The Mayor of London has dismissed Barack Obama’s endorsement of the UK’s position within the European Union, suggesting the US President’s comments were based on his “part-Kenyan” heritage and “ancestral dislike of the British empire”.
In an op-ed published in the Telegraph, Obama came out in support of the UK remaining within the EU, making the case that “the EU makes Britain even greater”.
He argued that the UK’s ability to fight terrorism is “more effective” when intelligence resources are shared amongst European allies, and that the EU has helped spread British liberal values across the continent.
He said:
“As citizens of the United Kingdom take stock of their relationship with the EU, you should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices”
However, in an article in The Sun, Boris Johnson accused the President of hypocrisy in his support of the EU, saying that the US “would not dream of embroiling itself in anything of the kind”. He went on to accuse the President of having an “ancestral dislike of the British Empire” due to his part-Kenyan ancestry, and falsely claimed the President had removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the White House.
A White House spokesman confirmed that bust story was “100 percent false”, as the bust currently sits outside the Treaty Room.
Johnson’s false accusations about the President’s anti-UK stance is the latest in a series of false statements made by the London Mayor in his campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. Despite having been the Telegraph’s Brussels’ correspondent, Johnson has been caught making up stories about EU regulations on recycling teabags, children blowing up balloons, prawn cocktail-flavoured crisps, and condom sizes.
