People are reminding Boris Johnson he wrote an article saying 'Bravo for Assad'

Boris Johnson has fiercely criticised the Assad regime for the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.

After horrific images showed the bodies of dead children in the war-stricken country, the Foreign Secretary told reporters: “You cannot go on with a regime that’s willing to use illegal weapons against its own people, a regime that’s killed hundreds of thousands of its own people.

“What’s needed now is a political process to get rid of that regime and give the people of Syria a chance.”

However, some people have been quick to point out that the Foreign Secretary once wrote an article titled ‘Bravo for Assad – he is a vile tyrant but he has saved Palmyra from Isil’.

In the article, published in March 2016 for The Telegraph, Mr Johnson wrote of how he was glad that Syrian president Bashar Assad stopped Isis from destroying ancient monuments.

He wrote: “I suppose it is bizarre to feel such joy at the military success of one of the vilest regimes on earth.

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“But I cannot conceal my elation as the news comes in from Palmyra and it is reported that the Syrian army is genuinely back in control of the entire Unesco site.”

He went on: “No matter how repulsive the Assad regime may be – and it is – their opponents in Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are far, far worse…

“The victory of Assad is a victory for archaeology, a victory for all those who care about the ancient monuments of one of the most amazing cultural sites on Earth.”

Mr Johnson sang a very different tune when he arrived for a major aid-pledging conference for Syria in Brussels, telling reporters he had seen “absolutely nothing to suggest” the attack was carried out by anyone but the Assad government.

He said: “All the evidence I have – and there may be more to come out of this – all the evidence I’ve seen suggests that this was the Assad regime who did it in the full knowledge that they were using illegal weapons in a barbaric attack on their own people.”

Mr Johnson said he would like to see “those culpable pay a price”, adding: “I think what it confirms to everybody is that this is a barbaric regime that has made it impossible for us to imagine them continuing to be in authority over the people of Syria after this conflict is over.”

He added: “We need to wait and see exactly what has happened. If this is confirmed to have been another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime, with or without the complicity of the Russians…

“I think what it shows is that this is a government that has absolutely no compassion for its own people that has put itself beyond the pale.”

Downing Street has played down the prospect of military action in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, insisting “nobody is talking” about an armed response to the atrocity.

Top pic: Rex