Boris Johnson on using AI for writing his books: "I love ChatGPT. It's fantastic'

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat down with Al Arabiya English for an exclusive one-hour interview on Monday.

Presenter Michael Prendergast spoke with Mr. Johnson about the Israel-Gaza peace process, President Trump's potential role in the negotiations as well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership in the UK.

The conversation also explored the rise of Reform UK, Nigel Farage's political influence, and whether Mr. Johnson plans to return to frontline politics.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/JrYPQfZNgKE?si=EhpkkK2r9N7xRZ-y

ON PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE ISRAEL-GAZA DEAL: "Well, I think it's an astonishing piece of good news. I think it must be a moment of great joy and relief for people in Israel, but also for people in Gaza, because it means an end to the horrifying bombardments. It means we're on the road to peace. This is a very unfashionable thing to say in London or in Europe or wherever in liberal circles, but I really pay credit to Donald. I give him credit. I think he has worked unbelievably hard. He exerted American pressure, obviously on Hamas, because he said to them, 'Look, if you don't sign this thing, you're going to get wiped out.' But also, he's put the hard word on Netanyahu. It wasn't easy for Netanyahu because he got these guys in his coalition, the ultra right wing nationalists who don't support the agreement. But Netanyahu has had the courage to go ahead and do a deal anyway. It's a very, very hopeful moment. Israel needs to understand and the government of Israel needs to understand that this is the beginning of a process that must give the Palestinians some ability to decide how to run their own lives."

ON IF JOHNSON THINKS DONALD TRUMP DESERVES THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR HIS PART IN THE DEAL: "I do. I think that he has applied the force of his personality and the power of his office to move mountains and to get this thing done. What you see is what you get. The great thing about Donald Trump is his public persona and his real political persona are completely united. They are the same thing. He's very lucky. He speaks from the heart, and it's unmediated by calculation. He just said it, and he's very effective."

"But the way to make this thing nailed on for Trump, you can win the prize, several liberal prizes for peace. If he applies to Vladimir Putin the same pressure that he's put on Hamas. He needs to step up the pressure on Putin, and we all do. The war in Gaza has been terrible, but the war in Ukraine has killed exponentially more people. That's my tip for how the President can win the prize. It belongs with the Americans and with Trump, definitely."

ON UK'S ROLE IN REBUILD OF GAZA: "I hope that the UK will play a big role in rebuilding Gaza, and I hope that there will be, whether Tony Blair is there or not, there's got to be some way of giving confidence to investors in Gaza, and there will be. It's got to be a Palestinian-run place, but without Hamas. We've got to help that happen. We've got to help trigger business investment. That's the best solution."

ON TONY BLAIR'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BOARD OF PEACE: "Actually, I think, to be fair, he has worked very hard on this deal, and he should get a lot of praise for helping to put it together, Tony Blair. I don't think it's the end of the world if he's not there in the Peace Council."

ON SIR KEIR STARMER RECOGNISING THE STATE OF PALESTINE: "I think it's completely vacuous. I think it's trivial. I think it made no difference. It didn't give the Palestinians anything worthwhile. It didn't give the people growing up in Gaza anything worthwhile. It was premature. I mean, it should happen eventually, but it's premature now and it has achieved nothing."

ON HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT SIR KEIR STARMER: "You're seriously asking me this question? He was my opponent. He's terrible. He's a human ballard. He pretends to be very much holier than thou. He pretends to be righteous. But he took all these free suits, free spectacles. Imagine that. 8,000-pound spectacles he took from some labour donor. It was a scandal. Free shoes, free everything. Ridiculous. He gets pushed around. But you don't let China push you around. It's very weak of Starmer to give in to this pressure. Very, very weak.

"Nothing I say should in any way prejudice people's desire to come to London, have a wonderful time. I used to be mayor of the city for eight years as well as Prime Minister. It's a wonderful country. It's a great place to be. But it's sad at the moment because Starmer doesn't know what to do. He's making huge economic mistakes. He's taking too much in tax from businesses. He's driving people overseas. We haven't seen this for 50 years, people leaving the country because of a labour government."

ON REFORM AND NIGEL FARAGE TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER?: "I think it's unlikely. I think he has a very big hill to climb to get there. It's clear that the best bet is for the Tory Party. It's a long way to go to an election, sadly, because we should try and get rid of labour as fast as possible. But the best bet is for the Tory Party to get their together and recover.

"I think Kemi is doing a very good job, which is excellent. But I think there's a lot of disenchantment. I think the voters are very cheesed off. They think, 'The Tories just ascended into factual squabble. Labour's hopeless. Let's try these new guys.' Now, I think the problem with the new guys is that, well, lots of problems. I think their economic prospectus, isn't that good? I think they're not much good on Russia and Ukraine either."

ON KEMI BADENOCH AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY: "I would say that my own party, the Conservatives Party, should be the natural beneficiary of Labour's unpopularity. We should be doing much, much better. Kemi is very good. She gave a great speech at party conference. Very good. All about helping young people to buy their own home. Brilliant. That's what we want. Young people feel cut out of things because they can't get property. Tories help them. Tories win when we help young people get property."

