Boris Johnson

Photo: Number 10 via Flickr | CC2.0

Boris Johnson

Credentials

Background

Boris Johnson is the current Prime Minister of the UK, having been elected to lead in the Conservative Party in July 2019. Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary a year before, holding the position since July 2016. Formerly Mayor of London, Johnson took a leading role in the EU referendum, endorsing the official Vote Leave campaign and acting as a member of the โ€œcore groupโ€ of its campaign committee.2Mat Hope, Richard Collett-White. โ€œIs Boris Johnson’s Cabinet the Most Anti-Climate Action Ever?โ€ DeSmog, July 25, 2019. 3โ€œBoris Johnson resigns as Foreign Secretary,โ€ BBC News, July 9, 2018. Archived August 12, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BpZZ4 4โ€œThe Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP,โ€ Gov.uk. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/DdtEf 5โ€œAbout the campaign,โ€ VoteLeaveTakeControl.org. Archived June 28, 2016. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/e0PJe

During Johnson’s time at the Foreign Office, there was a 60% cut in climate โ€œattachesโ€, which the then UK special representative for climate change and former chief scientist, Prof David King, was forbidden from revealing to the media through a non-disclosure agreement, the Guardian later reported.6Matthew Weaver. โ€œEx-chief scientist fears for UK climate plan if Boris Johnson is PM,โ€ The Guardian, June 18, 2019. Archived June 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/gRWjL

Johnsonโ€™s career began as a journalist at The Times of London, but he was eventually fired in 1988 for falsifying a quote. Later Johnson became The Telegraphโ€™s Brussels correspondent. From 1994 to 1999 he worked as assistant editor at the conservative-leaning magazine The Spectator, before becoming editor from 1999 to 2005. In 2001, he was elected as the Conservative MP for Henley. Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and has been MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015.7Kirsty Major. โ€œWhy are we so surprised that Boris Johnson lied when heโ€™s been sacked for lying twice before?โ€ Independent, June 27, 2016. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9wy4v

While at Oxford University, Johnson was a member of the exclusive Bullingdon Club, which also had senior Tory politicians such as David Cameron and George Osborne as members. Johnson was also on the board of advisors for the now-defunct right wing think tank The Atlantic Bridge founded by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.8โ€œCameron as leader of the Slightly Silly Party,โ€ The Telegraph, February 14, 2007. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KJxoa 9Elizabeth Day. โ€œGeorge Osborne and the Bullingdon club: what the chancellor saw,โ€ The Guardian, October 1, 2011. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ViDiJ 10Amber Elliott. โ€œLiam Fox interview,โ€ Total Politics, October 20, 2011. Archived November 22, 2011. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ViYQA

Stance on Climate Change

June 5, 2020

In a Twitter thread, Johnson wrote:11Boris Johnson. โ€œWhilst we are all rightly focused on beating coronavirus, we cannot lose sight of the need to protect our people and our planet from the devastating threat of climate change and biodiversity loss if nothing is doneโ€ฆโ€ Tweet by @BorisJohnson on June 5, 2020. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived on July 7, 2020. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

โ€œWhilst we are all rightly focused on beating coronavirus, we cannot lose sight of the need to protect our people and our planet from the devastating threat of climate change and biodiversity loss if nothing is done. 1/4

โ€œThis period has undoubtedly increased our gratitude for and appreciation of the green spaces and nature around us โ€“ providing us with respite during such difficult times. 2/4

โ€œAs we come through this pandemic and begin to rebuild our economies, itโ€™s time to invest in the industries, infrastructure and jobs that will endure any storm โ€“ or even another virus โ€“ so we bounce back stronger than before. 3/4

โ€œWeโ€™re reminded on #WorldEnvironmentDay that nobody can do this alone. Thatโ€™s why we must move towards a greener, cleaner, and more resilient future, and the UK looks forward to working with countries around the world in the run up to @COP26 in Glasgow next year. 4/4โ€12Boris Johnson. โ€œWhilst we are all rightly focused on beating coronavirus, we cannot lose sight of the need to protect our people and our planet from the devastating threat of climate change and biodiversity loss if nothing is doneโ€ฆโ€ Tweet by @BorisJohnson on June 5, 2020. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived on July 7, 2020. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

June 2017

As foreign secretary, when asked his views on President Trumpโ€™s intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, Johnson told Sky News:13Elisabeth O’Leary, Reuters. โ€œBoris Johnson ‘continues to lobby’ US on climate change, Trump’s decision on Paris agreement looms,โ€ Business Insider, June 1, 2017. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/BkxEm

โ€œWe continue to lobby the U.S. at all levels to continue to take climate change extremely seriously.โ€

December 20, 2015

Writing in the Telegraph, Johnson argued recent warm winter weather had nothing to do with climate change:14Boris Johnson. โ€œI canโ€™t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming,โ€ The Telegraph, December 20, 2015. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eB5p3

โ€œIn the view of Piers and his colleagues at WeatherAction, it is all about sun spots, and he is on record as believing that we are now due for a new ‘Maunder Minimum’ โ€“ like the famous cold spell in the 17th century, when the Thames froze several times,โ€ Johnson wrote.

