How Boris quotes were spun

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Target: since announcing he would stand for mayor, Johnson has been viciously attacked by Labour

A dossier from supporters of Ken Livingstone portraying their likely opponent, Boris Johnson, as a "fanatical" member of the "Tory hard right" and "Norman Tebbit in a clown's uniform" is based on a systematic distortion of Johnson's views, an Evening Standard investigation has found.

We compared the quotes in the dossier with the articles and statements from which they are drawn. The report, while purporting to present "the truth about Boris Johnson through his own words" in fact uses them selectively to, in many cases, diametrically misrepresent what he has said.

One article cited as proving Johnson's "support" for George W Bush actually has him describing the President as "serially incompetent", a "cross-eyed warmonger" and "maniac" whose re-election in 2004 was "the most dismal awakening of my life".

A quote about his "fanatical" backing of the Iraq invasion comes from a pre-war article that condemns the Blair Government's "cynical and ludicrous" attempts to scare the public about Saddam's alleged WMD and says: "If we are really concerned about the weapons of mass destruction, then let the UN [inspection] process work itself through."

The report condemns Johnson's support for the Iraq war, nuclear power, more private finance in the NHS, and large-scale cuts to the civil service as a "real threat" to London's "progressive consensus" without saying these are also Labour Party policy.

The report, produced last week by the Labour pressure group Compass, received wide coverage in newspapers and was the longest item of the night on the BBC's flagship London news programme.

Johnson's supposed quotes in the dossier defending railway privatisation come from an article that cannot be found on the website of his newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, or in the Standard's electronic cuttings library. But we have found a 1994 article in which he predicts the move will be a "fiasco", the work of a Tory Government "determined to slash its own wrists."

Johnson was also attacked by the Compass dossier as a supporter of grammar schools and more selective eduction. This May, he described the expansion of grammar schools and the return of selection as "shaming" and a "1950s solution to a 21st-century problem".

The author of the Compass report, Chuka Umunna, ignores numerous articles in which Johnson supports positions that are anathema to any genuine member of the "Tory hard Right", such as immigration, gay marriage, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian occupied territories.

The report echoes attacks by Mr Livingstone, who has described Johnson as "to the right of Norman Tebbit" and an "acolyte" of President Bush.

A Compass spokesman declined to comment on specific issues but said: "We stand by our report and our analysis."

Johnson, whose campaign formally launches on Monday, said: "I think it is an abuse of the human rights of Ken's supporters that they have been obliged to read all my books. But I do very much hope that they can be persuaded to continue with this risible line of attack."

THE COMPASS CHARGE SHEET - AND WHAT BORIS JOHNSON REALLY SAID

'FANATICAL SUPPORT FOR IRAQ WAR'

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "That is why it is so important to persuade the public to snap out of their current curmudgeonliness [towards the prospect of war]."
WHAT HE SAID: This phrase is actually part of a strong attack on the "cynical and ludicrous" attempts by the Government to "persuade the public to snap out of their curmudgeonliness". It condemns the use of "Whitehall-generated drum rolls of alarm" for which there was "no evidence whatever" and continues: "If we are really concerned about the weapons of mass destruction, then let the UN process work itself through."

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID:
"America's performance in Iraq was formidable, and made Europe look ridiculous."
WHAT HE SAID: This is taken from an article expressing concern about the consequences of American global dominance. The full quote is: "America's performance in Iraq was formidable, and made Europe look ridiculous. But in the hearts of many moderate people, the very lopsidedness of the world demands some sort of compensation."

A MEMBER OF THE TORY HARD RIGHT'

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: Johnson "is a hard-line Right-winger ... by far the most Right-wing candidate ever to be presented by a major party for Mayor of London."
WHAT HE SAID: In each of the Tory leadership contests since he became an MP, Johnson has voted for the most Left-wing of the candidates: Kenneth Clarke in 2001 and David Cameron in 2005. Johnson describes the Tory Right as "revolutionary defeatists", the party's "Kamikaze movement" and the "lemming tendency" and has said: "I like this stuff about there being a 'we' as well as a 'me' in politics ... Toryism is not about one section of society grinding the faces of another ... if we want to encourage people to win - as we do - then we must be prepared to look after the losers. We're all in this together."

''A FANATICAL THATCHERITE'

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "After it [the deposing of Thatcher] was all over, my wife, Marina, claimed that she came upon me, stumbling down a street in Brussels, tears in my eyes, and claiming that it was as if someone had shot Nanny."
WHAT HE SAID: The quote actually reads: "After it was all over, my wife, Marina, claimed that she came upon me, stumbling down a street in Brussels, tears in my eyes, and claiming that it was as if someone had shot Nanny. I dispute this."

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "Mrs Thatcher pioneered a revolution which was imitated, in one way or another, around the world."
WHAT HE SAID: This sentence is from a piece about how Blair was a fanatical Thatcherite. The full quote is: "Mrs Thatcher pioneered a revolution which was imitated, in one way or another, around the world, and that is the analogy which Blair hopes will be drawn."

SUPPORT FOR GEORGE W BUSH

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "Not only did I want Bush to win, but we threw the entire weight of The Spectator behind him."
WHAT HE SAID: As the use of the past tense might suggest, this is actually an extract from a piece in which Johnson bitterly regrets his support for Bush, describing him as a "cross-eyed warmonger" and "serially incompetent ... maniac" whose re-election was "the most dismal awakening of my life".

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "It may seem especially perverse of me both to think that he [Bush] will win and - on the whole - to want him to win."
WHAT HE SAID: The full quote is: "It may seem especially perverse of me both to think that he will win and - on the whole - to want him to win when the charge sheet against Bush is so long and so devastating," including his "disgusting" behaviour over Abu Ghraib and the failure to plan for the occupation, "an eternal reproach to Bush".

SUPPORTS GRAMMAR SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "Your children are at a local grammar school, and you had been dreading that Labour-imposed ballot about abolishing selective admissions."
WHAT HE SAID: This is a statement of support for retaining existing grammar schools, something which is also Labour Party policy, not for creating more. Johnson has actually described the Tory party's demand for more grammar schools and the return of selection as a "shaming ... 1950s solution for a 21st-century problem".

ADVOCATES LARGE-SCALE SACKING OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID: "That is why we must explain to them [tax collectors] that their dismissal could be good not only for the economy as a whole, but also for themselves."
WHAT HE SAID: This sentence is actually about how large-scale public-sector job cuts are supported by both Labour and Tories. The quote continues: "It should be explained, first, that the notion of weeding out some of the new public-sector jobs is accepted across all parties, and the loss of some 80,000 posts is envisaged by Labour's Gershon review."

The other Boris Johnson article which Compass quotes in support of the claim that he backs "massive public-sector job cuts" actually says: "It would be wrong to go into the next election promising a huge purge of public-sector jobs."

 

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