Today, Boris Johnson's own brother, Jo, has dramatically quit the government in an apparent protest over the current leadership of the Tory party and the country.
Johnson, who had recently returned to government after being appointed as the minister for universities and sciences but is now citing 'unresolvable tension' and being 'torn between loyalty and the national interest' as the reasons behind the decision.
It’s been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs. In recent weeks I’… https://t.co/HsERmUFFc5— Jo Johnson (@Jo Johnson) 1567678685
As you can imagine, the prime minister is being mocked for his own brother being willing to leave his side, over his handling of Brexit, which he would have banked on happening.
One thing that wouldn't have anticipated would be a quote from 2013, where he practically said that this sort of thing would never happen in his family and was more of a 'left-wing thing.'
During a trip to Australia, when he was still the Mayor of London, Johnson spoke to The Australianabout his brother, who had just been appointed as the head of policy under David Cameron.
He also touched on a development which was happening in the Labour party at the time, where David Miliband was making his disappointment known about losing out to his brother, Ed, in the leadership race.
Johnson told the paper that he and his brother would never publicly scrutinise each other in such a manner, which he feels only 'socialist could do.'
Absolutely not. We don't do things that way, that's a very left-wing thing ... only a socialist could do that to his brother, only a socialist could regard familial ties as being so trivial as to shaft his own brother.
I mean, unbelievable. Only lefties can think like that ... they see people as discrete agents devoid of ties to society or to each other, and that's how Stalin could murder 20 million people.
Given what has happened today, people can't help but share this quote all over again in full appreciation of the irony.
Boris Johnson talking about Ed Miliband in 2013: "We don't do things that way, that's a very Left-wing thing. Only… https://t.co/0xBt0MMbBc— Rosamund Urwin (@Rosamund Urwin) 1567679336
This hasn’t aged well...we’re not like the Milibands, say the Johnsons in 2013... https://t.co/364QaZTS7Y— Chris Mason (@Chris Mason) 1567681618
@HarryYorke1 has spotted this quote from Boris Johnson talking about Ed Miliband in 2013: "We don't do things that… https://t.co/BeWqpFXs1W— Gordon Rayner (@Gordon Rayner) 1567680986
Pay attention to the Tory media line, remember as little as five years ago they accused Ed Miliband of 'stabbing hi… https://t.co/5TjAUG1Hee— ®️I©️🇰y (@®️I©️🇰y) 1567683453
At this difficult time for Boris Johnson let's take a moment to remember his disgraceful comments about Ed and Davi… https://t.co/TxdxULT51E— Joe Cox (@Joe Cox) 1567681521
David Miliband eventually quit as a member of the shadow cabinet in October 2010 but did continue to serve as the MP for South Shields before leaving the role in 2013. Ed Miliband still serves as the MP for Doncaster North.
It remains to be seen what Jo Johnson will do next but he definitely won't be an MP anymore, which is likely to make family reunions very awkward affairs.