Britain’s top envoy anything but diplomatic

“His view was that post-Brexit and after the negotiations, what he really wants to see.is more Britain overseas, a greater global profile”. Johnson, a leading figure in the campaign for Brexit, has a history of using undiplomatic language about global figures including U.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom he once likened to “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.

Former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson’s appointment as Foreign Secretary has provoked astonishment at Westminster and around the globe. Ayrault, Johnson said, had “sent me a very charming letter” after his appointment.

“After a vote like the referendum result on June 23, it’s inevitable that there is going to be a certain amount of plaster coming off the ceilings in the chancelleries of Europe”, Johnson said.

Boris Johnson is a Conservative British politician famous for some decidedly undiplomatic utterances.

The French foreign minister has accused Boris Johnson, now his counterpart in the United Kingdom, of lying “a lot” while he was a leader for the Leave campaign.

“I don’t have any doubt about Boris Johnson”, Jean-Marc Ayrault said during an interview with French radio Europe 1.

He said France needed a negotiating partner who was credible and reliable.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said he could not believe Johnson will now represent Britain overseas.

Johnson disappeared from public view in the days after last month’s shocking referendum result in favour of a British exit from the European Union and instead played cricket at a friend’s country estate. While the former London mayor has expressed considerable admiration for the US over the years, he has also lit into American political leaders President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

She said Russia would not however miss Philip Hammond, Johnson’s predecessor as foreign secretary, who often robustly criticised Russian foreign policy.

She also cleared out rivals, firing stalwarts of former British prime minister David Cameron’s administration, including secretary of culture John Whittingdale, secretary of education Nicky Morgan and – most significantly – secretary of justice Michael Gove, her onetime competitor for the job of Conservative leader.

Juergen Hardt, the foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party in parliament, yesterday said that many British suggestions on the country’s future relationship with the European Union are “unworkable”.

Johnson’s role in Britain’s negotiations over its future relationship with the European Union is likely to be limited because May is expected to create a new ministerial post focused exclusively on Brexit issues. I mean, she represents, on the face of it, everything I came into politics to oppose: “not just a general desire to raise taxes and nationalise things, but an all-round purse-lipped political correctness”.

So why on earth did Theresa May, the UK’s new, no-nonsense prime minister, name him to the top diplomatic post in the country?

There was also the unlikeliness of making Johnson – who has a history of insulting foreign leaders and overseas gaffes – Britain’s chief diplomat.

Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, now the leading federalist liberal in the European Parliament, summed up the feelings of many on the continent when he tweeted: “Clearly British humour has no borders”.

“I wish it was a joke, but I fear it isn’t”. I think Theresa May wants to make sure that one of the main Brexit campaigners is taking responsibility for the campaign and for Brexit, and I think it’s a strategic move that it’s better to have him inside the Cabinet than outside.