Revealed: Boris Johnson once said racism should be “managed and channelled”

This comes amid concern that Johnson has repeatedly peddled racist tropes. It is widely known that, in a Telegraph column, Johnson called Muslim women who wear the burka “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”. The insult was recently used against a Muslim women in a supermarket.

Instances like these have resulted in Johnson being accused of racism. A bank boss even said the Prime Minister’s language would render him unemployable in the world of finance.

In the CPS lecture, Johnson also advanced the trope that people on benefits are “scroungers” and a waste of taxpayer’s money. He said:

“I don’t want my taxes wasted on scroungers of any colour; but it seems to be common ground that people’s resentment is accentuated if they feel the money is going on foreigners, and particularly on foreigners of a different colour.”

Under a re-elected Conservative government, Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the UK would introduce an Australian points based immigration system to limit the number of people coming to the UK. This is far stricter than the current system.

Johnson’s lecture also spoke about “the threat posed by immigration to the British way of life”.

In the past, Johnson has likewise said that African people have “watermelon smiles” and, today, the Guardian revealed that he once said young people had “an almost Nigerian interest in money and gadgets of all kinds”.

Boris Johnson might seem on the outside like a charming, harmless buffoon, but in reality his policies and beliefs would be a danger to millions of foreign citizens living in the UK.