Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has used his first column in the ‘Daily Mail’ tabloid to detail how a weight loss pill made him sick, so he opted to exercise to lose weight.
Johnson agreed with the newspaper to publish one column a week, after resigning as an MP eight days ago following criticism from the House of Commons Privileges Committee, which concluded that the politician misled Parliament about partygate, the Parties at the official Downing Street residence during the pandemic.
In his 1,200-word newspaper article, the former Conservative Prime Minister discusses his failed experience with appetite suppressants, though he concludes that they could be used to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis.
As is customary, the former leader of the ‘Tories’ uses quotes from the Roman emperor Julius Caesar or the English playwright William Shakespeare to give color to his text.
In his column, Johnson says he noticed a government colleague’s weight loss and wondered how he achieved it.
“I immediately thought of Julius Caesar and his preference for well-fed colleagues. Let me have fat men around me,” said the Roman dictator, shortly before his assassination,” Johnson writes in one of his paragraphs.
He adds that he found out that the government partner had been using a “wonderful” pill that he himself tried, but that he finally gave it up because he got sick, so now he resorts to “exercise and willpower”, but concludes that he could be used to help others lose weight if it works for them.
After it became official on Friday that Johnson would be a columnist for the ‘Daily Mail’, the parliamentary advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba) -regulatory body-, indicated that Johnson committed an “infringement” of parliamentary rules by having reported 30 minutes before that his signing be announced by the tabloid.
The ministerial code stipulates that deputies must ensure that no new appointments are announced before the committee has been able to provide its advice, something mandatory even if a deputy has recently resigned, according to a spokeswoman for that committee.
On Thursday, publishing its report, the Commons Privileges Committee recommended that Johnson be suspended from the Commons for a period of 90 days for ‘partygate’, although the penalty will not be applied because the politician resigned as an MP.
Johnson later called the report “garbage” and called Thursday a “dreadful day” for democracy.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
