Boris Johnson has an alarming track record of technology stunts

Boris Johnson has an alarming track record of technology stunts(wired.co.uk)

12 points by saxatrumpet 6 years ago | 13 comments

mft_ 6 years ago |

It's Boris-season in the press at the moment, for obvious reasons. Sadly, this article is very poor, seeking to harness anything vaguely related to tech (apparently, that is - a garden bridge?) and spin it negatively, whatever the real situation.

Within the article, he's criticised for:

* supporting ideas which were explored but abandoned (the estuary airport idea, and the garden bridge) - when surely this shows a leader who is willing to be imaginative but who is also willing to listen to reason... which I would have thought would be a good model to espouse?

* supporting people in his wider organisation in exploring tech ideas which were innovative (the gang matrix, for example) - when surely we should praise our governments for adopting more of a tech-style approach to be willing to try new ideas and fail fast?

* things being popularly named after him, whether they were controversial (Boris buses), highly successful (Boris bikes) or unsuccessful (Boris island) - when none of these would have been officially named like that by him (they would probably have been thus named by the press due to his prominence in their creation or start-up, and his newsworthiness, approaching meme status) and when it would have been impossible for him to influence the popular name once adopted by the public.

Don't get me wrong - I'm genuinely not a Boris supporter. But this article is nonsense, jumping on the zeitgeist with weak, trash journalism.

richliss 6 years ago | |

Wired has completely gone down the toilet compared to its glory days.

This article is just another example of how their thinking is political points scoring first, journalistic quality second and technology detail last.

Sadly politics is infecting everything now including HN.

navigatesol 6 years ago |

I haven't kept up with British politics, because- as a Canadian- it's hard enough to keep up with my own and the American's.

What's the appeal of this guy? He seems like a buffoon. Is he the British Donald Trump?

ablation 6 years ago | |

There is no appeal, really. He wasn't elected by the general public, he was elected by 0.35% of the population in the form of the Conservative party members.

This is worth a read if you're trying to understand Boris Johnson: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/08/15/boris-johnson-ha...

navigatesol 6 years ago | | |

>This is worth a read

Perfect, thanks.

dynamite-ready 6 years ago | |

He's seen as a populist, and a buffoon, yes, but he occasionally exhibits flashes of an intelligence rarely found in a politician.

Unfortunately though, he does appear to hold some rather elitist views, has more than once, made racist comments in public, and has been found to lie on numerous occasions, about a countless range of topics.

Even a number of his own supporters acknowledge these issues.

So it's very hard to believe his appointment will be a good thing for the UK.

anonu 6 years ago | |

He backed brexit and now he's going to deliver.

navigatesol 6 years ago | | |

So the sentiment is that May "didn't try hard enough"?

There are advantages to having a sociopathic buffoon in power willing to push through tough legislation, like Trump and immigration reform...provided they don't tear the society apart.