Boris Johnson came to the House of Commons to answer questions on the Trump visa ban with the opposition benches in full outrage mode. The policy is wrong, ill-considered and a blunt instrument. But those in the Chamber who see it as a sign the US is on the road to fascism are getting things out of proportion. As Johnson said you can see it as ‘divisive and wrong’ without resorting to 1930s parallels or wanting to disinvite Trump from his State visit.
There were a series of irate questions from the Labour benches. Yvette Cooper demanded that Johnson ‘for the sake of history, for Heaven’s sake have the guts to speak out’, Dennis Skinner called Trump a ‘fascist’ and Mike Gapes labelled Theresa May an ‘appeaser’. But the most difficult question came from one of the people who ran Johnson’s leadership campaign, the Tory MP Jake Berry. He asked why, given that this ban was one of Trump’s election policies, the Foreign Secretary hadn’t raised it with Trump’s transition team and the Prime Minister with the President in her talks with him.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in