Boris: Now let’s get rid of MPs still blocking Brexit
BORIS Johnson will kick-start the Tory election campaign today as he calls on voters to kick out MPs who are ‘blockading’ Brexit.
The Prime Minister will try to shift the focus to his central pitch to voters as he pledges to get the country out of ‘our rut’ and end the ‘debilitating delay’.
This morning he will travel to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen at which he will formally tell her Parliament has been dissolved. He will then make a short speech outside No 10. Later, he will formally launch the Tory campaign at a rally in the West Midlands – a key target area.
Last night, he told Downing Street staff: ‘I’m now off to the front, the bugle is calling’.
The Conservatives endured a painful start to campaigning yesterday as the news was dominated by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments about the Grenfell Tower inferno.
The Cabinet minister said he was ‘profoundly’ sorry for suggesting victims should have used ‘ common sense’ and ignored instructions from the fire service not to leave the building. Meanwhile, a rape victim called on Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns to quit over claims that he knew a Conservative candidate had sabotaged her trial.
Today, Mr Johnson will outline his pitch to voters to ‘ Get Brexit Done’ and then focus on the NHS, crime and the cost of living. He will contrast his plan with what he calls Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘ toxic’ proposal for two referendums on EU membership and Scottish Independence.
Mr Johnson will tell supporters he didn’t want a winter election but was left with ‘no choice’. ‘There is only one way to get Brexit done, and I am afraid the answer is to ask the people to change this blockading Parliament,’ he will say. Outlining voters’ choice, he will add: ‘The alternative is clear – Jeremy Corbyn... turning 2020 into the year of two miserable referendums.’
Mr Johnson will also pledge to hand police new stop and search powers to target serial offenders – allowing officers to stop thugs with convictions for knife and other violent offences.
It is part of a crackdown likely to form a central plank of the Tory manifesto, as Mr Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel attempt to restore the Tories’ reputation for being tough on crime.
Party strategists believe they will be able to win over swing voters by exploiting Mr Corbyn’s perceived weakness on the issue.
Another Home Office pledge will be for 10,000 migrants to be given short-term visas to come to the UK to pick fruit. Staff shortages have been blamed for fruit and vegetables being left to rot in fields.
Last night, a poll showed the
Tories lead by 13 points. YouGov put them down one on 38 per cent, Labour down two on 25 per cent, the Lib Dems unchanged on 16 per cent and the Brexit Party up four points on 11.
Another showed Labour’s lead in the capital has halved since the 2017 election. The poll, published by the London Evening Standard, put Labour ten points ahead of the Tories – a result which would see them losing seats in the city.
‘Off to the front, the bugle is calling’