โ€œWhatever is happening to the weather at the moment, he said, it is nothing to do with the conventional doctrine of climate change.โ€

In the column, similarly to one he wrote for the Telegraph in 2013, Johnson refers to the โ€œgreat physicist and meteorologist Piers Corbynโ€ โ€“ brother of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and a known climate science denier.15โ€œItโ€™s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age,โ€ The Telegraph, January 20, 2013. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HdbkA

January 20, 2013

In a Telegraph column, Johnson suggested recent cold winters may cast doubt on mainstream climate science.16โ€œItโ€™s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age,โ€ The Telegraph, January 20, 2013. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HdbkA

โ€œI am speaking only as a layman who observes that there is plenty of snow in our winters these days, and who wonders whether it might be time for government to start taking seriously the possibility โ€” however remote โ€” that [Piers] Corbyn is right,โ€ Johnson wrote.

โ€œOf course it still seems a bit nuts to talk of the encroachment of a mini ice age.

โ€œBut it doesnโ€™t seem as nuts as it did five years ago. I look at the snowy waste outside, and I have an open mind.โ€17โ€œItโ€™s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age,โ€ The Telegraph, January 20, 2013. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HdbkA

Key Quotes

December 2015

In a Telegraph column entitled โ€œI canโ€™t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming: We may all be sweating in the winter air, but remember, we humans have always put ourselves at the centre of cosmic eventsโ€ Johnson wrote:18Boris Johnson. โ€œI canโ€™t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming,โ€ The Telegraph, December 20, 2015. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eB5p3

โ€œIt is fantastic news that the world has agreed to cut pollution and help people save money, but I am sure that those global leaders were driven by a primitive fear that the present ambient warm weather is somehow caused by humanity; and that fear โ€“ as far as I understand the science โ€“ is equally without foundation. There may be all kinds of reasons why I was sweating at ping-pong [in December] โ€“ but they donโ€™t include global warming.โ€

January 2013

In a Telegraph opinion column entitled โ€œItโ€™s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age. Something is up with our winter weather. Could it be the Sun is having a slow patch?โ€ he wrote the following:19โ€œItโ€™s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age,โ€ The Telegraph, January 20, 2013. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HdbkA

โ€œAs a species, we human beings have become so blind with conceit and self-love that we genuinely believe that the fate of the planet is in our hands โ€” when the reality is that everything, or almost everything, depends on the behaviour and caprice of the gigantic thermonuclear fireball around which we revolve.โ€

โ€œI am all for theories about climate change, and would not for a moment dispute the wisdom or good intentions of the vast majority of scientists. But I am also an empiricist; and I observe that something appears to be up with our winter weather, and to call it โ€œwarmingโ€ is obviously to strain the language.โ€

โ€œI wish I knew more about what is going on, and why. It is time to consult once again the learned astrophysicist, Piers Corbyn. Now Piers has a very good record of forecasting the weather. He has been bang on about these cold winters. Like JMW Turner and the Aztecs he thinks we should be paying more attention to the Sun. According to Piers, global temperature depends not on concentrations of CO2 but on the mood of our celestial orb.โ€

โ€œOf course it still seems a bit nuts to talk of the encroachment of a mini ice age. But it doesnโ€™t seem as nuts as it did five years ago. I look at the snowy waste outside, and I have an open mind.โ€

Key Actions

April 15, 2023

Boris Johnson accused London mayor Sadiq Khan of misleading the public over the premise of Ultra Low Emissions Zones (ULEZ), a set of policies which prevent high-polluting vehicles from entering inner London, saying: โ€œThis has nothing to do with improving air quality. Itโ€™s all about Khanโ€™s catastrophic mismanagement of TfL finances.โ€20Sarah Knapton and Tony Driver. โ€œSadiq Khanโ€™s Ulez expansion has nothing to do with air pollution, claims Boris Johnson,โ€ April 15, 2023. Archived April 15, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/UvRlw

March 1, 2021

Speaking to The Sun, Johnson stated that his plans to decarbonise the economy by 2050 as part of a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ would not include higher meat and carbon taxes for consumers, amid fears that carbon taxes on heavy industries and power generators would be extended to other carbon-intensive sectors of the economy.21Harry Cole, Natasha Clark. โ€œMeat prices WONโ€™T rise as Boris Johnson rules out tax hikes for Sun readers under his green agenda,โ€ The Sun, March 1, 2021. Archived March 2, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/wB1Fp 

