The Twittersphere i reportedly outraged by rumors that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has nominated his father Stanley for a knighthood.
A broadsheet daily newspaper reported on Monday that author and environmental activist Stanley Johnson's name had been put forward for the list.
The report was not confirmed by his son's spokesman, who merely said: "We don't comment on honors."
Opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, who Johnson ridiculed every week at Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament, called the report "outrageous."
"The idea that Boris Johnson is nominating his dad for a knighthood — you only need to say it to realize just how ridiculous it is," Starmer complained. "It's classic of a man like Johnson. I mean, I think the public will just think this is absolutely outrageous."
Johnson was previously accused of nepotism when he recommended his younger brother Jo for a peerage in the 2019 honors list after he stepped down as MP for Orpington and a junior minister in his brother's cabinet in protest at BoJo's plan to finalize Britain's exit from the European Union. He now sits in the House of Lords as Lord Johnson of Marylebone.
Left-wing and liberal Twitter users were quick to vent their rage at Johnson, who remains a hate-figure to opponents of Brexit.
One called him a hypocrite for promoting severe population control after fathering four children, including the famously fecund BoJo.
Another pointed to his response in a TV interview to a viewer comparing his son to Pinocchio, saying: "That requires a degree of literacy which I think the Great British public doesn't necessarily have."
Some stressed the allegations made against the elder Johnson over the years, including that he beat his first wife Charlotte — the former PM's mother — and that he slapped Tory MP Caroline Noakes on the bottom at the 2003 Conservative Party conference in Blackpool.
An angry tweet about unconfirmed reports former British prime minister Boris Johnson has nominated his own father for a knighthood
An angry tweet about unconfirmed reports former British prime minister Boris Johnson has nominated his own father for a knighthood.