Boris Johnson is ‘irrelevant and offensive’ says top business guru Digby Jones
Boris Johnson was dismissed as "irrelevant and offensive" today by one of the UK's top businessman today.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Lord Digby Jones attacked the former foreign secretary over reports he said "fuck business" when told of concerns from the sector over Brexit.
Johnson refused to deny the claims when challenged on them in June, telling MPs he may have "expressed scepticism about some of the views of those who profess to speak up for business".
Speaking at to party members today, Lord Jones – the former CBI chief who sits as a crossbencher in the upper chamber – hit out at the remark.
"Business is so important that when I heard a former foreign secretary f-business, it showed him up for the irrelevant and offensive person he really is and I take great exception to that," said the peer.
Conservative MP Nigel Huddlestone christened Jones the "darling" of the conference after the speech, which saw the businessman receive a standing ovation.
The criticism came after Johnson used a newspaper interview on Sunday to launch a full-throated attack on Theresa May's Brexit policy, branding her so-called Chequers proposal as "entirely preposterous" and "deranged".