Accusations of being “delusional” have been directed at Boris Johnson following his remarks suggesting that remain-supporting civil servants were responsible for an increase in migration post-Brexit.
Johnson, the former Conservative leader who was ousted amidst scandal, claimed that there were predictions of mass exodus from the UK after the country’s departure from the EU.
Although recent years have seen a decline in net migration, with figures showing 171,000 in the year ending December 2025, there was a peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023. Critics of the former Prime Minister have dubbed this surge as the ‘Boriswave’.
During an interview with Sky News, Johnson remarked, “People were saying – nice, well-meaning liberal people were saying – Brexit is going to turn us into a leper colony and people are going to flee the UK.”
He further stated, “I actually think that sort of rhetoric was taken seriously by Whitehall – you had a lot of good, nice, remain civil servants. And I think that they thought that we did need to get people in to do social care and to do things like that.
“But as soon as we realised the numbers we used our powers, our legal powers to turn it off. And if I had a complaint, it was after I left office that wasn’t done fast enough.”
Ayesha Hazarika, a Labour peer and broadcaster, swiftly responded, calling Johnson’s views “delusional,” especially regarding immigration. She criticized his attempt to shift blame, likening it to someone setting a fire and then criticizing the fire alarm choice.
Johnson also dismissed the Partygate scandal as “nonsense” during the interview, despite facing fines and leaving office due to the controversy. He stated, “You know what I think about the so-called Partygate nonsense. It was nonsense.”
The revelation of lockdown-breaching parties at No10, exposed by The Mirror, led to a Commons report that found Johnson repeatedly misled MPs on the issue. The report recommended a 90-day suspension from the Commons, but Johnson resigned as an MP shortly before.
Johnson used the interview to urge the incoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to show unwavering support for Ukraine in its conflict against Russia under Putin’s regime. He emphasized the importance of clarity in Western intentions towards Ukraine to deter further aggression from Putin.