5 of the most cringe-worthy moments from Boris Johnson’s car crash South Shields speech

From Peppa Pig world to car impressions and Biblical comparisons
Boris Johnson’s CBI speech has been described as ‘shambolic’ (Photo: Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images)Boris Johnson’s CBI speech has been described as ‘shambolic’ (Photo: Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Boris Johnson’s CBI speech has been described as ‘shambolic’ (Photo: Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

A couple of weeks on from his controversial mask-less visit to Hexham Hospital, Boris Johnson was back in the North East yesterday as he stopped by South Shields.

The Prime Minister was making a speech to the Confederation of British Industry in what was billed as an opportunity to outline how the government's green policies could contribute to the Levelling Up agenda.

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The dramatic plans included an announcement that all new homes would require an electric car charger, something that Newcastle is desperately short of.

However, Mr Johnson's speech was full of stumbling moments and tasteless references which once again made the headlines, instead of his politics.

NewcastleWorld.com looks into five of the most cringe-worthy sections from the speech.

1) "Hands up anyone who's been to Peppa Pig world?"

At one odd moment, the Prime Minister went off on a tangent about his recent visit to Peppa Pig World.

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"Hands up anyone who's been to Peppa Pig world?" Mr Johnson asked the room, clearly expecting a wave of arms.

He was instead greeted by blank faces - Hampshire's Peppa Pig world is, after all, 328 miles away from South Shields.

2) "Forgive me"

There's a lot of things that the Prime Minister is notoriously stubborn about apologising for.

However, Mr Johnson begged for the crowd's forgiveness three times in a row yesterday as he fumbled through his speech notes, losing his place.

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The awkward moment was later picked up on by Geordie duo Ant & Dec that evening, who referenced the line during a segment on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.

3) "That vroom vroom, vrahh, vrahh"

If you just tuned in for one part of Mr Johnson's speech, you'd be forgiven for thinking he was talking to a nursery school.

When finally managing to get on track with the speech and enter the topic of electric cars, he took pleasure in giving his best car impression.

One Twitter user wrote that: "Boris Johnson doing an impression of a car will haunt my dreams."

4) You can call me Moses

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People often compare Boris Johnson to many things and yesterday the Prime Minister himself likened himself to a well-known figure.

He compared himself to the biblical figure Moses delivering the 10 commandments, as he bumbled through his speech.

Mr Johnson said he "came down from [Mount] Sinai and [told] my officials [about] the new 10 commandments".

5) "I hesitate to quote Lenin"

The Prime Minister was understandably hesitant to quote Russian Communist Vladimir Lenin during his speech.

Yet, he did it anyway.

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Bizarrely, he said: "Lenin once said that the Communist Revolution was Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country.

"Well, I hesitate to quote Lenin before the Confederation of British Industry, but the coming industrial revolution is green power plus the electrification of the whole country."