Clip of Boris Johnson praising bankers resurfaces after he says Britain should clap for them like the NHS

Just when you thought Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus crisis had hit rock bottom, the prime minister has suggested that Britons should clap for bankers in the same way they do the NHS.

Yesterday the PM promised to tear up planning regulations and invest £5bn in infrastructure projects as part of his “New Deal”.

During the speech, he said:

My friends - I am not a communist.

I believe it is also the job of government to create the conditions for free market enterprise.

And yes of course we clap for our NHS - but under this government we also applaud those who make our NHS possible - our innovators, our wealth creators, our capitalists, our financiers.

In the end, it is their willingness to take risks with their own money that will be crucial for our future success.

Of course the idea that Britain should clap for “financiers”, who were bailed out by the taxpayer despite bearing responsibility for the last financial crash in 2008, has gone down about as well as anyone could expect. People are furious.

But now another video has surfaced of the PM praising bankers.

When asked about his infamous “f*** business” remarks last year during the Conservative leadership contest, the PM said:

I can’t think of any other politician, even Conservative politician, who from the crash of 2008 onwards actually stuck up for the bankers.

Can you think of anybody who stuck up for the bankers as much as I did? I defended them day in, day out, from those who frankly wanted to hang them from the nearest lamppost.

Given Johnson’s most recent comments, this clip has been doing the rounds on social media again.

We know people like it when politicians are honest, but maybe Johnson should lay off the banker praise for a little bit.

Read the room, Boris.