The Problem With Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to win a majority because he simply does not care about Britain or her people enough to be truthful. About anything.

When Jo Swinson meets children and teenagers in schools, they often ask her what you need to be good at to become a politician.

And her answer is always this:

Being able to write a press release and understand legislation is important for the job. But you can learn all of that.

What matters the most – and is almost impossible to learn – is caring.

Caring about the people in your community and in your country, so that your decisions are based on what you genuinely believe to be best for them.

Boris Johnson only cares about Boris Johnson.

And he will do whatever it takes, sacrifice whatever is needed, to get what he wants.

This is a man who decided which side to support in the EU referendum by game-playing whether it would get him the keys to Number 10.

His life has been about becoming Prime Minister. Not out of some deep-seated desire to make people’s lives better, but out of some sense of Etonian entitlement. Because it’s what people like him get to do.

And you cannot trust a word Boris Johnson says – the man will say anything if it means getting what he wants.

Boris Johnson’s Lies

He lied to the 3 million EU citizens in the UK when he told them he would guarantee their right to stay.

He lied when he said that no Conservative Prime Minister would ever put a border down the Irish Sea.

He lied to the Queen to unlawfully shut down our democracy.

He lied when he said over and over that we would leave the European Union by 31 October.

He lied when he said he would rather be dead in a ditch than ask for an extension to Article 50.

There may not be a ditch, but Boris Johnson has dragged the office of Prime Minister through the mud.

Johnson cannot be allowed to win a majority.

We have a different vision for our country. The Liberal Democrats are the only party that will build a fair, open society for both our generation and the next.

We are the only party that can win seats off Johnson and Farage’s hard-right cabal.

Together, we can prevent a damaging Tory majority.

Together, we can build a brighter future.

Our Commitment to Community Policing

We will invest an extra £1bn a year to restore community policing

Too many people feel unsafe in their own homes and walking down their local streets. So many communities feel exposed and vulnerable.

The Conservatives’ cuts to police numbers have contributed to a rise in violence and decimated community policing. 47% of people say they never see police foot patrols, up from 30% in 2014-15.

The Tories and Labour made big promises on police numbers, but have failed to commit the funding needed to deliver them. Police officers are leaving in their droves because they are not being properly rewarded for putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. We need to encourage experienced officers to stay, as well as recruiting the extra officers we need.

The other parties just don’t get it.

But we do.

We’re committing £1 billion a year to fund our police force. That’s £250 million more than Labour or the Tories…

Every year.

That’s enough for two officers in every ward, and to provide an immediate 2% pay-rise for our hard-working cops.

We’re the only party willing to put our money where our mouth is. We’ll back our bobbies with money, not just words.

We are the only party that will make our communities safer by stopping Brexit. Then, together, we will build a brighter future.

The Lies Of Brexit

The lie on the side of a bus

Perhaps the most famous of the Brexit lies, Boris Johnson championed an outlandish, fraudulent promise on the side of his Vote Leave bus in 2016.

The claim that we send £350 million a week to the EU is just not true, let alone the idea that this imaginary money could instead be used for the NHS.

Johnson knew it was a lie, but he put it on a bus anyway. In the words of the Head of the Office of National Statistics, it was “a clear misuse of official statistics”.  

Many people voted Leave in the hope that it would help the NHS.

Unfortunately, Brexit is very dangerous for the NHS. Here’s why:

  • The economy will be negatively affected, so the government will have less to spend on the NHS.
  • We’ve already lost 5000 EU health workers, and more will go.
  • The Tories are planning on taxing EU doctors and nurses.
  • The NHS could be up for grabs in a Trump trade deal.

We’ll stop Brexit, give the NHS £35 billion, and fix our broken mental health services. That’s the sort of Christmas present the NHS needs and deserves!

The easiest trade deal in human history

“The free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.” – Liam Fox

This statement hasn’t aged well. Brexit has claimed two Prime Ministers so far, and potentially a third.

It has proved impossible to get a Withdrawal Agreement that everyone is happy with, let alone a free trade deal.

Philip Rycroft, who was the Permanent Secretary for Department for Exiting the European Union said; “it’s going to be a huge negotiation, probably four or five times bigger than the withdrawal agreement negotiation, and will absorb a huge amount of government effort.”

This is the reality of the situation. A trade deal would take years to negotiate with the European Union. Our economy would suffer in the meantime, as will our public services.

The Liberal Democrats wouldn’t embark on negotiations that will take years and leave our country worse off at the end of them.

We will Stop Brexit immediately, and spend the £50 billion ‘Remain Bonus’ on our public services.

We will work to solve the problems in our society that led people to vote Leave, rather than waste time in pointless negotiations with the EU.  

The UK economy is performing strongly

“The UK economy is performing strongly,” said Kwasi Kwarteng, Conservative Business Minister, “much more strongly than [the] doom-mongers and naysayers have suggested.”

Unfortunately, Mr Kwarteng was lying. Brexit has already caused a vast amount of damage to the UK economy.

The Centre for European Reform have said that Brexit has cost the UK economy £70 billion. That’s the equivalent of £840 for every house hold each year.

Our economy is 2.9% smaller than it would have been if we’d remained in the European Union.

And we haven’t even left yet. If Brexit goes ahead, there are varying predictions of how bad it will be, based around the way in which we leave. But it will be bad.

Brexit has already been an appalling waste of money that we could have invested to make Britain a better place.

Whilst the Tories and Labour are preoccupied with ideological fantasies, the Liberal Democrats produced the only manifesto that the IFS called ‘credible’.

The Liberal Democrats would stop Brexit, and invest the £50 billion Remain Bonus in public services.

No Single Market For Services

This disinformation comes courtesy of Michael Gove. He claimed on Radio 4 that “At the moment we do not have a single market for services, even within the European Union.“

This is just plain wrong. Services account for 80% of the UK economy, 45% of exports, and companies and customers alike enjoy single market access.

In our current deal, we have 25 per cent of typical barriers for services than if we were outside the European Union.

If we leave the European Union, barriers will be placed for trade in services, and the UK economy will take a massive hit.

In the words of Alan Winters, Head of the UK Trade Policy Observatory…

[after Brexit] It’s going to be way worse. It looks as if there is very little that is being seriously negotiated on services.

We will also sacrifice the opportunity to expand trade within the single market if we leave the European Union.

Britain is incredibly strong in financial services, technology and education. It’s vital that we run the country in a manner that maximises the opportunities for these sectors.

The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit so we don’t jeopardise our economic development.