UK Government Plays Down Johnson 'War Guard' Jibe

The U.K. government on Thursday appeared to row back on recent controversial comments made by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson likening French President Francois Hollande to a WWII camp guard.



Speaking about Brexit, Johnson had said: "If Mr. Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who seeks to escape [the EU], in the manner of some World War II movie, I don't think that is the way forward, and it's not in the interests of our friends and partners."



However, a U.K. government spokesperson on Thursday distanced the state from the comments which provoked a stream of condemnation from British and European politicians:



"He [Boris Johnson] was making a point. He was in no way suggesting that anyone was a Nazi," the spokesperson said during a briefing.



"He was making a theatrical comparison to some of those evocative WW2 movies," she added.



Johnson made the remark during a visit to India, where he was asked a question regarding French comments that Britain should not expect a better trading relationship with Europe once the U.K. left the EU. -