Boris Johnson has been failing miserably to do his job as prime minister. It’s both embarrassing and exciting to watch. And now, even a former Conservative chair has felt the need to speak up.
Childish distractions that won’t work
Johnson and his right-wing media pals are desperately trying to portray opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn as a chicken. Why? Because he’s putting country before party and demanding the government takes a no-deal Brexit off the table before committing to a general election. This is consistent with his recent calls for a caretaker government to stop a no-deal Brexit before having a general election and then a second Brexit referendum.
But as Johnson’s team doubles down on its ‘chicken’ campaign, one former Conservative chair is thoroughly unimpressed. And she publicly scolded her colleagues for acting like children:
This James is silly playground behaviour.
We are in the middle of a national crisis and this is our response.🤦🏽♀️
How can grown men reduce themselves to this level of silliness. What has become of this great Party of ours😢 https://t.co/89aStqWjbq— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) September 6, 2019
Former Tory Nick Boles, meanwhile, tweeted:
https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1169918925615894528
Labour MPs, meanwhile, pointed out that Johnson’s efforts were becoming increasingly desperate:
Well at least it's not Trumps Chlorinated Chicken! The Tories political gimmicks are increasingly bizarre, they are becoming desperate 😳 https://t.co/hv3djJDQO4
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) September 6, 2019
From chicken boxes to chicken memes the Tories are distracting from their chaotic leadership and lack of mandate with bad policies and even worse jokes.
The problems facing this country are serious and a competent government would be acting not distracting. https://t.co/ewD0oTd8ud
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) September 6, 2019
People also wondered if this was the best that privately-educated Johnson could do:
You can’t deny the wonder of Johnson’s wit. ‘You’re a chlorinated chicken’ he told Corbyn. That's why the fees are £5 million a term at Eton.
— Mark Steel (@mrmarksteel) September 4, 2019
Johnson lost his first three commons votes (the first PM in history to do so) and his majority live on TV. He's now reduced to begging the opposition for an election because he can't actually do anything. Nobody is convinced otherwise by MPs doing shit chicken tweets just FYI.
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) September 6, 2019
In short, many people think Johnson’s push for an election as soon as possible is a distraction. It’s a distraction from his uselessness and powerlessness, and it’s a distraction from the fact that a quick election would probably be bad for both his opponents and British voters on the whole.
Register to vote, because an election is coming. Just not when Johnson wants it.
Reports have now revealed one potential reason why Johnson is pushing so hard for a quick election. And opposition MPs weren’t about to let this go unnoticed:
Boris Johnson doesn't want you to be able to vote. Make sure you can.
Register to vote today: https://t.co/7bYgtgeefb pic.twitter.com/ZIvKfiwxdn
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 6, 2019
People wondered why Johnson/Cummings were so fixed on 15th October for a general election. Until now we have had Prime Ministers, who when the country faced a possible crisis, put the interest of the country before party advantage. Not with Johnson. https://t.co/jvRfA4mc3v
— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) September 6, 2019
Oh this is the video the Tories want removed. https://t.co/6izNYs3iPC
— Dawn Butler ✊🏾💙 (@DawnButlerBrent) September 6, 2019
But it seems many people didn’t need reminding to register. Because all week, people have been registering to vote in their droves – and especially young people:
This is incredible.
When we've stopped No Deal we need a General Election. So make sure you can actually vote in it.
Register to vote today: https://t.co/vYH9vXVPXQhttps://t.co/5FH2R8KzqQ
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 5, 2019
I'm inspired to hear that over 200,000 ppl registered to vote in the past few days w over half of them being under 35.@UKLabour
is showing true leadership on the big issues inc climate change, Brexit and housing and that message is cutting through🌹✊🏿https://t.co/QsSZwY3Z2S— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) September 6, 2019
The British public desperately needs and deserves a general election. Jeremy Corbyn knows that more than anyone, and has consistently demanded one. He knows that taking Britain back from the cliff edge isn’t just about stopping a no-deal Brexit, but also about getting the Tories out of power. Because they’ve imposed unnecessary austerity policies, which centrists like the Liberal Democrats have enabled. And just one of these policies – cutting public health spending – has led to over 130,000 premature deaths in the UK.
That’s why we need a general election as soon as a no-deal Brexit is off the table. And that’s why we need everyone in Britain to register to vote. Because this is the opportunity of a lifetime to change the direction we’re going in, and everyone should have a say.
Featured image via BBC iplayer
