Boris Johnson should take “a paternity test” that would show he was the father of Brexit, Emily Thornberry has said in a swipe at the foreign secretary at Labour conference, where she joked he should appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
The shadow foreign secretary drew laughter from the floor in Brighton as she mocked the turmoil in the Conservative party over Johnson and Theresa May’s competing visions for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
In a lively speech, Thornberry told delegates Johnson had “not been happy lately” in the cabinet. “Apparently he’s sick of being blamed for the way Brexit is going and all the broken promises of the leave campaign,” she said.
“I’m sorry – what? Who does he think made all those promises? Who does he think was in charge of the leave campaign? I know that Boris doesn’t like paternity tests, but maybe we need one for Brexit.
“Maybe we should take him into a studio with Jeremy Kyle: ‘Sorry, Mr Johnson, we got the results back and it looks like this one is one of yours. It must have been that wild night out you had with Michael Gove … I’ve calculated your maintenance payments and that’ll be £350m a week’.”
Thornberry said Labour’s Brexit team were “grownups” who could negotiate efficiently, compared with Conservative infighting.
“Next week in Manchester, we’re going to see six Tory rats fighting in a sack, not worried about protecting the jobs of the British people. Just every one of them looking out for their own,” she said.
Thornberry, who received a standing ovation for her speech, told delegates it was “not enough for us just to be better than the Tories”, but that Labour must “set an entirely new standard for Britain and a shining example to the world”.
She added: “We have the leader in Jeremy [Corbyn] to do it,” she said. “We have the team on this stage to do it. We have the members in this hall, and all across the country, who will hold us to it. So let us make that our mission. And this time – this time – let us make it our record.”
