Methinks they doth protesteth too much

LibDem and Labour MPs in the city of Portsmouth don't like Boris Johnson's characterisation of this fair city, on pulling up in a car at Portsmouth University:

"Here we are, in one of the most depressed towns in Southern England, a place that is arguably too full of drugs, obesity, underachievement and Labour MPs."

A LibDem MP and a Labour MP for the city want Mr Johnson sacked from the Conservative Front Bench.

In a classic soclialistic attempt to muddy the waters the city council responds to his criticism by comparing Portsmouth unfavourably with Bournemouth and Bristol, but as neither of those two places is in South East England, which is the comparison the good Boris was making, I fail to see their point.