Boris Johnson accuses SNP of ‘Anglophobia’

BORIS JOHNSON has claimed the SNP was guilty of “Anglophobia” and “Londonphobia” during the independence referendum campaign.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson made the comments during the third day of the annual British Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Picture: GettyMayor of London Boris Johnson made the comments during the third day of the annual British Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Picture: Getty
Mayor of London Boris Johnson made the comments during the third day of the annual British Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Picture: Getty

In a speech at the Conservative conference, the Mayor of London said he rejected the idea that Londoners lived in a different world from those in the rest of the UK.

Looking back at a campaign that had seen Yes campaigners, including Alex Salmond, complain of metropolitan elite, Westminster politicians and a London-based media, Mr Johnson defended the UK capital praising its “amazing success”.

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“I noticed over the last few weeks and months that there was a slight note not just of Anglophobia but of Londonophobia in some of the rhetoric of our friends in the Scottish Nationalist (sic) Party,” the Mayor of London said.

“A suggestion that Londoners were culturally, politically and economically divorced from the rest of the country.

“To listen to some of the London-bashing, you might think London was a modern Babylon with billionaires being piled with hot towels in the top-deck club class of their swanky new buses. Or guzzling pearls dissolved in vinegar while lolling back on the padded cushions of their Barclays hire bikes.

“And while I, of course, reject this rubbish I would have to admit that one of the main reasons I don’t want this country to lurch back to Labour is that current story of London is one of amazing success - and success that in many ways helps everyone in the city.”

Reacting to Mr Johnson’s comments, the SNP MSP Nigel Don said: “We think England is a wonderful country and London is a great city, but Boris has never returned the compliment - he is one of the top Tories plotting to stop Scotland getting the extensive new powerswe were promised in return for a No vote in the referendum.”

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