BORIS Johnson needs to learn to say no to Donald Trump, former First Minister Alex Salmond has claimed.
The Gordon MP said Johnson was a “mini-me” of the crazed half-Scottish billionaire property tycoon who is now President of the United States of America.
Salmond’s criticism came after Johnson appeared to say he would send British forces into Syria if the Trump administration told him to. This, the Foreign Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, was also the view of Theresa May.
The prominent Brexiteer also said that could happen without parliamentary approval; comments Salmond described as “not only significant, they are also dangerous.”
Johnson told the Today programme that it would be “very difficult” to say no if Donald Trump asked the UK to join in with action against Bashar al-Assad “I think it will be very difficult if the United States has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack, and if they come to us and ask for our support, whether it’s with submarine-based cruise missiles in the (Mediterranean), or whatever it happens to be, as was the case back in 2013, it would be in my view — and I know this is also the view of the Prime Minister — it would be very difficult for us to say no.”
Asked if the PM would have to win a Commons vote before taking action, he replied: “I think that needs to be tested.”
Asked again if the approval of MPs was a necessary pre-condition, he replied: “As I said, I think it would be very difficult for us to say no; how exactly we were able to implement that would be for the Government, for the Prime Minister.
“But if the Americans were once again to be forced by the actions of the Assad regime — don’t forget, it was Assad who unleashed murder upon his own citizens with weapons that were banned almost 100 years ago — if the Americans choose to act again and they ask us to help, as I say, I think it would be very difficult to say no.”
Salmond told the BBC: “Boris Johnson says it would be difficult to say no to the Trump administration. Well, he never tries to say no to President Trump. He’s a mini-me of President Trump. He does not make the attempt to say no.
“They have no parliamentary sanction whatsoever to engage in the sort of conflict that the foreign secretary was so unwisely speculating on.”
This was Johnson’s first foray into the General Election campaign, coming as parliament dissolved for the election. In a column for the Sun newspaper he launched a bumbling and vicious attack on Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn calling him a “benign herbivore” and “mutton-headed old mugwump” who was a threat to national security.
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