Tom Watson strikes back with jibe at ‘cheese-headed fopdoodle’ Boris Johnson

Tom Watson: Picture credit - PA

Tom Watson has hit back at Boris Johnson for his personal attack on Jeremy Corbyn by branding the Foreign Secretary a “cheese-headed fopdoodle”.

In a speech to the shopworkers’ union Usdaw Labour’s deputy leader will criticise Johnson’s performance in the Foreign Office, accusing him of falling back on “bluster and bombast” in place of diplomacy.

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It comes after Johnson last week branded Corbyn a “mutton-headed old mugwump” during his first major intervention into the general election campaign.

“Boris Johnson is a caggie-handed cheese-headed fopdoodle with a talent for slummocking about,” Watson will say in Blackpool today, mimicking Johnson’s style.

He will add: “When we require diplomacy, Boris sows discord. At a time when we need a serious-minded national representative to deal skilfully with some of the most complex problems our country faces, Johnson falls back on bluster and bombast.”

A fopdoodle is defined as a stupid or insignificant fellow, a fool or a simpleton.

Corbyn last week said the Tories had been “reduced to being personal and name calling” after Johnson’s remarks, and insisted he would not follow suit.

In an article for the Sun, Johnson claimed that the public have a “terrible twinge of human compassion” when they view Corbyn’s performance as leader.

"Well, they say to themselves: he may be a mutton-headed old mugwump, but he is probably harmless,” he wrote in an article for the Sun.

“Do you have those feelings? Have you ever thought the leader of the opposition is an essentially benign Islingtonian herbivore? Have you felt a pang of sympathy for his plight? If so, fight it.”