‘Hulk’ Johnson shies away from fewer than 100 protesters in Luxembourg
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In the end the Incredible Hulk shied away from fewer than 100 protesters, Politico reports.
Rather than face heckling from a small but boisterous crowd of demonstrators, Boris Johnson skipped a planned outdoor press conference with his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel on Monday, leaving his host to deliver a grandstanding lecture on how Brexit had been pursued for Tory party advantage but with no plan for how to deliver it.
Standing in front of a British flag, Bettel gestured several times at the empty podium next to him, noting mischievously that he had hoped to thank Johnson for their exchange of views.
In brief remarks, he lambasted the U.K. prime minister for not putting forward a concrete alternative to the Withdrawal Agreement in writing. He also lashed out at the Tories for falsely promising that Brexit would be easy to accomplish, voiced unwavering support for Ireland, and demanded Brexit supporters stop blaming the EU for the mess they have made.
This is a nightmare!” said Bettel during an impassioned address in Luxembourg on Monday afternoon.
“You can’t hold the future hostage for party political gain,” he went on, to rapturous applause.
Speaking passionately on the current state of Brexit, Bettel said it was time to “stop speaking and act”, insisting “we won’t accept any agreement that goes against the single market or the Good Friday Agreement”.
