commons

London (United Kingdom) | 21 March 2018
http://parliamentlive.tv/event/inde...

“Putin’s sinister threats and lies extend far beyond his own country”

by Boris Johnson

“Putin's sinister threats and lies extend far beyond his own country”

London (United Kingdom) | 20 March 2018
To understand why 3 people lie stricken in Salisbury, look at Vladimir Putin’s actions inside Russia.
Yesterday he was proclaimed the winner of an election that resembled a coronation, complete with a triumphant ceremony outside the walls of the Kremlin. Mr Putin’s leading opponent had obviously been banned from standing and an abundance of CCTV footage appeared to show election officials nonchalantly stuffing ballot boxes.
One loyal functionary in Siberia used balloons in Russia’s national (...)

Boris Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg Joint press point

by Boris Johnson, Jens Stoltenberg

Boris Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg Joint press point

Brussels (Belgium) | 19 March 2018
Jens Stoltenberg: [NATO Secretary General] : Foreign Secretary Johnson, my friend Boris,
Welcome to the NATO Headquarters and it’s really a pleasure to meet you today, here, and thank you also for updating me on the latest developments in the Salisbury investigation.
The attack in Salisbury was the first use of a nerve agent on Alliance territory.
It showed total disrespect for human lives.
And the attack was an unacceptable breach of international norms and rules.
NATO Allies have been (...)

Britain needs its allies to stand with us against Russia

by Boris Johnson

Britain needs its allies to stand with us against Russia

15 March 2018
We have a tradition in Britain that any town with a cathedral becomes a city. Salisbury won that title nearly 800 years ago, thanks to the magnificent cathedral that still dominates its streets.
So you can imagine Britain’s sense of revulsion – indeed of violation – over the fact that a tranquil medieval city has witnessed the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War II.
As I write, the principal target, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, are both in critical (...)

“I’ll Go to Jail to Print the Truth About Bush and Al-Jazeera”

by Boris Johnson

16 January 2006
The events don’t make things easier for those who, like me, optimistically supported the war on Iraq. We really believed in both the existence of Iraqi mass destruction weapons and the Pentagon’s plans to overthrow the dictator and restore peace to Iraq. But there weren’t mass destruction weapons and we saw an uprising that left tens of thousands of people dead. Some want the war to stop the use of chemical weapons against Iraqis once and for all and now phosphorus bombs are talked about (...)

“The French should give Giscard a rocket”

by Boris Johnson

31 May 2005
When we see the French opposing the new constitution, one wonders if it is a good text after all. The communists, trade unions and old Lefties are against it. For them, the text is shocking as they see it as an expression of neo-liberalism and “turbo-Thatcherism”. It speaks about internal market and free competition! Quelle horreur, sacre bleu et bien jamais , they say.
Here, in Great Britain, half of us are preparing to say No to the text because we think it means more obstacles and (...)

Most popular

Boris Johnson’s letter to the House of Commons

Boris Johnson’s speech in Greenwich

Boris Johnson letter to Donald Tusk

“I’ll Go to Jail to Print the Truth About Bush and Al-Jazeera”

Boris Johnson responds to reports of chemical weapons attack in Douma

Britain needs its allies to stand with us against Russia

“Putin’s sinister threats and lies extend far beyond his own country”

“The French should give Giscard a rocket”

Boris Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg Joint press point

Boris Johnson’s keynote speech at the Paris conference to fight against impunity for the use of chemical weapons

Boris Johnson’s Mansion House speech at the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet 2018

Oral evidence from Boris Johnson at the House of Commons

West takes a stand to halt reckless ambitions