February 14, 2021

Johnson told CBS Newsโ€™ โ€˜Face the Nationโ€™ programme that climate change, among other issues, was โ€œincredibly encouragingโ€ for fostering Anglo-American relations in the aftermath of Joe Bidenโ€™s election as US President.22Melissa Quinn. โ€œBritish PM Boris Johnson welcomes โ€˜incredibly encouragingโ€™ early moves from Biden,โ€ CBS News, February 14, 2021. Archived February 16, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/kxHkQ

Johnson stated: โ€œThere’s been some important developments in the way the U.K., U.S. thinking has been coming together in the last few weeks, and particularly on issues like climate change, on NATO, on Iran, but above all, on the ways that the U.S. and the U.K. are going to work together to deal with the environmental challenge that faces our planet.โ€

January 21, 2021

Johnson described newly-elected President Joe Bidenโ€™s decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement as โ€œhugely positive news,โ€ the Evening Standard reported.23Joe Murphy. โ€œBoris Johnson puts climate at heart of drive for closer ties to Joe Biden,โ€ Evening Standard, January 21, 2021. Archived January 26, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.is/AgWQL

January 8, 2021

Johnson delivered a speech at the United Nations biodiversity summit in which he acknowledged the need for urgent action on climate change, stating that โ€œthe natural life that so enriches our planet today is declining at a pace that is truly terrifying,โ€ and that endangered species needed โ€œconcerted, co-ordinated, global action.โ€24โ€œPrime Minister’s speech at the UN High-Level summit on biodiversity: 30 September 2020,โ€ GOV.UK, September 30, 2020. Archived January 8, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/XXWxz

November 17, 2020

Johnson released a โ€œ10 point green planโ€ which he said would help the UK โ€œmake stridesโ€ towards meeting its legally binding net zero emissions target. The government said the plan, which included a ban on the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2030, ยฃ1 billion in funding to insulate homes and public buildings, and investment in nuclear and hydrogen energy, would help the UK to meet environmental goals while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, opposition MPs and campaigners criticised the lack of spending for the plan and the inclusion of โ€œspeculativeโ€ solutions.25Peter Walker and Jessica Elgot. โ€œBoris Johnson announced 10-point green plan with 250,000,โ€ The Guardian, November 17, 2020. Archived November 18, 2020.

September 28, 2020

Johnson pledged to protect 30% of UK land, signing the Leadersโ€™ Pledge for Nature, which included commitments to reduce deforestation and eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies. Johnson stated: โ€œWe must act now, right now. We cannot afford to dither and delay because biodiversity loss is happening today and it is happening at a frightening rateโ€, and โ€œLeft unchecked, the consequences will be catastrophic for us all. Extinction is forever – so our action must be immediate.”26Kate Ng, Boris Johnson pledges to protect 30% of UK land as world leaders sign commitment to act on climate crisis, The Independent, September 28, 2020. Archived September 29, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/kEPjZ

June 22, 2019

Video footage emerged of former Donald Trump chief strategist and co-founder of the far-right Breitbart news website, Steve Bannon, revealing he had helped Boris Johnson write his resignation speech after stepping down as Foreign Secretary. Johnson had previously denied any association with Bannon as a โ€œlefty delusionโ€.27Carole Cadwalladr. โ€œVideo reveals Steve Bannon links to Boris Johnson,โ€ The Guardian, June 22, 2019. Archived June 24, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Mk1QV

June 12, 2019

A report by openDemocracy revealed that First Corporate Shipping, co-owned by Terence Mordaunt, a director of the Global Warming Policy Forum, the advocacy arm of the climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, had donated ยฃ25,000 to both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt’s Conservative Party leadership campaigns.28Peter Geoghegan. โ€œRevealed: Climate change denier makes big donations to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt,โ€ openDemocracy, June 12, 2019. Archived June 12, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/g96dO

May 29, 2019

Johnson was ordered to appear in court over claims he lied during the referendum campaign by saying the UK gave the EU ยฃ350m a week. The case is a private prosecution launched by campaigner Marcus Ball, who crowdfunded ยฃ200,000 for legal costs. A source close to Mr Johnson called the case a โ€œpolitically motivated attempt to reverse Brexitโ€ while Ball’s lawyer said: โ€œThe allegation with which this prosecution is concerned, put simply, is Mr Johnson repeatedly misrepresented the amount that the UK sends to Europe each week.โ€29โ€œBrexit: Boris Johnson ordered to appear in court over ยฃ350m claim,โ€ BBC News, May 29, 2019. Archived June 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/VOzIN

