Speaking to Europe 1 Radio, he said: “I am not at all anxious about Boris Johnson, but. during the campaign he lied a lot to the British people and now it is he who has his back to the wall”.
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Incoming British foreign secretary Boris Johnson will be a constructive partner with Australia, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says.
“Boris Johnson will make a significant contribution to British relations with countries around the world and I’m particularly pleased that he has such a personal connection with Australia”, Ms Bishop told reporters in Perth on Friday.
May took over Wednesday after David Cameron stepped down as prime minister in the wake of the June 23 vote, which sent shock waves around the world and sparked fears of an economic downturn as Britain potentially faces exclusion from its biggest market.
“The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Boris Johnson MP as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs”, said the official statement, which indicates he will be working closely with India as his role involves Commonwealth countries.
Some of former prime minister David Cameron’s Cabinet ministers kept their portfolios, including Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, but most ministries were shuffled, with new ministers including Justice Secretary Liz Truss and Education Secretary Justine Greening. May says she will implement the break from the European Union despite being on the “Remain” side during the campaign.
The man at the centre of the storm said on Thursday that given the referendum result, it was inevitable that there would be “plaster coming off the ceiling in the chancelleries of Europe”.
“It’s very important that people should realise when you leave Heathrow or Dover, a British citizen is basically the responsibility of the Foreign Office”, Mr Johnson said of his new role.
Foreign Secretary, short for Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, is one of the four most senior positions in the United Kingdom government.
Johnson’s first full day in his new office starts on Thursday.
Technically, Mrs May could have simply ignored Mr Johnson, who has no government experience.
Many were surprised new post-Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May had given him the role, citing his history of faux pas including insulting the president of Turkey and commenting on the U.S. president’s ancestry.
He also dismissed comments by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that he had “lied a lot” during the Brexit campaign, saying he had just received a “charming letter” from his French counterpart.
His predecessor in the job was Philip Hammond, who was named finance minister on Wednesday.
Johnson was accused of misleading voters by proclaiming that Britain was paying £350 million ($NZ647 million) a week to the European Union that could be spent on the National Health Service.
In a surprise move, it kept the bank’s benchmark interest rate at the current record low of 0.5 percent, where it has stood since the depths of the financial crisis in March 2009.
Johnson had appeared destined for the political wilderness after backing out of the contest to replace Cameron as Conservative Party leader. During the Brexit campaign, he compared the European Union to one of Adolf Hitler’s projects and stoked fears that Turkey was about join the bloc, leading to mass immigration to Britain.
“On day one of Obama’s administration it was returned, without ceremony, to the British embassy in Washington”, Johnson wrote in the Sun newspaper.
One internet picture of a laughing German Chancellor Angela Merkel has an aide supposedly telling her: “You’ll never guess who is UK Foreign Secretary”.
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John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, spoke to Mr Johnson by phone today and urged Britain to be “sensible”.
