Here is what one doctor thinks:
Disgusting remarks. The enormous efforts of scientists and healthcare workers have delivered success.What will ensure that vast swathes of the world’s population cannot access vaccines safely?Capitalism and greed.RT if you agree.#BorisJohnson https://t.co/XSnkMFNSE6— Dr Julia Grace Patterson 💙 (@JujuliaGrace) March 24, 2021
What it does do is demonstrate a couple of things. Firstly, it shows how utterly unfit he is morally and intellectually to be prime minister. I am not sure any normal person would even think such a thing let alone say it even in private. But Johnson did it on a zoom call to hundreds of people, mostly his own MPs.
Secondly, after saying the words it is claimed he withdrew them immediately - according to the BBC - although I wouldn't mind betting it took someone to point it out because Johnson doesn't have the sense himself. The BBC say:
One of those who attended said they had never seen anyone withdraw a comment "so fast or so vehemently" as the prime minister's one on procurement.
Mr Johnson "realised he had messed up as soon as he had said it, and didn't mean it", the MP added.
Several sources said he had asked those present to "remove that comment from your collective memory".
But they didn't forget - at least one of them (and probably more) went straight out and told The Sun. It is now all over the world. I assume this was done to damage Johnson so he is not quite as popular in the party as we might think.
Thirdly, Downing Street spin doctors are now involved in a big operation to convince the public he didn't mean what he said and this always looks bad.
Johnson's problem is that he doesn't understand ordinary men and women. Those who go out to work every day to do their best for their customers, patients, colleagues and the wider world do so simply because it is a good thing.
The researchers who worked long hours did it because they knew it would save thousands of lives, perhaps even millions of lives. It would help the company they work for and thus secure the jobs of the people they work with every day. They may have got a bonus, I don't know, but was the the motivator? Almost certainly not.
The Guardian report that:
"Some of those on the call sought to add context to Johnson’s words, saying he had been talking generally about how big pharmaceutical firms managed to safely create vaccines at record speed – and not the ongoing row with the EU. One called it 'a lighthearted off-the-cuff comment'."
Ain't that just the problem? He is like so many people that you meet in this country who seem to have a desperate need to make a joke out of anything. He doesn't take his job seriously and has probably never done in any of his previous positions.
He is far too occupied with his own promotion. He thinks he can be brilliant and well respected by showing how well he can do with so little effort. It's an Old Etonian thing where it wasn't done to look as if you're really trying.
He tried the same thing with Von der Leyen in Brussels last year and it fell flat with the UK delegation returning to the British embassy head in hands. In Europe - certainly in the companies I have worked for in France, Finland, Germany, Spain and Italy - that sort of thing at a serious meeting is really frowned on. They don't mix business and pleasure but we do and Johnson is a typical example.
What an idiot he is. I thought Gordon Brown was a bit odd, prone to gaffs and dour but I think he would do a better job than Johnson.
