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“Lost the plot” and “absolutely insane”: The Tory Response to the Cost-of-Living crisis

“Lost the plot” and “absolutely insane”: The Tory Response to the Cost-of-Living crisis

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Marc, NATB
Apr 30, 2022
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“Lost the plot” and “absolutely insane”: The Tory Response to the Cost-of-Living crisis
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That’s the worst meme in the world, by the way.

In an exclusive interview with Rupert Murdoch’s latest venture TalkTV, Boris Johnson said that people would like him to focus on the ‘things’ that people really do care about. 

You can watch his full interview here: 

There was much he said in the interview. However, to suggest that people would like him to ‘focus on the things that people really do care about’ is an obvious deflection and attempt to shift the narrative from Partygate, which has been so politically damaging for the Conservatives. 

A lot of things now appear designed to distract - including the Mail's onslaught of ridiculous zombie stories involving Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner's alleged flouting of lockdown guidelines, none of which is actually true:

  • Events that didn't violate restrictions.

  • Neither of which are at present nor likely to be investigated, because in the case of Starmer’s ‘beer party’ has already been investigated. 

  • Conveniently coming at a time when the Conservatives are about to most likely experience a bloodbath at the local elections.

  • Even despite the Mail's previous hyperbolic stance on related stories [ie. ‘Partygate’] where they said that the nation had lost all sense of proportion.

  • And just so happens at a time when Sir Keir Starmer pledges to end the contentious "nom-dom" taxpayer status enjoyed by - among others - Jonathan Harmsworth, owner of the Daily Mail. 

Authority on Covid laws Adam Wagner explains the differences between the cases of Starmer/Rayner/Johnson et al:

Twitter avatar for @AdamWagner1
Adam Wagner @AdamWagner1
There is a difference in law between a pre-arranged social event (birthday party) and a meal whilst campaigning when there is nowhere else to get food. There is no prospect of showing a pre-arranged birthday party is reasonably necessary for work - it is a purely social event
9:12 AM ∙ Apr 28, 2022
2,988Likes589Retweets

None of this matters to those who'll perpetuate the myth, though - because its intended design is not to convince, but rather obfuscate from political discourse and ultimately give Johnson’s voters something - anything - to scream into the abyss when they have been unable to do so for the last 7 months.

Distraction is also most likely one of the reasons why Johnson opened up Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday with a monologue reflecting on all the good things that the Conservatives have apparently done. 

But then this approach has typified the Conservatives as they vaulted from scandal to scandal for the last two years and essentially ‘wing’ the job of ‘government in charge’ hoping they can just get through from one week to the next. 

There are two problems here with Johnson’s statement on the ‘things’ that people really do care about. 

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