The whole room laughed at his comments
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under fire after 'joking' that the UK could become “the Saudi Arabia of penal policy” under Home Secretary Priti Patel.
During a speech at a Conservative Party fundraiser on September 10, the PM made flippant remarks in relation to Saudi Arabia, as seen in video footage obtained from Business Insider.
“In the immortal words of Priti Patel or Michael Howard or some other hardline home secretary, addressing the inmates of one of our larger prisons: it’s fantastic to see so many of you here,” he said at the InterContinental London Park Lane in Mayfair.
“I said last year we’re the Saudi Arabia of wind. Probably the Saudi Arabia of penal policy, under our wonderful Home Secretary,” Johnson said.
Patel has been criticised on nearly every policy she has discussed. From her armoured Jet skis to her treatment of Channel crossings, Patel is often at odds with a vast number of UK citizens.
Johnson has consequently been called out across the internet for his comments at the luncheon, which cost £500 per ticket.
"Saudi Arabia beheads its own citizens, tortures activists exercising their democratic rights and kills homosexuals. This is disgusting. As ever with Boris Johnson behind closed doors, the masks slips, and we see what he really thinks," Tweeted Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner.
"If Boris Johnson is joking about the UK becoming the new Saudi Arabia of "penal policy", it means that he must know exactly that these policies are in breach of international human rights law, yet he finds this funny. Is the death penalty funny too, Boris Johnson?" tweeted another.
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