Boris Johnson: either he had just said something wrong, or he burped (too much alcohol at a ‘work meeting’, was it)?

At last the UK’s lying prime minister admits having “inadvertently” misled Parliament in a speech in the House of Commons.

We may draw two conclusions from this: firstly, it’s a genuine mistake, and secondly, it doesn’t have any bearing on Johnson himself.

And of course we’re right:

Boris Johnson has admitted that he “misspoke” after he told MPs that the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was “already facing sanctions”.

Downing Street said the prime minister would correct the parliamentary record after he mistakenly included the Chelsea FC owner as one of those hit by the government’s retaliatory measures against Russian interests.

The prime minister said out sanctions against five Russian banks and three wealthy Russian individuals in response to Vladimir Putin’s military incursion into Ukraine, but Mr Abramovich was not on the list.

Challenged by Labour MP Margaret Hodge on why Mr Abramovich and others had not be targeted, Mr Johnson said “Abramovich is already facing sanctions” – sparking claims he had misled the House.

Of course the real question should be – as was put by a friend of This Writer on Facebook earlier: Only five small banks and three individuals? Is this a token act to give all other Russian investors in the UK time to get their money into the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, or some other tax haven?

Source: Boris Johnson admits he misled MPs by claiming Roman Abramovich faces sanctions in humiliating climbdown