Will Tory MPs still vote for Boris Johnson after he was named a racist in Prime Minister’s Questions?
You bet they will!
That’s right, isn’t it, Tory MPs? You all heard Ian Blackford – correctly – reminding Theresa May that Boris Johnson published a poem stating that the Scottish people are a “verminous” race that should be placed in ghettos and exterminated.
Mr Blackford continued: “Well, of course, words matter and actions matter. The Prime Minister thought that the man who published those words in his magazine was fit for the office of our top diplomat, and he has not stopped there. He has said that Scots should be banned from being Prime Minister—banned from being Prime Minister, Mr Speaker—and that £1 spent in Croydon was worth more than £1 spend in Strathclyde. This is a man who is not fit for office. It has been said, “The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.” This is a time of challenge, so does the Prime Minister realise that not only is the Member racist, but he is stoking division in communities and has a record of dishonesty?
“He has called Muslim women “letter boxes”, described African people as having “watermelon smiles” and another disgusting slur that I would never dignify by repeating. If that is not racist, I do not know what is. Does the Prime Minister honestly believe that this man is fit for the office of Prime Minister?”
All of the factual information in his questions was accurate.
And although Mr Blackford was accused of using un-Parliamentary language, Commons Speaker John Bercow restricted himself to saying Mr Blackford should have notified Mr Johnson of his intention to make this accusation in advance (he said he had). Later, in response to a point of order, Mr Bercow added: “I think it would be wise for colleagues to bear in mind the general principle that one does not impute dishonour to another Member. That is the first point.
“I think it would be appropriate, in the remaining weeks before the summer recess and before a new leader of the governing party takes office, to have some regard to that for which the Prime Minister is responsible. She is responsible for her own policies and for the conduct of her Government and their administration of their affairs, and it is important that questions should be put with that overarching consideration and ambit of responsibility in mind.”
These are all fair points, with regard to Parliamentary procedure. But the question had been asked – in front of packed Conservative benches – and Theresa May could only answer that “I believe that any future Conservative Prime Minister will be better for Scotland than the Scottish Nationalist Party”.
So, if Mr Johnson does become prime minister, his racism has already won endorsement from his immediate forerunner.
And what about all those Conservatives who heard the question and were then called to vote in the third round of their party’s leader election? More than one-third of these MPs voted for Mr Johnson yesterday (June 18), but could reasonably have excused themselves from any accusation of endorsing racism by saying they did not know about Mr Johnson’s actions.
Today they will have no such excuse.
So, if Mr Johnson wins as many votes in the third round, anyone wishing to accuse a Conservative MP of endorsing racism will have at least a one-in-three chance of being right. It wouldn’t be more accurate because it is, of course, a secret ballot.
But the more votes Mr Johnson gets, the more likely a Conservative MP is to be tarred as a supporter of racism and racist comments.
So the results – when they are announced – should make interesting reading!
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I always look forward to when Ian Blackford puts his Qs to the PM he doesn’t mince his words . . kudos to him for that ( & lets face it he was only telling the truth )
This is something Corbyn should’ve raised long ago. I fear that Labour has lost it’s ‘teeth’ and is somewhat meek. Despite me saying that Corbyn gave good account of himself on the subject of Grenfell and kept hitting back with more, new information as the PM tried to extricate herself from the embarrassment. She didn’t manage it…
But these days it seems it is left to the SNP to raise certain thorny issues in parliament.
I know that May and the Tories hate the SNP, perhaps more than Labour, but you can tell when they’re REALLY upset as they don’t say SNP or Scottish National Party as it is called, they call them the Scottish ‘Nationalist’ Party to try and wind them up. Very small minded wind up if you ask me. SNP want independence but they aren’t actually ‘nationalist’ in the traditional sense. The actual ‘nationalists’ in the true sense are the Tories ie small minded, hatred of foreigners, religious hatred (pretty much everything Boris stands for and says in fact)
Unlike the LibDems the SNP haven’t compromised themselves to get power and, unlike the other parties they have remained solid on their policy on Brexit too. Perhaps lessons to be learned by others, they INCREASED their European seats (there were no Scottish Council elections to test popularity)
Good on Blackford for saying this, for NOT withdrawing his remarks (as The Speaker said he should) and continuing to ask a question that SHOULD be answered. I mean, now we can recall MPs, so can we object to a particular MP being our leader if he fails on certain measures? What if Boris made good on the things he’s been saying? If he kept to what he’s said we would be entering dangerous times akin to Germany’s situation when Hitler first came to power. Yes, Boris really DID publish a poem advocating genocide, REALLY…
I totally agree with Blackfords comments about Boris…but the scots keep voting for the Scottish conservatives instead of kicking them out…..
I think that was an aberration of the voting system; people in some constituencies had lost faith in the SNP and voted for Labour again – but not in enough numbers to stop the Conservatives winning because the votes against them were split between those two other parties.