The BBC and its fellow pro-EU travellers don’t want you to know what Boris said in full, rather distracting you with lurid and false claims of ‘dogwhistle racism’, so here is Boris’ article in The Sun in full…..
Something mysterious happened when Barack Obama entered the Oval Office in 2009.
Something vanished from that room, and no one could quite explain why.
It was a bust of Winston Churchill – the great British war time leader. It was a fine goggle-eyed object, done by the brilliant sculptor Jacob Epstein, and it had sat there for almost ten years.
But on day one of the Obama administration it was returned, without ceremony, to the British embassy in Washington.
No one was sure whether the President had himself been involved in the decision.
Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire – of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender.
Some said that perhaps Churchill was seen as less important than he once was. Perhaps his ideas were old-fashioned and out of date.
Well, if that’s why Churchill was banished from the Oval Office, they could not have been more wrong.
What was he fighting for, in the Second World War? Why did he work so hard for the American entry into the war?
Yes, he was fighting for British survival; but he was also fighting against the dictatorships for democracy in Europe – for the right of the people to choose who makes their laws, and to kick them out at elections.
At the very heart of Winston Churchill’s political beliefs was what he saw as the supreme right of every voter, with his or her little pencil, to decide who governs the country.
And today it is a tragedy that the European Union – that body long ago established with the high and noble motive of making another war impossible – is itself beginning to stifle democracy, in this country and around Europe.
If you include both primary and secondary legislation, the EU now generates 60 per cent of all the laws that pass through Westminster.
We are are giving £20bn a year, or £350m a week, to Brussels – about half of which is spent by EU bureaucrats in this country, and half we never see again.
We have lost control of our borders to Brussels; we have lost control of our trade policy; and with every year that passes we see the EU take control of more and more areas of public policy.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is now taking decisions about human rights of all kinds. In their desperation to prop up the euro, the other EU countries are planning a further lunge towards a political and fiscal union.
If we are stay in this system, we will find ourselves hauled inch by inch towards a federal superstate – with no proper accountability to the people.
Can you name your Euro-MP? Can you say what they are doing in Strasbourg?
It is a measure of the fatuity of that Euro-parliament that some of the bravest Euro-MPs, such as Sayeed Kamal and Daniel Hannan, are campaigning for Britain to leave.
This project is a million miles away from the Common Market that we signed up for in 1973.
It is deeply anti-democratic – and much as I admire the United States, and much as I respect the President, I believe he must admit that his country would not dream of embroiling itself in anything of the kind.
The US guards its democracy with more hysterical jealousy than any other country on earth.
It is not just that the Americans refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, or that they have refused to sign up to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea.
America is the only country in the world that has so far failed to sign up to the UN convention on the rights of the child, or the UN convention on the emancipation of women.
For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy – it is a breathtaking example of the principle of do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do.
It is incoherent. It is inconsistent, and yes it is downright hypocritical. The Americans would never contemplate anything like the EU, for themselves or for their neighbours in their own hemisphere. Why should they think it right for us?
There are those who think that Britain has more “influence” within the EU than outside, and that therefore we can be of more value to Washington.
That is nonsense. The UK has been outvoted 40 times in Brussels in the last 5 years, and the total bill for those defeats – in extra costs for UK government and business – is put at £2.4 bn a year.
How can we have “influence” in the Brussels commission, when only 3.6 per cent of Commission officials come from this country?
Can you imagine the Americans entrusting their trade negotiations to a body that comprised only 3.6% Americans? The idea is laughable.
The truth is that the UK would GAIN influence outside. We would be able to speak up again in international bodies, rather than having our views represented – half-heartedly and imperfectly – by the EU.
Then there are those who say that we would be somehow more “influential” in Washington, because of our membership of the EU.
Really? We have been in the EU for 43 years, and we haven’t even been able to do a free trade deal with the US.
And then there are the defeatists who say that yes, the EU is anti-democratic, but that we are too small and frail to survive on our own.
I really don’t know what country they are talking about. The Britain I see is the fifth biggest economy on earth, a world leader in all kinds of 21 century sectors, with a capital city that is in many ways the capital of the world.
I think it is time to channel the spirit of the early Obama, and believe in Britain again.
Can we take back control of our borders and our money and our system of government? Yes we can.
Can we stand on our own two feet? Yes we can.
