Margaret Beckett could not contain her disappointment when reflecting on the Trump result
One last British foreign secretaries to deal with a Republican administration today launched an uncharacteristic tirade against Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and the American people.
The usually understated Margaret Beckett, who held a number of cabinet positions as part Tony Blair's government, was unable to hide her feelings when speaking on BBC radio this lunchtime.
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She said that her immediate reaction to the result was that she was "horrified and terrified".
"I’ve watched for the last 18 months or so at how he has lied, slandered, abused everybody around him."
Boris
Turning her attention as to how the Conservative government would go about dealing with Trump administration, she was even more gloomy:
The only thing that makes me feel even worse than I already do is the thought of Boris Johnson negotiating with Donald Trump.
Boris, like him, is dishonest. Boris, like him, is plausible. Boris, like him is a phoney and a nasty piece of work. God help us all.
Beckett added that she felt that the American people were "clutching at straws" in thinking that Trump would offer them a better way. Perhaps one of the most ear-catching responses by the usually mild mannered Labour MP was:
“I don’t care. I’m not the foreign secretary anymore, I’m simply a backbench MP. I can say what I like occasionally."
Read more: Global leaders react to Trump victory: Putin offers his congratulations
George Dubya
Determined to air her grievances to the general public on the topic, Beckett had one final surprising comment to make about her time as foreign secretary between 2005 and 2007 and dealing with the last Republican president.
I am now going to say something that will totally upset everybody that I haven’t already made furious. In person, George W Bush was a much smarter and a much better politician than we, in this country, ever gave him credit for. I don’t think that is the case with Donald Trump.
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