The mayor of London said today that he believes the Guardian’s exposure of espionage within UK and US intelligence agencies was right and that the public deserved to know.
Johnson’s defense contrasts with Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement that the revelations made “this country less safe.” Cameron said earlier this week that the government is considering taking “tougher measures” against the Guardian and other newspapers.
Johnson said: “The world is better for government being kept under the beady-eyed scrutiny of the media and for salient and interesting facts about public espionage being brought into the public domain. I personally defend the Guardians right to publish interesting information, such as that Angela Merkel’s phone was bugged by Obama. I think that is an interesting fact.
“I don’t believe for a second that that fact does anything to jeopardise anybody’s security. It’s merely colossally embarrassing and it should come out."
When asked about his own phone, he said: “I am sure my mobile is being bugged by everybody. Good luck to them.”
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