COMMENT: Boris Johnson never means any harm

Boris Johnson never means any harm.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been rebuked after referring to Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry in Parliament as "Lady Nugee". Thornberry is married to Sir Christopher Nugee. Many have called the remark 'sexist'. After being told by the Speaker of the House John Bercow that his comments were sexist and inappropriate, Johnson apologised unreservedly, saying he meant no harm. But Boris Johnson never means any harm. When he likened the European Union to Nazi Germany, he didn’t mean any harm. When he referred to Papua New Guineas to “chief-killing cannibals”, he didn’t mean any harm. When he wrote a poem about Turkish President Recep Erdogan, describing how he has sex with goats, he didn’t mean any harm. When he described Hillary Clinton as looking like "a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital", he didn’t mean any harm. When he accused Liverpudlians of "wallowing in their victim status" after tragedies such as the Hillsborough disaster, he didn’t mean any harm. When he accused President Obama of having "an ancestral dislike of the UK" due to his Kenyan heritage, he didn’t mean any harm. When he described citizens of the Commonwealth as "Piccaninnies with watermelon smiles", he didn’t mean any harm. When he was accused of “incredible insensitivity” after reciting a colonial-era Rudyard Kipling poem in front of dignitaries on an official visit to Myanmar, he didn’t mean any harm. When he suggested that the Libyan city of Sirte could become the new Dubai “once they clear the dead bodies away”, he didn’t mean any harm. Boris Johnson never means any harm.