Sorry: Boris Johnson seeks to dampen anger over Spectator report
Spectator editor Boris Johnson’s “sackcloth and ashes” visit to Liverpool this week drew a mixed response from the local media.
Liverpool Daily Post editor Jane Wolstenholme said she was willing to hear out Johnson’s apology over the Spectator ‘s comments that Liverpudlians’ reaction to the murder of Iraq hostage Ken Bigley showed they were “hooked on grief”.
Wolstenholme said she needed to be convinced of two things: “First, that his apology is sincere and not just a publicity stunt and, secondly, that in the event of the Tories gaining power Boris would, as culture secretary, be capable of promoting Liverpool to the world when it is European Capital of Culture in 2008.”
However, Joe Riley, columnist for the Liverpool Echo said that “no apology would suffice” and that it would be wrong for Johnson to become culture secretary if the Tories won the next election. He said: “He can’t be a bone fide journalist if he has to take instruction from a political leader and he will never be taken seriously as a political force. My advice to him would be to take out an equity card and become an actor”
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