Why Boris Johnson cannot be trusted
10 days to Polling Day
The problem with Boris Johnson
Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson has called out Boris Johnson and made a plea for both gender equality but for tackling the systemic issues faced by women in politics and the workplace.
In a recent speech, Jo Swinson has outlined the reasons why Boris Johnson cannot be trusted by voters, referencing his lies about the Irish Sea border, about protecting the rights of EU citizens, and lying to the Queen to unlawfully shut down democracy.
With Boris Johnson's father, Stanley being rolled out to the TV studios to defend his son going AWOL for the Channel 4 Debate and trying to avoid questioning from interviewer, Andrew Neil, he successfully underlined why the UK doesn't need another dose of Eton Mess by claiming that the general public's level of literacy is so inadequate that they couldn't spell his son Boris's new nickname, Pinocchio!
In a recent NewYork Times article 'Pity British voters' and retweeted by Will Hutton @williamnhutton Britain's Dirty Election, the depth of despair about the binary choice facing UK voters is graphically spelled out. - A litany of lies and disinformation. We have fallen very low, says Will Hutton
London based journalists Peter Geoghegan and Mary Fitzgerald say in the NYT article: 'Pity British voters'
'Not because they face a choice between two historically unpopular candidates for prime minister - Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn - on Dec. 12. Nor that they are being forced to trudge to polling stations for the third general election in five years, this time in the depths of the miserable British winter.
Pity British voters because they are being subjected to a barrage of distortion, dissembling and disinformation without precedent in the country's history. Long sentimentalized as the home of "fair play," Britain is now host to the virus of lies, deception and digital skulduggery that afflicts many other countries across the world.
In this as in other respects, Prime Minister Boris Johnson - a serial liar who lost his first job as a journalist for inventing quotes - resembles President Trump. And Britain, whose election is breaking down under the pressure of manipulation, increasingly looks like the United States. Truth and falsehood have become malleable concepts. Anything goes.
Social media is the staging ground. During a recent TV debate between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Corbyn, the Conservative Party renamed its Twitter account factcheckUK, which it then used to push out partisan messages designed to look like independent verification.
When called out, the Conservatives doubled down. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that voters "don't give a toss" about what happens online. His cabinet colleague Michael Gove went even further, refusing to rule out repeating the trick. (Twitter upbraided Britain's largest party for infringing its rules but stopped short of taking any action.)'
This was far from an isolated incident. Barely 24 hours after the televised debate, the Conservatives launched a fake website for those looking for the opposition Labour Party's manifesto. The party paid Google to ensure that its site - which accused Labour of having "no plan for Brexit" - appeared at the top of internet search results. And in recent days, Conservative activists have bought Facebook ads impersonating the Green Party in an attempt to "split the anti-Tory vote."
Jo Swinson says, Boris Johnson is no champion of woman's rights
"Boris Johnson has said he will "support women to reach their full potential" in politics and the workplace if the Conservatives win the general election said Jo Swinson in her recent speech.
• Boris Johnson's use of sexist and misogynist language demonstrates that his views are stuck in the past and he is no champion of women's rights.
• He is part of the problem and puts women off from getting involved in politics. This is all a transparent campaign tactic; he does not believe in genuine equality.
• It's totally hypocritical to say he would support women when he is the one who has dismissed concerns of female MPs regarding their safety and the use of violent language as "humbug".
• The Liberal Democrats are committed to gender equality and tackling the systemic issues faced by women in politics and the workplace.
Concluding, Jo Swinson added that the Liberal Democrats are the only party that can take seats away from the Conservatives and deprive Boris Johnson of a majority.
END
Source: New York Times.'Pity British voters' By Peter Geoghegan and Mary Fitzgerald
Peter Geoghegan (@PeterKGeoghegan) is the author of the forthcoming "Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics" and investigations editor at openDemocracy, where Mary Fitzgerald (@maryftz) is editor in chief.
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