Comments made by Boris Johnson in 2012 have resurfaced this week as the Prime Minister prepares to lift strict lockdown rules put in place to protect people from coronavirus.
Talking to business leaders ahead of the Mayoral election, he admitted that his political hero was the cynical leader Larry Vaughn from the movie Jaws.
Vaughn, played by Murray Hamilton, tells police chief Martin Brody to keep the beaches open to protect the town’s tourist trade despite the shark attacks.
Johnson told business leaders: “The real hero of Jaws is the mayor, a wonderful politician. A gigantic fish is eating all your constituents and he decides to keep the beach open.
“OK, in that instance, he was wrong but in principle we need more politicians like the mayor.”
He followed the comments up in an article, saying: “There was one laudable thing about him, and that was his refusal to give way to hysteria.
“I loved his rationality. Of course, it turned out that he was wrong. But it remains that he was heroically right in principle.”
Related: Devolved leaders reject Johnson’s ‘stay alert’ advice in favour of ‘stay at home’
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