September 14, 2018

During a trip to the US, Johnson was the speaker at a black-tie dinner in Washington hosted by the conservative thinktank, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He used the opportunity to criticise Theresa May’s โ€œChequersโ€ Brexit deal and said social mobility would be his top priority in power. Johnson’s team had their โ€œaccommodation, travel and hospitalityโ€ paid for by the AEI, according to Parliament’s Register of Interests.30Joe Murphy. โ€œBoris Johnson sets out his Tory leadership visionโ€ฆ in America,โ€ Evening Standard, September 14, 2018. Archived April 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/zoA14 31โ€œRegister Of Interests Of Members’ Secretaries And Research Assistants [as at 22 March 2019],โ€ Parliament.uk. Archived April 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/NZRbM

The AEI has a history of spreading doubt about climate change and opposing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and has received significant funding from the Koch family and ExxonMobil.

September 27, 2017

On September 27 inside the Foreign Office, Boris Johnson launched a new thinktank to push โ€œthe moral case for open commerce.โ€ The Institute for Free Trade (IFT) โ€œsees Britainโ€™s withdrawal from the European Union as a unique opportunity to revitalise the world trading system,โ€ according to its website (IFT now operates under the name โ€œInitiative for Free Tradeโ€ following a dispute over its name).32Mat Hope. โ€œIntroducing the Institute for Free Trade: A New Pro-Brexit Thinktank tied to the UKโ€™s Climate Science Denier Network,โ€ DeSmog, September 27, 2017. 33โ€œAbout,โ€ Initiative for Free Trade. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hXT8H 34Michael Savage. โ€œBrexit thinktank in dispute over use of โ€˜instituteโ€™ in title,โ€ The Guardian, December 16, 2017. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mLLNh

The IFT is based at 57 Tufton Street, sharing an office with the anti-renewables thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies, and next door to many of the organisations DeSmog previously revealed to be at the heart of a UK climate science denial network in 55 Tufton Street.35Kyla Mandel. โ€œIs A Climate Sceptic Behind The Latest Anti-Renewables Report?โ€ DeSmog, March 18, 2015. 36Kyla Mandel. โ€œMapped: The UK’s Brexit Climate Denier Network,โ€ DeSmog, July 15, 2016.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who gave the 2017 annual lecture at the climate science denying Global Warming Policy Foundation, is on the IFTโ€™s โ€œinternational advisory panel.โ€ The IFT’s president is climate science denying Tory MEP Daniel Hannan.37โ€œAbout,โ€ Initiative for Free Trade. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hXT8H

March 2015

Johnson launched a new โ€œProsperity for Allโ€ project at the Legatum Institute lead by Tim Montgomerie, founder of Conservative Home. As Johnson was reported telling the audience: โ€œIt is time to reclaim capitalism as a moral force.โ€38โ€œBoris Johnson Launches the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity for All Project,โ€ Legatum Institute, March 30, 2015. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/d4dHb

December 19, 2010

Johnson wrote an article at The Telegraph promoting the work of climate change denier Piers Corbyn, โ€œmeteorologist and brother of my old chum, bearded leftie MP Jeremy.โ€ According to Johnson, Piers โ€œseems to get it right about 85 per cent of the timeโ€ with regards to forecasts.39Boris Johnson. โ€œThe man who repeatedly beats the Met Office at its own game,โ€ The Telegraph, December 19, 2010.

โ€œI have not a clue whether his methods are sound or not. But when so many of his forecasts seem to come true, and when he seems to be so consistently ahead of the Met Office, I feel I want to know more. Piers Corbyn believes that the last three winters could be the harbinger of a mini ice age that could be upon us by 2035, and that it could start to be colder than at any time in the last 200 years. He goes on to speculate that a genuine ice age might then settle in, since an ice age is now cyclically overdue,โ€ Johnson wrote.

โ€œThe question is whether anthropogenic global warming is the exclusive or dominant fact that determines our climate, or whether Corbyn is also right to insist on the role of the Sun. Is it possible that everything we do is dwarfed by the moods of the star that gives life to the world? The Sun is incomparably vaster and more powerful than any work of man.โ€

2007โ€“2008

In the run up to Boris Johnson’s May 2008 election as London Mayor, prominent Tory and billionaire hedge fund manager Sir Michael Hintze, a financial backer of the climate science denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation, donated the following to the politician: ยฃ2,000 in December 2007, ยฃ2,000 in February 2008, and ยฃ1,000 in March 2008.40โ€œMr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002375),โ€ The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/blF3Z 41โ€œMr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002410),โ€ The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/zDCoi 42โ€œMr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002430),โ€ The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/a2WZD

Affiliations

Social Media

Publications

Some sample publications related to Brexit below (view more articles at The Telegraph and The Spectator):

Other Resources

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