Can we build a new and prosperous relationship with the rest of the EU, based on free trade and intergovernmental cooperation? Yes we can.
Can we speak up for the hundreds of millions around the continent who also feel estranged from the Brussels project?
Can we once again be the champions of democracy? Yes we can.
And by doing all those we can thrive as never before – and therefore be even better and more valuable allies of the United States.
A pretty reasoned and straightforward factual article .I am boycotting the BEEB almost completely at the moment but from other sources I got the impression Boris had signed up for the KKK……
Obama has been a disaster for the USA,especially for blacks and the poor so I’m not going to take any lectures from him. No wonder Trump is soaring .
Deborah,
Same here. I only watch the BBC for documentaries and even then I often switch off if I can’t hear because of the mindless Muzak. And old comedies. Dad’s Army last night was superb.
As for Obama. All mouth and no trousers. I always ask Obama fans “what has he actually done ? “. Silence. The worst President in US history. Carter seems wonderful in retrospect.
“Dog whistle racism” – How the left love to wax lyrical with smart arse responses. I am sure the Islington set when reading their usual morning copies of the Sun must have nearly choked on their organic muesli soaked in macrobiotic yogurt and ethically produced alfalfa and carraway seeds!
Especially when Boris suggested that Obamas part Kenyan background and alleged mistreatment of his grandfather, might possibly have been a reason why Obama removed the bust. But I forgot Obama is really a saint and would never harbour any petty resentments especially if members of his family were involved.
Of course Obama knew that moving that Bust of Churchill on day one of his administration was sending a very strong message to us . He is certainly not stupid. However the left (and I currently am beginning to think Cameron is one of them) go straight to default position and try and close the argument down with their normal accusations WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYCISTTTTTT BOWIS!
“Bustygate” Just another example of the left trying to move the argument on in their normal idle and unimaginative fashion by shooting the messenger.
As a side point While Obama is here maybe we could put him in touch with Phil Shiner or Leigh Day so he could get a bit of historical compo as well. Could be a good weeks work for The Big O!
Obama could eat babies and the Left would still worship him. It is not politics, it is religion. It is “dog whistle” Leftism.
Oak, I am disappointed in you. “Beginning to think ” Cameron is one of the Left ? You really must try and keep up !
Boris though should have realised that any hint of racism towards Obama would be leapt upon by the msm, its so obvious!
Also Boris using Churchill to link Obama to Brexit isnt probably going to win over many of the undecided. Unfortunately I think Boris has made a pigs ear of it and done a lot of damage to the Brexit campaign. I just hope it will not be lasting.
The Guardian, Mail, BBC and all ran the story about Obama’s Kenyan heritage and the Churchill bust back when he was first elected. Boris actually said in the article that offends the left that ‘some have said’. Yes, it was the Guardian and left that said.
I mentioned this on the weekend thread.
Cringing before threats of the race card being played for the last 30 years or so has got us where we are. More and more people are seeing this now.
There is nothing “racist” about pointing out the connection between Obamas Kenyan background and his evident disdain for Britain. More and more people are seeing this now.
All the Brexit campaign should be focused on is the question “who do you want to rule the UK?” us ourselves or them the unelected EU?
You are right in a sense though, the media bias has spun Boris Johnsons remarks in such a way that they become the issue….and therefore a distraction.
He’d have done better by asking how much real influence on US trade policy do soon to be former presidents have? pointing out that Obama will have left office well before any negotiations and left it at that.
My straw poll of undecided acquaintances suggests Obamas comments have been less well received outside the media bubble than inside it.
Obama’s father was (officially) a Kenyan student who quickly ran out on his mother. He was largely brought up by his white grandparents, who were communists, apart from his spell as a child in Indonesia, where he was raised by his stepfather as a muslim.
I cannot think of a background of any US President less likely to lead to a man who is a true friend of Britain than that of Barack Hussein Obama. Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves, and in my opinion had a better start in life.
My point isnt whether Boris’s comments are racist, they clearly are not, or whether he is correct about the Churchill bust or not, these are asides but ones the Beeb etc will happily focus on to deflect from the main Brexit arguments. The Brexit campaign needs to convert the undecided, the way Boris approached it I think lessened the chances of doing this.
It Boris writes anything other than “Vote Remain” the BBC will lie about it.