ON IF REFORM AND NIGEL FARAGE SUGGESTING THE UK SHOULD LEAVE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: "It's not a silver bullet, the ECHR. Leaving the ECHR is I think it's a good thing to do, a respectful thing to do now, but it's not the only thing you need to do."

ON WHAT THE WORLD CAN DO TO HELP UKRAINE: "Putin's got all these oil tankers that are breaking the sanctions. Sink them. Something should happen to them to stop this. It has to stay within the law. You tell people on board the boat, so their time's up, they must get off. But then we should stop this. Then you've got to be tougher on the countries that are keeping Putin going by buying his oil. They're funding his war machine."

"Russia is losing. I mean, obviously, they've been saying that Ukraine is going to be conquered for three years, and Russia has still taken less than 20% of Ukrainian territory, and half of Russia's oil refineries are now out of action, or quite a big proportional, 30, 40% are out of action."

ON WHAT HE THINKS PEACE LOOKS LIKE FOR UKRAINE NOW: "I hope that peace will look like. I don't know what the exact geography of Ukraine will be. I hope that Russia can be persuaded to withdraw as much as possible. It's pointless holding on to this land. They had a huge amount of money remediating it, investing in it. They're better off out of it. But I hope it will involve a free, sovereign, independent Ukraine. That's the most important thing. I think it will. The faster we get to that solution, the better. We need to speed up because this war has been going on for three and a half years. As Donald Trump rightly says, too many people are being killed, and it can and it should end.

"We're saying Ukrainians decide now and forever who their alliances are with, which foreign troops come onto their soil, and not Moscow. So the boots on the ground is an opportunity to clear up the ambiguity. Ukraine has suffered for too long. Since '91, when it was created, it has suffered from its ambiguity. Ukrainians want to be free. They want to be independent."

ON ANDY BURNAM: "Nice chap. He looks like he's wearing mascara the whole time. He's a very nice guy. I always got on very well with Andy. I think being a mayor of Manchester suits him, and he's a good campaigner for his own city."

ON THE FUTURE OF AI, CHATGPT AND WRITING HIS BOOKS: "One thing that really encourages me is AI. I love AI. I love ChatGPT. I love it. ChatGPT is fantastic. It's so nice. I'm writing various books. I just use it. I just ask questions. You know the answer... ChatGPT always says, 'Oh, your questions are clever. You're brilliant. You're excellent.' I love it. I see great promise in this technology because we're all simple. We're human beings."

ON IF A RETURN TO POLITICS IS ON THE CARDS AND WHAT HE'S DOING NOW: "I'm very, very happy. I've got a lot on my plate. I've got four children of five and under. It's a lot of work. I've got to try and pay for my wife's kitchen. I've got to do all sorts. It's a full-time job. I'm writing a lot. I'm drawing and painting. I'm frustrated by the way Labour is taking things, so I want the Tories to come back.

"For me to come back. I think I've compared it before to being reincarnated as an olive or It's about as likely as being blinded by a champagne cork. It is statistically possible or locked in a disused fridge. It's statistically, anything can happen. But water can flow uphill. But it's unlikely. I want my party to come back and to get organised. That's the best solution."

ON WHAT HE WANTS HIS LEGACY TO BE: "I'm proud of having given my country back, or helped give my country back its constitutional legal independence. That was the thing I was elected to do. I think that it was also important that because of that freedom, we were able to vaccinate people. I know you may worry about vaccinations, but we vaccinated people more quickly than any other European country, especially any other country in the world. We came out of lockdowns faster. I'm also proud that the UK was able to work to ensure the freedom of another European country and that Ukraine was not crushed. The battle, the fight is still not over, but at least we helped to avert a catastrophe in the first few weeks and months. I think constitutional legal independence was and is important."

ENDS

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/JrYPQfZNgKE?si=EhpkkK2r9N7xRZ-y

About Micheal Prendergast

Presenter and Editor, Al Arabiya News

A dynamic force in broadcast journalism, Micheal joined Al Arabiya in December 2023 after a standout run as senior guest booker for Piers Morgan Uncensored. There, he secured headline-making interviews with global names including Bill Gates, Ice Cube, RFK Jr., President Isaac Herzog, Tyson Fury, Dana White, and Bassem Youssef, contributing to tens of millions of views and viral success cementing his place in the industry.

Previously, Micheal held key producer roles at ITV, LBC, and NewsUK, earning a reputation for sharp editorial instincts and innovative storytelling. With a career spanning production, booking, and on-air presenting, he's fast becoming a leading voice in modern broadcast media.

About Al Arabiya News

Al Arabiya News is the leading source of news and opinion from the Middle East for English-speaking audiences around the world. It is a 24-hour digital news platform publishing breaking news, politics, business, features, opinion and lifestyle. With a headquarters in Dubai and correspondents across the region, Al Arabiya News presents a globalised view of the Arab world to audiences across five continents.

For editors contact:

Ammar Aziz

Ammar.aziz@alarabiya.net

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