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Politics
Liam O'Dell
Jul 16, 2022
Related video: Tom Tugendhat shakes head when asked if Boris Johnson is honest
Channel 4
If you thought Boris Johnson would finally take his job as prime minister seriously now that he’s soon to leave Downing Street, then you would be absolutely wrong, as yet another scandal has come his way.
We wish we were joking, but The Independentreports Mr Johnson will be in his Chequers retreat in Buckinghamshire this afternoon instead of chairing an emergency Cobra meeting on the heatwave we’re set to face next week.
The bash, taking place before he’s kicked out of the venue at the start of September, comes after the prime minister and his wife Carrie ditched plans to use Chequers for a delayed wedding reception after facing widespread criticism.
It’s understood Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse will again lead a Cobra meeting on the heatwave like he did last Thursday – something a Downing Street source said was “not unusual”.
Though it isn’t the first time Mr Johnson has skipped an important conference in a Cabinet Office briefing room (what Cobra stands for), as he missed several on the Covid pandemic earlier on in his premiership.
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Labour’s Angela Rayner said of the reported Chequers party that Mr Johnson has “gone missing in action again”.
“He’s back to his old tricks of skipping important Cobra meetings.
“The public will have no confidence in this zombie Conservative government responding swiftly and decisively to this national emergency as this disgraced prime minister prepares to party while Britain boils.”
And indeed, the general public is absolutely outraged:
\u201cHe should have stood down as PM and not in the position of carrying on partying when an important cobra meeting is taking place. @theSNP will be voting in Parliament that we have no confidence in him or his Government. How can Tory MPs vote they have confidence in this charlatan?\u201d— Ian Blackford \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f (@Ian Blackford \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f) 1657984236
\u201c@AdamBienkov @EmmaKennedy Johnson partying on through a crisis. What\u2019s new?\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1657981820
\u201c@AdamBienkov Are any of us really surprised, after all the bodies could pile high in the pandemic, why not an extreme heatwave too?\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1657981820
\u201c@AdamBienkov Plus \u00e7a change...\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1657981820
\u201c@AdamBienkov Again....\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1657981820
\u201cCan a journalist please find out who's going to the party at Chequers tonight? I think people have a right to know, given that vital COBRA meetings were missed by government officials. Please publish the list.\u201d— Daniela Nadj (@Daniela Nadj) 1657975725
\u201cInstead of attending a COBRA meeting during a national weather emergency, to mitigate deaths and pressure on an NHS that he destroyed, Johnson is hosting a party at fucking Chequers.\u201d— Supertanskiii (@Supertanskiii) 1657985026
\u201cThere was a COBRA meeting today about the heatwave\n\nJohnson didn't go\n\nHe was too busy planning his big Chequers summer party\n\ud83d\ude21\ud83d\ude21\ud83d\ude21\u201d— Eva Feltham for PM! \ud83d\udc99 3.5% REJOINER FBPE FBPA (@Eva Feltham for PM! \ud83d\udc99 3.5% REJOINER FBPE FBPA) 1657918839
\u201cSo the man famous for missing multiple Cobra meetings as the Covid crisis emerged, then partied throughout said crisis, is now missing the Cobra meeting relating to the extreme heatwave emergency so he can party at Chequers instead. \n\nWhat a colossal, shameless tosser!\u201d— Billy Misanthrope \ud83c\udf18 (@Billy Misanthrope \ud83c\udf18) 1657982631
Hey, at least there isn’t a no confidence vote in Boris Johnson’s government tabled for Monday which the Conservatives need to worry about…
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