Boris Johnson is set to make a speech on Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban in Parliament this afternoon.
The foreign secretary will address the House of Commons at 4.15pm, regarding Mr. Trump’s executive order to prevent immigrants and refugees from seven countries – including Syria and Iran – travelling to the US.
So, what should we expect the former Mayor of London to say of the US President and his latest divisive policy?
Mr. Johnson’s stance on the travel ban itself has been inconsistent in the past two days.
First he issued a tweet calling the policy “divisive and wrong” and stating the need to “protect the rights and freedoms” of UK citizens:
We will protect the rights and freedoms of UK nationals home and abroad. Divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 29, 2017
But today the foreign secretary seemed to change his tone, offering a glimmer of hope for concerned UK nationals and dual citizens travelling from the hot-listed countries by stating them to be exempt from the policy.
It’s not the first time that Mr. Johnson’s comments about the Leader of the Free World have sounded somewhat contradictory either.
Earlier this year he said that he was “looking forward” to working with the US President, tweeting that he hoped to “continue [the] strong UK – US bond” going forward.
Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump @POTUS on his presidential inauguration day. Look forward to continuing strong UK – US bond
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 20, 2017
In fact, Johnson seemed to be in support of Mr. Trump from the moment of his success in the 2016 presidential election. Following the result, he pleaded for the “collective whinge-o-rama” surrounding the President Elect’s victory to end.
But these comments came under scrutiny by the media: the Independent reported last month how he had called Trump “clearly out of his mind” for considering the idea of a Muslim travel ban.
“It’s a free country and you can’t stop people,” he said at the time.
The insults didn’t stop there, either. Johnson went on to say: “The only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”
He even recounted “one of the worst moments” of an earlier trip to New York when a woman walking towards the foreign secretary mistook him for the US President.
Mr. Johnson has also resisted drawing comparisons between the UK’s Brexit strategy and Mr. Trump’s “America first” policies in the past, stating last July that there was “a very, very strong contrast between Brexit and any kind of isolationism”.
None of this necessarily means that the foreign secretary should be expected to condemn the President’s latest policy this afternoon, especially given Theresa May’s refusal to cancel his upcoming state visit.
But given Mr. Johnson’s past U-turns on Mr. Trump and his divisive policies, it seems safe to say that anything could happen.