UK prime ministerial hopeful Boris Johnson brandished smoked fish as he pointed the finger at what he slammed as EU bureaucracy during final leg of his leadership campaign on Wednesday.
Waving the plastic-wrapped fish, he told the audience of Tory members, “I want you to consider this kipper”.
It “has been presented to me just now by the editor of a national newspaper, who received it from a kipper smoker in the Isle of Man who is utterly furious because, after decades of sending kippers like this through the post, he has had his costs massively increased by Brussels bureaucrats who have insisted that each kipper must be accompanied by a plastic ice pillow”, Johnson said.
He described the demand as “pointless, expensive, [and] environmentally-damaging health and safety”.
Johnson also pledged that when the UK exits from the EU, “we will not only be able to take back control of our regulatory framework and end this damaging regulatory overkill, but we will also be able to do things to boost Britain’s economy, which leads the worlds in so many sectors”.
Most Twitter users immediately made fun of Johnson’s remarks, pointing to the fact that the Isle of Man is neither in the UK nor in the EU.
Johnson’s trying to stitch us all up like a kipper...
— Ed Davey MP 🔶 (@EdwardJDavey) 17 июля 2019 г.
Last time I checked, the Isle of Man wasn’t in the EU.
Isle of Man is not,n never been part of United Kingdom,nor is it part of the https://t.co/MrzrqAgZSP is not represented at Westminster or in Brussels.Island is self-governing British Crown Dependency,as r Jersey n Guernsey in Channel Islands,wiv own parliament,government n laws🐰
— Fred aka RogueNinjaS 🇪🇺 (@FredNGingaBuns) 17 июля 2019 г.
What a clueless pillock @BorisJohnson The Isle of Man is not, and never has been, part of the United Kingdom, nor is it part of the European Union. It is not represented at Westminster or in Brussels.
— Welshexpatynyralmaen (@cymro69) 17 июля 2019 г.
— Martin Davies #RevokeArticle50 (@martindvz) 18 июля 2019 г.
The Isle of Man is not in EU & so how will UK leaving the EU change anything?
— Wrexham For Europe #FBPE (@Wrexhamforeu) 17 июля 2019 г.
As Isle of Man is not in the EU, Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Semper Infidelis Johnson is showing us how much more onerous it will be for the UK after #Brexit, when we will be treated as a 'Third Country' with no special access as we currently enjoy as full EU member. He's smoked!
— Philip C James (@PhilipCJames) 18 июля 2019 г.
What HAS Boris been smoking? Lately, it's kippers
— Philip C James (@PhilipCJames) 18 июля 2019 г.
Recall how #Tories scrapped red tape stopping carcass renderers from rendering cattle at too-low temperatures and feeding them to their fellow cows
Saved them £100millions; cost UK £billions from Mad Cow Disease & human variant
Do you not think you should point out that the Isle of Man isn’t in the EU?
— CarolineJMolloy (@carolinejmolloy) 17 июля 2019 г.
Red herring. And he's waving it around like the brass-necked bus. Still nobody sees through him.
— chrisgray Revocation Fleet #FBPE (@CpmGray) 17 июля 2019 г.
The Isle of Man is not in the EU, or the UK. It chose to comply with EU regulations Protocol 30 on Customs so it can trade into the Single Market. Rule taker not maker. More than one kipper on that stage.
— DemocracyFightsBack #FBPE#PeoplesVote #endthechaos (@back_fights) 18 июля 2019 г.
“What HAS Boris been smoking? Lately, it's kippers”, one user wondered in his Twitter post, while another described the whole think as a “red herring” and “pointless posturing from Boris Johnson”.
During the hustings, the 55-year-old drew applause from the audience after he described himself as “absolutely“ a feminist.
“A feminist is somebody who believes fundamentally in the equality of human beings and the equality of the sexes. That’s what I believe”, Johnson pointed out.
He is now competing with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt for the premiership, in the wake of Theresa May’s move to resign following her failure to resolve the Brexit gridlock. A new British PM is due to be announced on 23 July.
