For the last 41 days, #JohnsonOut has been trending on Twitter. Every day the count ticks up. At time of posting, we are currently on #JohnsonOut41 which has had c35k Tweets and counting.
We are now just a few days away from the big 50. To count it down (like some sort of warped advent calendar) I’m going to start doing a post each day with another reason why we need to make #JohnsonOut happen. To get the ball rolling, I have pulled together a bumper list of 41 reasons.
#JohnsonOut – The early years…
1. He got sacked from his first job at the Times for making up quotes
2. He conspired with an old school friend to have a journalist beaten up
3. Had a 4 year long affair whilst in office…
4. … then got sacked from the Shadow Cabinet lying about it
5. Referred to black people as flag waving picanninies…
6. … with watermelon smiles
7. … referred to gay people as “tank topped wearing bumboys”…
8. …and claimed that Malaysian women only go to University to find men to marry
2008 – 2016: Mayor of London
9. His term as Mayor London was described by insiders as “total, total chaos”
10. He wasted £53m on a garden bridge vanity project that didn’t even break ground
11. … which led to allegations of misconduct in public office
12. Bought water cannons from Germany that were banned from being used in the UK
13. Had an affair with Jennifer Arcuri and used his position as Mayor of London to give her access to government trade missions
2016 – 2018: Vote Leave Campaign and stint as Foreign Secretary
14. Repeatedly lied about the costs of EU membership and made empty promises about funding the NHS
15. … then doubled down, claiming his £350m figure was “too low” even after being reprimanded by the Office for National Statistics
16. Was accused of Islamophobia after stating that Muslim women looked like letterboxes
17. As Foreign Secretary he failed to intervene to save a UK citizen held prisoner by a foreign power
18. Then actively made it worse by stating she was working as a journalist; a statement that was used by the Iranian regime against her
19. When asked about Business leaders concerns around Brexit he reportedly stated “F**k business”
20. Was deemed a security threat by former colleagues due to the likelihood that he would be at risk of blackmail
2019 Pre-COVID Regime
21. He illegally prorogued Parliament to try to force the country out of the EU with No Deal…
22. … then lied to the Queen about it
23. Was accused of breaching the ministerial code by taking money from a Tory donor to complete a £200k flat refurbishment…
24. … then was accused of lying to parliament about it
25. Has repeatedly accepted luxury holidays from donor, such as his trip to Mustique which attracted criticism over the lack of transparency
26. … and attracted further criticism when Zac Goldsmith was, coincidentally, made a life peer shortly after Boris Johnson stayed at his luxury villa
27. Suppressed publication of the Russia Report until after the 2019 election due to the damning revelations about government conduct
28. Blocked the Russia Report from investigating the potential Russian influence on the Brexit referendum
29. Tried to get Chris “Failing” Grayling selected as the Intelligence Committee Chair so that he could control the release of the Russia Report (unsurprisingly, Grayling failed)
30. Whilst suppressing the Russia Report, he made the son of a KGB spy a life peer, giving a person that MI6 had deemed a security risk a permanent seat in the Upper House
31. Hid in a fridge to evade an interview
2020 – 2021: (Mis)handling COVID
32. He failed to turn up to 5 COBRA meetings at the start of the pandemic outbreak, amid claims he was pursuing a policy of herd immunity
33. Failed to protect care homes at the outbreak of COVID, then tried to blame it on care home operators
34. Backed his special advisor after they breached his own lockdown rules… just a few weeks after he had forced Professor Neil Ferguson to resign
35. Setup a VIP lane for COVID contracts that was subsequently deemed unlawful after it had awarded £100s of millions in PPE contracts to people with close links to government ministers (most of whom had no relevant experience)
36. Spent £37 billion on a failed Track and Trace system
2022 – Partygate and #JohnsonOut
37. Repeatedly broke his own lockdown rules, attending at least 6 parties (including a party held by his staff the night before Prince Phillip’s funeral)
38. When challenged on his lawbreaking, he accused the leader of the opposition of having let Jimmy Saville off the hook, which led to death threats
39. … then doubled down on the claims
40. Recently, he has been accused of creating a “cash for access” culture – not really a surprise given everything else on this list!
41. Revelations have arisen recently that he as taken £2m in donations from Russian sources
What do you think? Is it time #JohnsonOut became a reality?
Over the next few weeks I’ll continue adding to this list as we near day 50 of the #JohnsonOut hashtag. Please feel free to leave your own favourites in the comments section below!
Daily Additions:
42. Made Gavin Williamson a knight for no apparent reason!
43. Abandoned Ukrainian refugees
44. Idiotic tax cuts whilst increasing National Insurance
45. Cheated on his wife repeatedly and put her through a divorce whilst she was battling cancer
46. Created world beating queues as a result of Brexit border chaos
47. Threatened to undermine the fabric of democracy by restricting the right to protest
48. Accused of ignoring intelligence services concerns around Lebedev before making him a Peer
49. Wasted £2.6m on a new media room then used it to watch films
50. Betrayed Ukrainian refugees – again – by blocking efforts to create a humanitarian corridor
Awesome, great work! It makes for reading which is simultaneously harrowing and laughable. Johnson and all his terrible, disaster capitalist cronies must go! Thank you
Awesome, great work! It makes for reading which is simultaneously harrowing and laughable. Johnson and all his terrible, disaster capitalist comrades must go! Thank you
Thanks Richard! It was infuriating to write – a lot of things I had forgotten about (and quite a few that I’d rather have remained forgotten)!