Boris Johnson has delivered a pretty bizarre speech at the annual CBI conference and clearly even he was taken aback by how strange it was – so much so that he lost his place for almost half a minute.
After describing how much he has improved broadband coverage during his time as prime minister, Johnson fumbled and went silent as he looked through his stack of papers while heavily breathing and mumbling “forgive me” a few times. Finally, some 25 excruciating seconds later, he found his place, making a point about how people will apparently stay closer to their places of birth to work, thanks to the government being amazing.
We think this is what “levelling up” means but we can’t be sure...
Safe to say it was a pretty awkward moment and things didn’t go much better for the PM in the rest of the speech. Elsewhere in the 25 minute mumblethon, Johnson said people should return to the office “to learn and compete” and claimed “Mother Nature does not like working from home”. He was duly roasted on Twitter for appearing to suggest branches of Pret and high-rise buildings came out of the Earth like flowers.
He also said he had spent the day yesterday at Peppa Pig World, to make a bizarre point about “the power of UK creativity” and asked people to put their hands up to indicate whether anyone else had done the same.
In case you are wondering, he said he “loved it”, by the way.
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“It’s very much my kind of place. It has very safe streets, discipline in schools...”
And if that wasn’t enough to make you proud to be British, describing his time as a motoring correspondent at GQ Magazine, he also impersonated a car to make a point about how the UK needs to rely on electric vehicles more to deal with climate change.
He also compared himself to Moses when discussing ordering the implementation of his green plan, as you do.
Responding to his fumbling mess, Johnson got a dressing down from Lorraine Kelly:
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. READ YOUR BRIEFS. - muddling through in a bumbling fashion isn’t going to hack it any more. https://t.co/QfLlJbnW2a
— Lorraine (@reallorraine) November 22, 2021
And other people were similarly embarrassed:
Boris Johnson should’ve stayed in Peppa Pig World.
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) November 22, 2021
His bizarre performance and speech at the CBI conference will alarm business leaders, Tory MPs and voters.
Nurse!
Slightly awkward moment when Boris Johnson loses his place in the speech... "Blast... forgive me... forgive me," he says before picking it up again. #CBI
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) November 22, 2021
Watching this, like the Prime Minister, I am speechless
— Jennefer Brissenden (@Jennybriss) November 22, 2021
Absolutely embarrassing 🙈 no wonder this country is in a shambles !
— Richard (@Richard_D80) November 22, 2021
Oh dear – seems like some of us need to spend less time at Peppa Pig World, and more time at our desks preparing for big industry speeches.
