There were, Johnson argued, “a host of issues where, given the chance, he would not hesitate to put his Cuban-heeled bootee into Brexit Britain,” doling out a “punishment beating” and leaving Johnson to “more or less despair” of the French president.
The two leaders had a frosty relationship when Johnson was in office, with sharp disagreements over Brexit, the war in Ukraine, and fishing rights among other topics. Macron held out against a renegotiation of Britain’s post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.
Elsewhere in his memoirs, Johnson writes that then-Prime Minister David Cameron tried a carrot and stick approach to stop Johnson backing the Brexit cause.
Cameron offered a “top five” Cabinet job to Johnson if he backed Remain — then threatened to “f*** you up for ever” if Johnson chose the opposite path.