Boris Playing Politics Hypocrisy

Alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson could not have put it more directly: “I would remind you of the commitment you made, when you became Leader of the Opposition, to work constructively with the Government, in the face of this unprecedented pandemic. The public expect us to work together”. Thus his words to Labour leader Keir Starmer after the latter had caught him lying to the Commons.

So Bozo The Clown was not for playing politics during the Coronavirus crisis. But this spirit of constructive engagement did not survive its first test, and the moment of truth for the new bipartisanship came yesterday, after Transport for London was forced to secure a bailout from the Government, on pain of it running out of money.

No fares have been collected on London’s buses for several weeks now; Tube loadings are way lower than normal and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future; the Congestion Charge has been suspended. So it was that the BBC reported “Transport for London (TfL) has secured £1.6bn in emergency funding to keep Tube and bus services running until September. Under the bailout's terms, London mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to restore a full Underground service as soon as possible”.

The Underground is already operating a 70% service; there is still the small matter of staff sickness. Some transport workers have died after becoming infected with Covid-19. The Guardian added that “the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said Londoners would eventually need to pay higher fares to help finance TfL. Shapps said the government did not want ‘a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation’”. Boo fare freeze!

So when Lib Dem AM Caroline Pidgeon told “The cheap politics needs to be taken out of this”, she was too late. Joel Taylor noted that Shapps “basically admitted a deal sticking point with TfL & [Sadiq Khan] was gov wants fares to go up to pay for bailout. This would force mayor to breach 4yr fares freeze policy ahead of mayoral election. Gov isn’t playing politics on this is it?”. The BBC’s Tom Edwards’ conclusion was similar.

His take was “hard not to see this as politics - Mayor has lost his biggest transport policy lever - fares. Govt HATED fares freeze from day one”. And the Murdoch Sun admitted that playing politics was what it was, as they jeered “LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan crumbled yesterday after he handed significant control of the capital’s transport system to the Government in exchange for a £1.6billion bailout.” Yeah, rotten lefty! Yah boo you lost!

That the line to take had been handed down by Downing Street was confirmed as the article went on “A senior Government source said: ‘We were always prepared to consider putting more money into keeping Tube and bus ­services running in London and to help the travelling public stay safe from coronavirus. But we were not prepared to accept ludicrous demands from a profligate mayor and this money comes with many strings attached’”.

Bozo’s protest to Keir Starmer always looked like a sham. The behaviour of “Spiv” Shapps and the associated briefing to the partisan press proves it.

Playing politics with the Covid-19 crisis? Fine, so long as Bozo wins. Same old Tories.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet6