美国国家公共电台 NPR--Boris Johnson announces he'll resign as Britain's Conservative Party leader

Boris Johnson announces he'll resign as Britain's Conservative Party leader

Transcript¹

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign as leader of the Conservatives, according to British reports. But he could remain in office through at least the summer.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Britain's embattled prime minister, Boris Johnson, has announced his resignation. Johnson has dominated British politics in recent years, and his departure comes after a series of scandals. But Johnson said he will not step down immediately but stay on until the Conservative Party chooses a new leader. NPR's Frank Langfitt is following the events from London and joins me now. Hi, Frank.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE²: Hey, Leila.

FADEL: So, Frank, as recently as last night, Johnson was vowing³ to stay and lead the party into another election. And now he says he's going to go. What seems to have forced his hand, and what did he have to say?

LANGFITT: Yeah. I mean, Leila, his government was dissolving in front of his eyes. I mean, yesterday they were happening - people were resigning from his government, sometimes three or four people in an hour. And so this all came after a number of scandals in which, frankly⁴, he didn't tell the truth, and he had lost the support of the public. Most of them, polls show, found him untrustworthy, as did the lawmakers in his own party. And so speaking in front of No. 10 Downing Street this morning, this is how he put it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them's the breaks.

FADEL: Them's the breaks. So. Frank. Johnson is appointing a new Cabinet and could remain in office through at least the summer. How's that going over?

LANGFITT: Poorly, as you would imagine. Many want him out now. He's not popular much anywhere in this country. And in the past, prime ministers have stepped down and had people who were trusted by the party to serve as caretakers. Now, Keir Starmer, he's the leader of the opposition⁵ Labour Party, he says if Johnson tries to cling to power, Starmer would move for a vote of no confidence in hopes of triggering a general election. But honestly, it's not certain that Labour would win such an election, even though they are ahead in the polls. And frankly, Johnson has - he's so polarizing that he's actually been very good for the Labour Party. And that's one of the reasons that they've been leading in the polls recently.

FADEL: Now, Johnson's fall was not over political differences and not over policy, but nearly all accounts, the prime minister did himself in with self-inflicted wounds. Was he reflective or contrite⁶ in his speech at all?

LANGFITT: Not that I heard. I mean, the bottom line is Johnson did make a series of big mistakes. This is what I really recall - allowing parties during COVID lockdown that violated his own government's rules, and then he didn't tell the truth about it. He appointed a lawmaker who was accused of sexual harassment⁷ to a position of power and then pretended that he didn't know. And many people here feel he was done in, as they put it, by his own lies. He also argued with - you know, said that he argued with other party leaders to stay on and work on the big issues confronting the U.K. Then during the speech, Leila, he seemed to blame them for what he says is what he called a herd⁸ mentality⁹ of lawmakers in his own Conservative Party for having to leave. This is what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHNSON: I regret not to have been successful in those arguments. And, of course, it's painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. The herd instinct is powerful. When the herd moves, it moves.

FADEL: Doesn't sound like a man taking accountability there. Where does the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom go from here?

LANGFITT: Well, Johnson, you know, as you were saying, he leaves a big political vacuum here. And we're expecting quite a crowded field to try to replace him. Some people have already thrown their hat in the ring. What they're going to try to do, the Conservative Party, is winnow¹⁰ that field as quickly as possible because Parliament is going to head off for summer break later this month. But it could take a couple of months to work this out. It'll be very interesting to see who ends up back in No. 10 after this is all over.

FADEL: NPR's Frank Langfitt reporting from London. Thank you, Frank.

LANGFITT: Great to talk, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 contrite   

adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的

参考例句：

• She was contrite the morning after her angry outburst.她发了一顿脾气之后一早上追悔莫及。
• She assumed a contrite expression.她装出一副后悔的表情。

7 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

8 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

9 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

10 winnow   

v．把（谷物）的杂质吹掉，扬去

参考例句：

• You should winnow out the inaccuracies of this paper this afternoon.你今天下午把这篇文章中不精确的内容删掉。
• We should winnow out the errors in logic.我们应该排除逻辑中的错误。