Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Ex-UK PM, in first appearance, takes jab at Starmer, disdains Sunak

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 3 Jul 2024 13:28
4 Min Read

The former home secretary argues that voters abandoned the Tories because they failed “to cut immigration or tax or deal with the net zero and woke policies we have presided over for 14 years."

Listen
  • x
  • Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, delivers a speech at a Conservative Party campaign event at the National Army Museum in London, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP0
    Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, delivers a speech at a Conservative Party campaign event at the National Army Museum in London, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP)

Less than 48 hours before voters head to the polls, Boris Johnson made his first and only appearance ahead of the general elections, with no mention of Rishi Sunak's performance as Prime Minister of the UK. 

During an unexpected appearance at a Tory rally in Chelsea, the former Prime Minister pointed fingers at Keir Starmer for trying to “usher in the most leftwing Labour government since the war,” adding that he would raise taxes and that he would fail to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Johnson said that it was "way past Keir Starmer's bedtime," thanking everyone who stayed for the late event at the National Army Museum and the sole reference to Sunak was to thank him for his invitation.

Commenting on the Labour Party, he said, “They can achieve nothing in this election except to usher in the most leftwing government since the war with a huge majority, and we must not let it happen.”

Read next: UK party leader sparks outrage after saying West provoked Ukraine war

He added, “Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas. Don’t let Putin’s pet parrots give this entire country psittacosis – which is a disease you get, by the way, from cosying up to pet parrots. If you want to protect our democracy and our economy and keep this country strong abroad by spending 2.5% of our GDP on defence, which Labour still refuses to, then you know what to do, don’t you, everybody.”

During his speech, Johnson praised his own policies implemented when he was in office and did not mention those of Sunak. 

After Johnson left, Sunak appeared on stage and said, “Isn’t it great to have our Conservative family united, my friends? Just think, it was the other day when Keir Starmer was saying that Jeremy Corbyn would make a better prime minister than Boris.”

The Liberal Democrats reacted to Johnson's appearance as an “insult to everyone who made heartbreaking sacrifices during the pandemic”.

Related News

Corbyn to Al Mayadeen: New party to fight for justice and Palestine

Heatwave politics: Could air conditioning become a UK election issue?

Failed 'woke' policies

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary and Tory cabinet minister, admitted what seemed like a defeat on the Today program.

"I totally accept that, where the polls are at the moment, means that tomorrow is likely to see the largest Labour landslide majority, the largest majority that this country has ever seen. Much bigger than 1997, bigger even than the National government in 1931," he said.

Stride added, "What, therefore, matters now is what kind of opposition do we have, what kind of ability to scrutinise government is there within parliament."

In the Daily Telegraph, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman argued that voters abandoned the Tories because they failed "to cut immigration or tax or deal with the net zero and woke policies we have presided over for 14 years."

Furthermore, she persisted in criticizing the Tories for taking money from its largest donor and UK businessman Frank Hester after The Guardian disclosed that he had made remarks about Diane Abbott during a confidential staff meeting that were universally denounced as racist.

"Reform demonstrably failed to vet its candidates properly and these people should be nowhere near public life. I’ve been on the receiving end of racism myself and it’s right that the PM called it out. But cries of hurt and anger look less powerful when the Conservative Party was perfectly happy to take the money from Frank Hester," she said.

Read more: Israeli pressure on Labour Party, British politics 'huge', Corbyn says

"Remarks about hating black women were glossed over in the name of filling our party coffers. I don’t follow the logic. Nor do the voters. Whatever “the smartest men in the room” might privately think, the public are not in fact mugs," she noted. 

Most Tories condemned Hester's reported racist comments, but almost none of them called to stop taking funds from him despite the uproar against him. 

Sunak officially announced that the upcoming general election in the country is scheduled for July 4.

"Earlier today I spoke with his majesty the King to request the dissolution of parliament. The King has granted me this request and we will have a general election on the 4th of July," Sunak said in a statement outside 10 Downing Street.

  • Labour Party
  • Keir Starmer
  • Rishi Sunak
  • United Kingdom
  • Boris Johnson
  • 2024 UK elections

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS