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Boris Johnson and his lies

(523 Posts)
Dinahmo Sat 19-Oct-19 15:19:29

The independent think tank UK in a Changing Europe has today found that Johnson's deal would reduce GDP per capita by between 2.3% and 7% over the next decade. This compares with May's deal where the estimate was between 1.9% and 5.5%. They also suggest that a deal would hit public finances by £16bn and £49bn.

Today in parliament Johnson promised that high standards on workers rights an environmental protections will be maintained.

The political declaration can enter UK law but it is only a statement of intent and he can therefore promise the ERG that, if he wins the next election, he will set aside the political declaration and pivot towards deregulation and a sweetheart deal with Trump. The purpose of the ERG is to deregulate at home in order to strike trade deals with the US and emerging markets.

Would someone please explain why he should now be trusted when he has lied throughout the whole of his career. After all, leopards don't change their spots. It would take too long to list all his lies, but here's some, as a reminder:

1. When suspended from the cable car across the Thames, the mechanism apparently failed. Of course, it was deliberately stopped and he claimed it failed for a good photo opportunity.

2. In his manifesto for the London Mayor election he promised that he would ensure that there would be manned ticket offices at every train station. he then agreed to widespread closures in order to fund 24 hour tube trains

3. Also in his manifesto he promised to eradicate rough sleeping - it doubled during his tenure

4. He lied about the reason for proroguing parliament

5. He repeated his lie about the EU regulating the shape of bananas

6. He lied about there being no press when he was at GOS Hospital

Now for the money wasted whilst mayor on vanity projects:

1. Feasibility study into the Garden Bridge - £52 million

2. Cable car £24 million

3. Boris bikes £225 million (original idea Ken Livingstone but BJ implemented it)

4. Water cannon £323,000 - not allowed under UK law, unsold and now scrapped

5. Estuary airport feasibility study £5.2 million

6. Olympic stadium conversion to football pitch for West Ham - £305 million. The club was supposed to contribute £153 million but in the end it only paid £15 million and now pays annual rent of £2.5 million.

7. Routemaster hybrid buses £321.6 million - superseded by the introduction of electric buses. It's USP is now defunct because the doors at the rear "hop on hop off" platforms are closed in moving traffic (and that includes at walking pace)

A few of these projects had small amounts of sponsorship money but most of the costs were funded by the tax payer

Whitewavemark2 Thu 24-Oct-19 10:28:28

True

Robert Saunders
@redhistorian
·
8m
No one expects journalists to be experts in constitutional law or parliamentary procedure, but there are plenty of sources readily available. They may lack the glamour of "Number 10 sources", but the job of the press is to "lift the veil", not admire how neatly it's embroidered.

Whitewavemark2 Thu 24-Oct-19 10:26:02

Johnson is refusing to appear because he knows he will be torn to shreds over his lies and WA

varian Thu 24-Oct-19 07:49:34

Boris Johnson has refused for the third time to appear before the chairmen of select committees

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/boris-johnson/news/107492/boris-johnson-slammed-he

Whitewavemark2 Wed 23-Oct-19 20:50:17

This

varian Wed 23-Oct-19 20:33:33

Contest of incompetents

www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2019/10/23/the-theresa-may-effect-when-a-female-leader-deemed-inept-is-replaced-by-a-far-more-incompetent-man/

Whitewavemark2 Wed 23-Oct-19 16:31:46

Johnson on PMQs

Nonnie Wed 23-Oct-19 11:52:09

ayse Wed 23-Oct-19 10:43:37 and also the way the question is phrased.

varian Wed 23-Oct-19 11:46:02

I do realise that some of those who supported this deal did so because they wanted to vote for amendments, but it does seem crazy that many Labour MPs who did not support Theresa May's deal voted of Johnson's, when his is very much worse from the Labour party point of view.

lemongrove Wed 23-Oct-19 11:22:02

Varian you do realise that Parliament has voted to accept Johnson’s deal, but need more time to look at it?
It means they have accepted it in principle.It’s a start. Messages cut into fields mean zilch.

Ramblingrose22 Wed 23-Oct-19 11:15:00

It is clear that Boris Johnson didn't want MPs to scrutinise his bill so he only released copies of it at the last minute, not allowing MPs to do their job.

In the same way he tried to shut down Parliament for 5 weeks and has rarely attended Prime Ministers Question Time. Parliament must be so inconvenient for him!

As others have said, he is always saying one thing and going back on it. He can't be trusted to deliver on his promises. No wonder the DUP had had enough of him.

Now he's back to his "petulant child" mode, pausing the bill altogether, and when the election comes - like a toddler in the terrible twos - he will say it's everyone else's fault.

It's as shame that Labour's leader is so lacklustre and doesn't know how to lead.

varian Wed 23-Oct-19 10:47:37

A giant anti-Brexit message has been ploughed into a Wiltshire farmer’s field claiming “Britain now wants to remain”.

www.fwi.co.uk/news/eu-referendum/farmer-ploughs-huge-anti-brexit-message-in-field

ayse Wed 23-Oct-19 10:43:37

I’m always doubtful about opinion polls as it depends who is asked to give their opinion. I suspect more young people are of the opinion that remaining in Europe will be much better for them in the long term especially given the proactive stance on climate change (I’m sure that someone will correct me if I’m wrong on this).

Someone said that if you tell someone often enough that something is true they will believe it.

As a remainder, I don’t think a general election will help the situation and would prefer a referendum but who knows what the final outcome will be?

