Boris Johnson unleashes on hypocrisy of Sydney’s ‘pro-Hamas’ protesters

On the eve of his Australian visit, former British PM Boris Johnson slams protests ‘supporting Hamas’ as ‘anti-Semitism’. And he has some choice words about AUKUS and nuclear technology.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hit out at the hypocrisy of those attending pro-Hamas rallies in cities like Sydney and London.

Speaking ahead of an Australian visit for An Audience With Boris Johnson, the 60-year-old former London Mayor said he found the protests confusing.

“I find it extraordinary that in great liberal cities like Sydney or London — I used to be the Mayor of London and I am very proud of running a massive cosmopolitan, very liberal and progressive city — I didn’t understand how liberal progressives can go out and demonstrate effectively in support of Hamas. when these guys (Hamas) really persecute LGBTQ … gays and others … how does that make any sense?” Mr Johnson told The Daily Telegraph.

“I think it is anti-Semitism. I think a spore, a virus that is latent in our societies … it is out there again and it needs to be crushed and I hope that a lot of people in Australia would agree with that.”

Mr Johnson and former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Israel in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that saw 1400 civilians killed.

Boris Johnson will soon visit Australia for a series of live events after releasing his book, Unleashed. Picture: Supplied

They expressed solidarity with the Netanyahu government amid its conflict with the Palestinian militant group before the war crossed the border to Lebanon and Iran.

“He (Morrison) and I were at one and we remain so and I think that many people in Australia I hope share our perspective that what happened was absolutely appalling,” Johnson said.

“Yes, of course our hearts bleed for the suffering of the children in Gaza and the suffering of children in south Lebanon. It is horrific, what is happening in the region.

“But fundamentally there is a moral difference between Israel, which is trying to prevent a repetition of that type of very cruel and indiscriminate massacre, and Hamas, which actually wants to wipe Israel off the map and doesn’t mind how many innocent people they kill or maim. I just wish people could see it.”

Mr Johnson served as Prime Minister of the UK and British Conservative Party Leader from 2019 top 2022. He was also Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018.

The controversial political figure, who championed Brexit and was busted holding parties during Covid lockdowns, will visit Sydney and Melbourne in December with his events held on the 6th and 7th of that month respectively.

(Boris Johnson visits Kyiv's "Maidan" Independence Square. Picture: AFP

BORIS UNLEASHED

His new book, Unleashed, was released on Wednesday.

“I’m unleashing Unleashed, which has emerged more or less has erupted from my head like Athena from the head of Zeus of Alien from the body of John Hurt in the movies … this uncontainable book, which has all sorts of wonderful stuff about politics in the last 15 years, about Brexit, AUKUS, relations with Australia, America, the Middle East, it is all that,” he said.

Mr Johnson meanwhile praised Morrison for getting the AUKUS defence-sharing pact off the ground.

Under the agreement between Australia, the UK, and the US, Australia will get access to US nuclear submarine technology.

“He (Morrison) deserves a lot of credit for getting that thing (AUKUS) moving. AUKUS was a wonderful project, which will survive. I know that Anthony Albanese is delivering on it and is a fan of it,” Mr Johnson said.

“It is a very good idea. It is about Australia, the UK, the United States, great freedom loving democracies that share so much in values and ideas and outlook on the world that they are willing to share the most delicate secrets in nuclear technology and not just nuclear technology but a lot of other stuff as well. I am proud of how all of that came about.”

GOING NUCLEAR

More broadly, Mr Johnson believes Australia – a “sun superpower” - should look at building nuclear power plants as a major energy source.

“They take a lot of time to build (nuclear plants) but it has to be a big part of the mix. We need to make ourselves more robust in energy production and nuclear has got to be a part of that,” he said.

“All our voters are feeling the pinch. Because we are trying to move away from hydrocarbons and we are trying to do it quite quickly – arguably we tried too quickly – people are really feeling the pressure on their prices and their incomes and we as governments weren’t fast enough in putting in really sustainable dependable sources of clean energy before we started to ask people to bear these prices.

“We’ve got to race, race, race now to catch up. I am sure that Australia has got boundless potential in these areas but we in the UK need to go a lot faster.”