Boris Johnson has been slammed after he penned a bizarre Daily Mail column ahead of the Women’s World Cup Final criticising the ruling Afghan government.
England Lionesses fell at the last hurdle after Spain’s women’s national football team secured a narrow victory in Sydney.
Throwing his support behind the team, the former PM and member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip said the “hoplite*-helmet-hairstyled women” have become part of a sporting sensation by placing women’s football on the global stage.
Turning his attention to the Middle East, he said: “If I could, I would strap [The Taliban] into their chairs on Sunday and make them watch until they understood the excitement that goes with a great sporting competition, in which none of the participants gives a monkey’s if they show off a lot of their arms or their legs — and in which some even bare their bras in triumph after scoring a goal.
“Above all, I would force the quivering men of this all-male government to accept the key point: that the skill and courage of the Lionesses are admired by everyone — by women, by men, by the entire family, by every member of the human race.”
It is almost two years to the day since the Western departure from Afghanistan, and the Taliban have since taken charge.
Since then, families have been plunged into poverty, malnutrition threatens over a million children and the dreams of millions of women and girls have been shattered as they endure tight restrictions on their freedoms.
The UK and the international community has been urged to not abandon Afghans just because the country’s troops left.
For Johnson, who was criticised for prioritising dogs of humans during the rescue efforts, his recent column has sparked a degree of outrage on social media.
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