Piers Morgan has taken aim at the prime minister in a new column published in The Sun.
The broadcaster called Boris Johnson a “shambles” and said his “aversion to honesty and accountability” is “wrecking” his premiership.
Last year it was announced that the former Good Morning Britain host would join a new Murdoch-owned TV channel called talkTV, and would write columns for The Sun and The New York Post.
He used his first column in the newspaper to attack the prime minister - and he certainly didn’t mince his words.
‘Dear @BorisJohnson - you’re an absolute shambles. Get a grip man, or let someone else run the country. Yours, Piers.’
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 9, 2022
My open letter to the Prime Minister in my first column for @TheSun : 👇👇https://t.co/hpzDzGW7uI
Written in the style of an open letter, Morgan revealed that despite his “myriad faults”, he always liked Johnson in the three decades he’s known him.
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He recalled interviewing the prime minister, who was then the shadow higher education minister, in 2007 for GQ when Morgan questioned how genuine his “buffoon” act is.
He went on to say he voted for Johnson in December 2019 - but not due to his stance on Brexit. Morgan said he was a Remainer, and only voted Conservative because he didn’t want “hard-left lunatic Jeremy Corbyn winning power”.
Two years on from Johnson’s government taking the wheel, Morgan accused him of destroying the trust of new Conservative voters, leaving them feeling “so disillusioned, they’re telling pollsters they’ll never support you again”.
Morgan wrote: “Your crashing personal popularity is cratering support for your party too.
“Conservatives are heading for meltdown in the May local elections, which will only fuel Noâ10 wagon-circling by ambitious Cabinet ministers like Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
“And sorry Boris, but you’ve only got yourself to blame. Trust in you has been burned, not earned.”
He went on to criticise Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, but gave him credit for the vaccine roll-out and the furlough scheme.
“Crisis management, particularly in a health emergency, demands leadership that’s firm, fast, decisive and calm — four words that could never be used about you in this pandemic,” Morgan said.
Citing several scandals that have faced Johnson’s government, such as the Dominic Cummings Barnard Castle scandal, the Christmas party allegations, the Owen Paterson sleaze scandal, and the latest update on the flat refurbishment mess, Morgan commented: “What’s wrecking your premiership is your aversion to honesty and accountability.”
He said it was pathetic to watch him dodge questions, such as when he hid in a fridge to avoid answering his questions on Good Morning Britain.
“Grow a pair, man!... You wrote an excellent book about your hero Sir Winston Churchill which lauded his courage under fire. Do you think Winston would have ever fled into a large refrigerator to duck a journalist? Of course, he wouldn’t,” he said.
He concluded the open letter by urging the prime minister to “stop being a shambles” and said if leading the nation is too much for him, he should “let someone else do it”.
Oof.
