EU migrants have been able to “treat the UK as if it’s part of their own country” for too long, was yesterday’s message from Boris Johnson, as he ramped-up the xenophobia which has been his calling card for decades. “Of all the candidates in this election,” he didn’t add, “I am the only one who really hates foreigners. Kick them out. Vote for me.”
Johnson is the political equivalent of the ageing rocker who’s out doing another arena tour. His last big tour was in 2016 when he lied, lied and lied again in order to secure a Brexit he never believed in before he saw the chance of power to eventually becoming prime minister. Now, he’s back on the road again, playing the old hits. Most people are not attending the shows but they’re at home listening and unless the polls have hopelessly misread the mood of the nation Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is about to enjoy his biggest hit to date.
You will recall that Johnson and far right Brexit hero Nigel Farage have played the race card many times before. Farage, his job in politics now almost done, is slipping quietly into the background. Johnson is responsible – directly responsible – for much of the hate in our country.
Brexit was always about migration for a good few million people and the illiberal elite, which Johnson represents, have exploited concerns and fears, particularly with working class voters. Blame European workers for stealing our jobs, committing benefit fraud, preventing Brits from finding somewhere to live – all that kind of stuff. We will Get Brexit Done™ by getting enough people to believe migrants have ruined the country.
Since the 2016 referendum, hate crimes, particularly though not solely migrants have become hate figures. It’s not just migrants, though. Look at the increase in racist incidents any football matches. This is, without any doubt, a direct consequence of the dirty campaign run by the Brexit ultras. What Johnson and co have done is simple: they’ve made racism acceptable to a lot more people.
I regard Johnson’s comments about EU migrants as tantamount to fascism. Forget the enormous benefits we have enjoyed through EU migration, in terms of our NHS, as well as the service and care sectors. Let’s attack them as they build a better life through hard work, just like migrants every have always done.
My paternal grandfather and his brothers came to the UK to build a better life as did my mother. They both worked all their lives, embraced the British way of life and contributed, never took. No one in my family has ever been on the dole. Yet Johnson says, they “treat the UK as if it’s part of their own country”. It doesn’t matter that my grandfather and mother are dead: they were still migrants and they really did treat the UK as if it’s part of their own country. Johnson says they really shouldn’t have treated the UK as if it was their own country. What an absolute bastard he is.
Presumably the likes of Sajid Javid, whose father migrated here from Pakistan to drive a bus, and Priti Patel, whose parents came here from Uganda to open a shop, were the right kind of migrants for Johnson. Johnson himself was born in New York City and has Turkish ancestry. The hypocrisy of these people is breathtaking.
What the world needs now is love sweet love, sang Jackie DeShannon, among others. Instead, what the world is getting is more hate from populist narcissists like Johnson who in order to achieve their personal ambitions will literally say anything to be the king he always wanted to be.
When and if Johnson wins the election on Thursday, I expect things to get much, much worse, as the nightmare that is Brexit drags on for years, probably decades, to come. Someone will have to bear the blame for the coming disaster as we leave Europe. Johnson has spent many years blaming foreigners and he’s starting over with that line of attack. Those foreigners coming over here, treating us in hospital, driving our buses, delivering our parcels, working in our shops – they’re the ones to blame, never Johnson or his allies who continue to destroy the country they purport to love.
Vote Johnson, get more hate. Vote against Johnson to stop him in his tracks and begin the fightback. It’s as simple as that.
