London mayor slates Eastbourne and Bognor (From The Argus)

London mayor slates Eastbourne and Bognor

9:24am Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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Blundering Boris Johnson was last night invited to Sussex to apologise to residents after the serial offender wrote off some of the county’s top tourist spots.

The gaffe-prone London mayor, who has a rare talent for upsetting people, stumbled into fresh controversy by writing in a national newspaper that “whatever happens” he would be staying away from Eastbourne and Bognor and opting for a foreign holiday this year.

Mr Johnson scoffed at politicians like Prime Minister Gordon Brown who chose to spend their break in Britain and claimed that “indignant finger-wagging”

at MPs’ foreign holidays was doing the country “no good at all”.

The former Henley MP and frequent guest on BBC show Have I Got News For You? said it was his “patriotic duty to find a destination as sunny and foreign as possible”.

He wrote: “Some time before the end of August I will grab a week’s leave, like a half-starved sea lion snatching an airborne mackerel, and whatever happens that leave will not be taken in some boarding house in Eastbourne.

“It will not take place in Cornwall or Scotland or the Norfolk Broads. I say stuff Skegness. I say bugger Bognor.

“There will not be many UK beaches this summer where you can drink a bottle of wine in the sun and then go for an hour-long swim.”

Mr Johnson acknowledged his comments were provocative but claimed he felt driven to make them, despite joking they might well “terminate” his career.

Last night the backlash had already begun, with Sussex politicians condemning Mr Johnson’s “cheap shot” and calling on him to come to the county to apologise in person, as he did in Liverpool when he made disparaging comments about the city four years ago.

Eastbourne Borough Council and Arun District Council pointed out that the millions of people who visited the two towns each year might take issue with Mr Johnson’s view of the Sussex resorts, which surveys have rated among the sunniest places in Britain.

Gillian Brown, the leader of Arun District Council, said: “He should come down and apologise.

He should add it to the list of all the towns he’s insulted in the past and come and see what a wonderful place Bognor is. We would give him a very sunny welcome.”

David Tutt, the leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said: “Boris is renowned for insulting then apologising after he’s done it. Perhaps it would be a good idea for him to do the same and spend some time in a town like Eastbourne.”

Even Tory MPs admitted their former parliamentary colleague had overstepped the mark.

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb, who described Mr Johnson as a friend, said: “I think he’s wrong. He would be welcome to join me in taking a look at Bognor and spending some time there. I’m sure that will change his mind. I will issue my invitation to him today.”

Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson said: “It’s a bit of a cheap shot at Eastbourne and I think Boris knows better. I know he has been to Eastbourne and has a high regard for the town.”

Mr Johnson was last night unavailable for comment.

He's done it again

Boris Johnson is no stranger to political rows, having been forced to apologise to the people of Liverpool after a magazine he edited accused them of “wallowing” in grief after the death of Iraq hostage Kenneth Bigley.

Mr Johnson annoyed school dinners campaigner Jamie Oliver by saying he would like to “get rid of him and tell people to eat what they like” and the people of Portsmouth when he described the Hampshire city as “too full of drugs, obesity, underachievement and Labour MPs”.

He upset the population of Papua New Guinea when he associated the country “with orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing”.

He also apologised after referring to black people as “piccaninnies”.

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