The election of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom today by Tory members that make up 0.2% of the country’s population will be met by anger and resistance across. Much has been made of his buffoonish behaviour and incompetence in the lead-up to the election, but the reality is that Johnson represents the most vicious elements of a Tory Party in the throes of a deep crisis.
Johnson’s racism has been well documented, from his comments comparing Muslim women to letterboxes, to calling Black people “picaninnies”, to asking why Taoiseach Leo Varadkar wasn’t named “Murphy like the rest of them”. His star rose considerably within the Tory Party during the Brexit campaign where he opportunistically ramped up anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia to win support. He now appears to be gearing up to be a lapdog for Donald Trump, something which could have disastrous global consequences such as further emboldening the far right around the world, as well as risking a potential war with Iran.
Johnson’s insistence that he will be willing to go through with a no deal Brexit also poses serious dangers for Ireland, particularly with the possibility of a hard border being reintroduced.
Tory rule in Northern Ireland is already intolerable. From Welfare Reform to the plans to allow fracking in Fermanagh to the proposals to store nuclear waste from the UK near Newry, decisions that can have disastrous consequences for people in the North are taken by Right-Wing Tories without any thought for the people they will impact upon. It is therefore time now, more than ever, for a border poll that will allow the people of Northern Ireland to choose to end partition if this is what the majority wants.
People Before Profit support all those who are mobilising against Boris Johnson and the Tories in the North and across Britain.. As People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has said, “Lets meet Boris Johnson with constant resistance until he’s kicked out of number 10. We need more strikes, protests and demonstrations to drive him and the Tories out.”