Feeling powerless and living in limbo is certainly not helping our economy and our social cohesion. Mrs May would have received more support from the opposition is she had been more inclusive in her negotiating team with a view to a softer Brexit.

crystaltipps Wed 23-Oct-19 10:34:17

Johnson - there will never be a border in the Irish Sea
- I will never ask for an extension
- do or die we will leave the EU on October 31st
Are these lies? Or just wishful thinking?
How much are those get ready for Brexit ads costing? Funny haven’t heard one today.

varian Wed 23-Oct-19 10:31:23

More evidence that people want to Stop Brexit from Deltapoll.

Poll on 18th Oct (comparison with 5th-7th September excluding don't knows)

Remain 55% (+2)
Leave 45% (-2)

Why are brexit supporting politicians still allowed to get away with saying "people want to get brexit done"? It is a lie.

newnanny Wed 23-Oct-19 09:33:53

When video clips show the lies of the Remainer MP's you say they are selective. I am just pointing out Remainer MP's do lie.

Nonnie Wed 23-Oct-19 09:25:52

Does anyone know the latest score, I've lost count. How many has he won and how many lost?

varian Wed 23-Oct-19 09:15:10

Last night, parliament took back control. In another humiliating defeat for Boris Johnson, MPs rejected the prime minister's attempt to force through his dodgy Brexit deal withoutproper scrutiny.

Far from having fsome grand plan, it is now painfully clear that the
government is running scared. As European Movement president MichaelHeseltine said, "A government which is frightened of parliament is frightened of democracy".

Now, we must tell Boris that we will not stand for his disastrous hard Brexit.

Dinahmo Tue 22-Oct-19 23:26:07

No - I'm saying that they are highly selective. It's just like the photo selections in newspapers. Some will look for the worst shots of Johnson and some will look for the worst shots of Corbyn. I daresay that if I could be bothered to search I'd find clips of far worse lies told by Johnson and the rest of his cabinet. Sadly I've more important things to do.

newnanny Tue 22-Oct-19 22:55:06

They were clips taken from the House of Commons are you suggesting they are not true just because The Express reported the story? It is more a case of some newspapers preferring not to draw attention to the porkies.

Dinahmo Tue 22-Oct-19 22:46:55

newnanny These are fairly innocuous compared to those referred to in my original post. And i take everything that the Daily Express publishes with a pinch of salt.

newnanny Tue 22-Oct-19 22:19:28

@Dinahno since you are so fond of MP's spouting lies perhaps you would like to take a look at these. Watch the clips taken from the house of commons. What do you think of these lies?

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1193579/brexit-news-steve-baker-twitter-video-boris-johnson-deal-theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn

jura2 Tue 22-Oct-19 10:04:17

Again, the taxtics of a dodgy second-hand car salesman. Waste lots of time ... then at the last minute put everyone under massive pressure to approve/sign without having any time to scrutinise the huge contract given.

Classic tactic - put a huge document in front of people with huge time pressure to sign ...

But some are not stupid and will take time to read all the small print. Sometimes the small print says it all- and you know you just can't sign or approve:

Thanks to Caroline Lucas for finding the key to backdoor trap. So, Clause 30 has been inserted after section 13A of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 :
which basically means that if the Governement does not propose an extension to the transition, MPs will have NO say, and if negotiations on future relationship are unfinished by end of December next year, we will automatically be out with No Deal.

MaizieD Tue 22-Oct-19 09:35:04

Think this might be a good place for this:

Just a small example of the way that Brexit is messing up people's lives because their loves and occupations go beyond national borders. Posted by a Brit living in Poland

I'm pasting the lot because it might reach more people than it would if I just posted a link

Start
1/ A depressing night at the British Embassy regarding #Brexit. The Government clearly only thinks (or cares) about super straight forward cases, but some people are utterly terrified...

2/ first, woman attending for 99 yr old mum, who’s lived in PL 50 yrs & received letter saying she’d lose healthcare access. She doesn’t receive her UK pension into PL bank acc, or qualify for private care, so will now have to pay 400zl a month to ZUS to receive treatment...

3/ Indian citizen, mum to a little girl who’s a British citizen because estranged father’s English. Mum in PL legally atm because daughter currently EU citizen. Until Brexit when, as a result, mum will lose right to stay. Unresolved.

4/ British woman just moved to Poland because Italian partner has been posted here for work for 3 years. Couple haven’t yet found anywhere to live, as such she’ll be unable to apply for Brexit temporary residency card unless they find a home in the next week.

5/ Polish woman owns a home and lives in Poland, husband works in Jersey and is not resident here. After Brexit will not therefore be able to be in Poland for longer than 90 days at a time. Will have to leave his wife every 90 days.

6/ British citizens will lose access to the NHS in the UK after no deal Brexit. Family and friends coming to visit us in Poland will have to apply for health/travel insurance just to visit.

7/ Spouses of British citizens visiting their families in Britain will either have to be brought into the country with their UK citizen travel partner, or if travelling alone, face 3rd country national queues to show why they are coming to visit their own families

8/ Spouses of UK citizens will have up to March 2022 to apply for UK Settled Status, but be subject to new income-related immigration law after that. I have to buy my own wife into my own country.

10/ The truth is, at a deep personal level, Brexit is ruining lives. Of course those who think the EU is just foreigners coming to UK and an open Irish border think damage will be minimal. But these are real people, real families and real lives being affected.
I should add a thanks to the British Embassy, despite the situation they’re being very helpful. And the Polish Government who, don’t forget, have no real obligation to be as he generous as they are to UK citizens. Feel like they care more about me than my own Government.

End

Yehbutnobut Tue 22-Oct-19 08:28:33

But on the other hand there are plenty who supported that change but started shouting ‘unfair’ when it was someone in their own family or from a white country...if you get my drift.

Yehbutnobut Tue 22-Oct-19 08:25:37

Actually I’m not. But go ahead and judge if that makes you happy.