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Britain’s Johnson vows to repay trust of opposition voters
LONDON, Dec 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed
Saturday to repay the trust of former opposition voters who gave his
Conservatives a mandate to take Britain out of the European Union next month.
Johnson toured a leftist bastion once represented by former Labour leader
Tony Blair in a bid to show his intent to unite the country after years of
divisions over Brexit.
The northeastern region fell to the Tories in a general election Thursday
that turned into a re-run of the 2016 EU membership referendum in which
Johnson championed the Brexit cause.
Johnson told cheering campaigners that he understood how difficult it was
for traditional Labour voters to switch sides and back his right-wing
government.
“I can imagine people’s pencils hovering over the ballot paper and
wavering before coming down for us and the Conservatives,” he said.
“And I want the people of the northeast to know that we in the
Conservative party — and I — will repay your trust.”
The working class north of England dropped its longstanding support for
Labour and relegated the century-old party to its worst finish since before
World War II.
Johnson now commands an 80-vote majority in the 650-seat House of Commons
— a margin last enjoyed by the late Tory icon Margaret Thatcher in the
1980s.
The lead assures Johnson safe passage of his divorce deal with the
European Union when he re-submits it to parliament next week.
This would pave the way for Britain’s formal withdrawal from the other 27
EU nations by the January 31 deadline set by Brussels.
The sides would then set off on the tricky task of trying to reach a brand
new comprehensive trade agreement by the end of 2020.
Failure to meet that deadline — which Johnson has repeatedly promised not
to extend — would have unknown repercussions for global markets and economic
growth.
But Johnson said his government’s main focus after the first stage of
Brexit was completed would be on bread-and-butter issues important to Labour
voters.
“It is getting Brexit done but it is also delivering on our National
Health Service, our education, safer streets, better hospitals, a better
future for our country,” he said.
“We are going to recover our national self-confidence, our mojo, our self-
belief.”
– ‘We’ve lost’ –
The snap general election redrew the political map of Britain and left
Brexit opponents in disarray.
“Frankly, it’s pie in the sky to keep talking about fighting on,” pro-EU
campaigner Michael Heseltine — a prominent former Tory cabinet member who is
now a peer in the House of Lords — told Sky News.
“We’ve lost. We have to face up to that.”
Labour’s campaign was dogged by voter doubts about its vague position on
Brexit and allegations of anti-Semitism within the party’s senior ranks.
Polls showed a part of the problem also rested with Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn — a veteran socialist who suffered from historically low approval
ratings for much of the past year.
Corbyn promised to step down after a period of “reflection” about the
party’s course.
One of Corbyn’s most trusted allies, John McDonnell, said on Saturday he
was also quitting — and that it may be time for the entire leadership team
to clear out.
“I won’t be part of the shadow cabinet. I’ve done my bit,” Labour finance
spokesman McDonnell told the BBC. “We need to move on.”
Several potential leadership candidates accused Corbyn of stripping Labour
of its political appeal.
“Labour has become the nasty party,” lawmaker Margaret Hodge said. “I am
one of the victims of that with the anti-Semitism.”
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0804 hrs