Theresa May faces calls to sack Boris Johnson over Libya comments

Tory and Labour MPs demand action after foreign secretary said Libyan city of Sirte could be next Dubai once it ‘cleared the dead bodies away’

Rowena Mason and Jessica Elgot
Wednesday 4 October 2017 11.04 BST

Theresa May is facing calls to sack Boris Johnson from her own backbenchers after he said a war-torn Libyan city only had to “clear the dead bodies away” to become a world-class tourist and business destination.

Johnson was accused by Labour of being “unbelievably crass, callous and cruel” about those who died in the battle to reclaim Sirte from Islamic State (Isis), after he was asked at the Conservative party conference what it was like visiting Libya as foreign secretary.

Speaking about the potential of Sirte, the Libyan city where Muammar Gaddafi was killed, Johnson drew gasps and embarrassed laughter from the audience when he said: “There’s a group of UK business people, wonderful guys who want to invest in Sirte, on the coast, near where Gaddafi was actually captured and executed as some of you may have seen.

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Heidi Allen was the first Tory MP to call for Johnson to lose his cabinet job over the Libya remarks. She said late on Tuesday that it was “100% unacceptable from anyone, let alone the foreign secretary”, adding: “Boris must be sacked for this. He does not represent my party.”

Her Conservative colleague Sarah Wollaston MP joined in the criticism of Johnson, adding: “Demeaning jokes about real people murdered in Libya would be crass even from a standup; appalled to hear this from our foreign secretary.”

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