So, it’s Chuka Umunna’s LibLink debut.
And he’s used his Independent column to talk about Boris Johnson’s unsuitability to be Prime Minister.
Chuka contrasts the Tory membership with the population as a whole:
The average age of a UK citizen is 40, over-65s make up around 18 per cent of the population, and those aged between 18 and 24 make up 9 per cent of the population. On this measure, the Tory party is in no way representative. The project found that the average age of a Tory party member is 57, significantly older, with 38 per cent of Tory party members aged 66 and over, and 7 per cent between 18 and 25 years old.
And it doesn’t get better with other diversity characteristics:
The population is split more or less equally between the genders, yet three-quarters of Tory members are men. Whereas around 14 per cent of the population is of an ethnic minority background, just 3 per cent of Tory party members are non-white.
He has described black people as “piccanninnies” with “watermelon smiles”. Last summer, he compared Muslim women wearing veils to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”. And, this weekend, none other than Steve Bannon, right-wing populist and former campaign manager to Donald Trump, revealed that he worked with Johnson on his government resignation speech last year. I don’t know whether Johnson is a racist or not – only he can answer that question definitively. But there is no doubt that the aforementioned comments are racist and, at the very least, they reveal a complete disrespect and condescension towards those of a different ethnicity.
He describes how his fellow panellists on Politics Live last week dismissed Johnson’s remarks:
But this does matter, which is why I will keep on banging on about it. As a British person of colour, one of the first things that goes through one’s head on hearing such comments is: if he says that about others, what on earth would he say about my family?
And there’s no way he should be PM.
In my view, so many of Johnson’s past comments should disqualify him from the highest office in the land. If he does go on to win this contest and on 25 July visits the Queen and becomes prime minister, I fear it will be another step towards normalising prejudice and hatred in our country.
You can read his whole article here.
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One Comment
What I find most telling particularly on my Twitter feed, is those MP’s supporting him use the line that he somehow will bring their party back to ‘Conservative values….’ Well, if the party is to be judged by the leader they choose, those values will have all but evaporated.
They fall back on ‘Judge him by his actions and successes while in office…..’ but howl in indignant ‘faux outrage’ when those actions, such as comments already made are raised. The likes of the Telegraph/Daily Mail try to trumpet some ‘Moral crusade’ against issues surrounding his personal/private life, yet they themselves over the years have regularly taped/filmed ‘private meetings’ in sting operations for salacious headlines etc, using the ‘Public Interest’ defence – Yet poor, little Boris is off bounds and should have his life respected!
I suspect, those vaunting his charisma as a positive to lead their party are so far down the proverbial ‘Rabbit Hole’, that they have no option but to continue down it even though I suspect they now know, it won’t be a magic potion waiting to greet them and their party! 😉