Saturday, July 28, 2012

London 2012: Boris Johnson dismisses 'leftie' complaint

Boris Johnson and his wife at the opening ceremony

He described the event as a triumph for the country.

It comes after Tory MP Aidan Burley said a tweet in which he referred to "leftie multi-cultural" rubbish in the ceremony was "misunderstood".

Mr Burley said: "I was talking about the way it was handled in the show, not multiculturalism itself."

In an earlier tweet, the MP for Cannock Chase said it was "the most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen".

A Downing Street source said: "We do not agree with him."

The Games opening ceremony included sequences about the National Health Service. Its artistic director, Danny Boyle, said the theme was "this is for everyone".

Speaking at the Olympic Park Mr Johnson said: "It wasn't global 'Brito-pap'. It wasn't just Big Ben and Beefeaters and red buses and stuff. It was actually the truth about this country in the last two or three hundred years told in a big, dynamic way.

"People say it was all leftie stuff. That is nonsense. I'm a Conservative and I had hot tears of patriotic pride from the beginning. I was blubbing like Andy Murray.

"I thought it was stupefying, one of the most amazing events I have ever seen.

"The big anxiety we had was, could we do something that would rival Beijing. I think we knocked the spots off it."

In his initial post on Twitter referring to the ceremony, Mr Burley wrote: "The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen - more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?"

He followed it with a tweet welcoming the fact the athletes have arrived, adding it would mean miving on from the "leftie multi-cultural" rubbish. "Bring back red arrows, Shakespeare and the Stones!" he concluded.

Speaking later to the BBC, Mr Burley insisted he had not been having a go at multiculturalism.

"I agree it should be celebrated," he said.

"I wasn't having a go at multiculturalism itself, I was having a go at the rather trite way, frankly, it was represented in the opening ceremony."

He added his tweets might not have been the greatest thing for his career, but if it started a debate then it can only have been a good thing.

David Cameron last year sacked Mr Burley as parliamentary private secretary to Transport Secretary Justine Greening for "offensive and foolish" behaviour during a Nazi-themed stag party.

The MP for Cannock in Staffordshire apologised for the "inappropriate behaviour" of fellow guests at the party.



Source & Image : BBC

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