Boris Johnson has been pondering where of kiwi fruits come from whilst on a visit to the Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery in Greenford in northwest London.
The UK prime minister joined children for some painting, showing off his skills and working on what appeared to be a watercolour painting of a banana.
One child brandished a kiwi fruit to the mask-clad prime minister, to which he responded “that is called a kiwi fruit.”
He added: “When I was your age, they didn’t exist.”
Mr Johnson then went on to consider whether or not kiwis were invented saying: “Were they discovered, or were they invented, kiwis? Did they breed kiwi fruits?
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“I don’t know…”
One of the children responded to the prime minister’s musings with: “I like coconut.”
Mr Johnson said this was “fantastic.”
Kiwi fruits are in fact native to China and Taiwan and are now cultivated commercially on a large scale in countries including New Zealand, the US, Italy and China.
According to Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Kiwifruit have been grown in New Zealand since the early 1900s, it says: “the first seeds were brought from China by a visiting school headmistress.”
The fruit later made it across to the UK in the 1950s.
The prime minister did more than just ask questions during his visit, he also answered some on the subject of vaccine passports.
When questioned on the potential for needing proof of a negative test or a vaccine to go into a pub, Mr Jonson said: “I really think it’s a bit premature to start talking about that.”
He added: “I do think there is going to be a role for certification” but was careful to underline the “moral complexities” and “ethical problems” that come hand in hand with the idea of a vaccine passport.
