Boris Johnson sings Augustus Gloop song in defence of free speech

Boris Johnson said he does not understand why he was fined over Partygate (Reuters)

Boris Johnson recited the Augustus Gloop song from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate factory in comments defending free speech.

“The great big greedy nincompoop. What’s wrong with that? Made me weep with laughter,” the former prime minister told the Global Soft Power Summit in London on Thursday (2 March).

It comes after Dahl’s publisher, Penguin, removed language from the book to make it more acceptable to modern readers.

Penguin has since confirmed that 17 of Dahl’s books would be published in their original form later this year, alongside the new versions.

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