Lies, Damned Lies and Boris Johnson – Part 1
In my last post about the Tory Leadership race I called Boris Johnson (real name Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson) a pratt and a serial lier. I thought that it might be a good idea to justify my accusation that his grasp on reality is frail – as well as being self serving. Originally it was going to be just 1 post, however Boris Johnson has told so many lies…… The lies, in no particular order. Brexit 1. ‘once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350m per week. It would be a fine thing as many of us have pointed out if a lot of that money went on the NHS, provided we use that cash injection to modernise and make the most of new technology.’ This claim has been thoroughly shown to be false. Either Boris was stupid and believed his own lie, or he was wilfully lieing. He also lied about refering to the £350m at all, until shown TV footage of him talking about it – Oops! Boris Johnson is being taken to court over this lie. Marcus Ball has raised over £200,000 from public donations to prosecute Boris over this lie. 2. ‘I look at so many young people with the 12 stars lipsticked to their faces, and I am troubled with the thought that people are beginning to have genuinely split allegiances. And when people say that they feel they have more in common with others in Europe than with people who voted leave I want to say, but that is part of the reason why people voted leave.’ OK, so not a lie, but is he really calling 16m people unpatriotic because they disagree with him??? 3. People from the EU are responsible for the housing shortage. ‘And I can think of obvious ways in which Brexit can help us tackle the housing crisis – perhaps the single biggest challenge for the younger generation.’ Where to begin with this one? He really was scraping the bottom of his barrel of lies when he pulled out this plum! It is not investors from the EU that has caused the housing crisis. It is the chronic underfunding of housing by this and previous governments that is the root cause of the problem. Changing the cause and blaming those damned foreigners is such a cheap lie. 4 It is “absolutely crazy” that the EU was setting rules on the shape of bananas. Can you believe that Alexander, sorry Boris Johnson, ever said this? Yes, at the Brexit campaign launch he made this tired, and worn old claim. It was a lie when it started doing the rounds in the 1990s it was a lie when he said it in 2016, and again in 2017. 5 Three lies for the price of one, Boris really is the gift that keeps on giving! Boris said “I am very pro-Turkish, but what I certainly can’t imagine is a situation in which 77 million [his estimate] of my fellow Turks and those of Turkish origin can come here without any checks at all. That is really mad” – Daily Express, 18 April 2016 Then he went on to say; “It’s government policy to accelerate Turkish accession” – BBC EU referendum debate, 21 June 2016 The allegation that Turkey is anywhere near joining the EU is as wrong today as it was when Boris started peddling this lie. The third lie? That he ever mentioned Turkey during the Brexit campaign! Boris Johnson has wrongly claimed that he “didn’t make any remarks about Turkey, mate” during the EU referendum campaign, in comments that overshadowed a speech in Staffordshire intended to burnish his leadership credentials. Leadership credentials? Consistancy is fundemental, Boris is consistant, he lies like the rest of us change our socks…..
Tory Leadership Race
Theresa Goes, eventually. May is leaving us with a whimper, and so is Theresa. Yesterday she told the grieving/jubilant nation (depends on whether you are Theresa or Boris) that she had failed. Give her her due, it has only taken 3 rejections by the House of Commons to realise what we all knew 2 years ago. Her “Brexit means Brexit” strategy should have been called “Brexit means exit, stage left”. Now the Tory Leadership race begins for real. Theresay May has done what had seemed impossible, she made Gordon Brown look like an effective PM. The people that I feel real sorry for are the political hacks who will have to write new pieces rather than rehashing the same “TM to be kicked out this week” stories that have dominated the Sunday papers week after week for months. Prepare for weeks of articles peppered with leaks about the Tory Leadership hopefulls from un-named sources. The knives will be out, and how. Politics as a blood sport. The runners and Riders Reading the Tory blogs and you seem to have a field for the Tory Leadership that would be almost as big as that for the Grand National, with the prospect of even m ore fallers! The listy so far; Boris Johnson (Well known prat and serial lier) Esther McVey (Ex- Children’s BBC presenter and briefly “in charge” of Works and pensions) Jeremey Hunt (Re-named, appropriately by James Naughty. Also read about his disgraceful Hilsborough comments here!) Rory Stewart (Who? I mean, really, WHO?) Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health, the one that promoted a private company’s health app, while being the Health Minister. He really is dedicated to the NHS, honest) Who else is saddling up to Join the Tory Leadership race? Dominic Raab (Secretary of State for Exiting the EU for about 3 months before it all became too much for the poor dear. Quit and run away rather than fight for what you believe in. At least May tried.) David Lidington (De-facto May’s number 2. Most interesting part of his political career? That he thought that it was OK to claim expenses for, amongst other things, dry cleaning, toothpaste, shower gel, body spray and vitamens. At least we paid to made him healthy and smell nice. I believe that his apology was something like “I accept that many people would see them as over-generous.” Such a fulsome apology) Michael Gove (Yes, the Govemeister is going to try again! Let’s hope that he has been forgiven for stabbing Boris in the back last time, and that he can do it again!) Penny Mordaunt (Always in the top 10 of MPs, at least for expenses in 2015. Beaten by 9 MPs who claimed for travel, like Penny, but then most of them were travelling to and from Scotland, she was travelling to and from Portsmouth North.) Andrea Leadsom (Another making another run at the top job. You will remember that last time she said that she would be a better PM because, unlike May, she had children. Oh yes, a fully paid up member of the supportive sister-hood. On the other hand she was an investment banker in a previous life, Say no more! There are others, lots of them. But I am losing the will to live thinking about these shady chancers. One Name is missing from the Tory Leadership Listings What about Amber Rudd? I hear you ask. Well, she resigned from the cabinet this week and a couple of days later May steps down. Historically, those that cause the Tory PM of the day to fall on their sword are thanked by their colleauges but not supported in the resulting ballot. Did she really cause May to go or not? I can not see how, I think that it had much more to do with May’s misjudgement over her “new, improved” offer. On the other hand she might be scared that people will remember her past record. Such as; Her part in the unlawful detention and deportation of asylum seekers. Overseeing a rise in violent crime (slash police numbers and crime goes up, who’d have thought?) Lieing to the House of Comons about knowing about targets for deprting members of the Windrush Generation. One Dark Horse for the hustings? Sir Graham Brady has resigned as chairman of the 1922 comittee. It would seem that he is readying a bid for the Tory Leadership. As he has been the chairman since 2010 he will know where all the skeletons are buried. This could get interesting! Tory Leadership Odds I think that these odds came from Bet365. I may be a cynic but perhaps their clientelle should do some research before they put any money on Farage and Corbyn………. Boris Johnson 6/4Dominic Raab 6/1David Lidington 9/1Jeremy Hunt 12/1 Andrea Leadsom 12/1 Michael Gove 14/1Penny Mordaunt 20/1Rory Stewart 22/1Sajid Javid 22/1Nigel Farage 25/1 Jeremy Corbyn 33/1Amber Rudd 80/1Jacob Rees- Mogg 80/1
Phil’s British Heart Foundation Donation – you know it makes sense
