PM’s behaviour left out of most UK MSM coverage – but not quite successfully

Boris Johnson flew to Dublin today and held a joint press conference with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, as Johnson attempts to create an impression of activity toward a Brexit deal.

That illusion was shattered by Varadkar’s clear implication that Johnson had offered nothing substantial – and his absolute insistence that Ireland is not going to abandon its position to suit Johnson and that the preservation of the Good Friday Agreement and free trade across the Irish border.

Varadkar was also none too subtle about his opinion of Johnson’s reliability or the value of Johnson’s word:

What we cannot do and will not do – and I know you understand this – is agree to the replacement of a legal guarantee with a promise.

As the press conference progressed, Johnson clearly found the exposure of his lack of substance uncomfortable, pulling a number of embarrassed poses and faces as Varadkar spoke:

But Johnson’s agitation at his exposure also came out in a bizarre dance that he performed as Varadkar told a reporter that Ireland would regard the re-imposition of UK direct rule in Northern Ireland to be a breach of peace agreements:

But bizarrely, although a number of UK media outlets were broadcasting the press conference, they managed to miss Johnson’s odd antics. While Irish broadcaster captured and transmitted them in full, the Telegraph and others omitted them, at least from their watch-again footage – or almost. As shown above, Johnson’s arm managed to fleetingly defeat the zoomed-in shot.

Unsurprisingly, social media users are amending the video to reflect their feelings about Johnson – more are sure to follow, but this by @IamHappyToast deserves mention for aptness as well as technical skill:

Can't stand still for more than a minute before doing something for attention. #NotMyPrimeMinister pic.twitter.com/veyBfH5B1b — HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) September 9, 2019

SKWAWKBOX view:

Johnson’s full-body twitch was compared on social media to comedian Benny Hill – far from the first time the comparison has been made. But while Hill was successfully exported to other countries, Johnson is an embarrassment as a UK prime minister – one likely to be viral in all the wrong senses.



But of course, his body language is barely the tip of that particular iceberg.

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