Sunday, July 17, 2022
Still playing hooky
When he said he was going to be a caretaker Prime Minister, surely we could expect that he would do the bare minimum. However, that is not how Boris Johnson sees his role, and frankly, why should we expect anything different?
The Guardian reports that the Prime Minister is omce more “missing in action” after failing to attend a Cobra meeting to discuss the national heatwave emergency following predictions that thousands could die in the coming days:
As the threat to life from the impending heatwave continues to crystallise, the prime minister chose to skip the meeting on Saturday. He instead stayed at his Chequers country retreat, where he is due to hold a thank you party for supporters on Sunday.
Britain is bracing itself for record temperatures, potentially as high as 40C on Monday. The threat has already prompted some school closures, warnings of a “nightmare” in the NHS and instructions for rail passengers not to travel unless absolutely essential.
On Friday, the Met Office issued its first-ever red alert warning for extreme heat – signifying a risk of “serious illness or danger to life”, even for healthy people. The UK Health Security Agency’s chief scientific officer, Isabel Oliver, yesterday pointed out that during a significantly cooler heatwave last year, 1,600 people died.
The government’s response was led by Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse, who chaired the Cobra meeting in Johnson’s absence, prompting Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner to accuse the prime minister of going “missing in action”.
“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,” she said.
Downing Street insiders said it was not unusual for senior ministers other than the prime minister to chair a Cobra meeting.
Of course, this has been the problem with Johnson from the start, he wants to glory, but is not prepared to do the work.
The Guardian reports that the Prime Minister is omce more “missing in action” after failing to attend a Cobra meeting to discuss the national heatwave emergency following predictions that thousands could die in the coming days:
As the threat to life from the impending heatwave continues to crystallise, the prime minister chose to skip the meeting on Saturday. He instead stayed at his Chequers country retreat, where he is due to hold a thank you party for supporters on Sunday.
Britain is bracing itself for record temperatures, potentially as high as 40C on Monday. The threat has already prompted some school closures, warnings of a “nightmare” in the NHS and instructions for rail passengers not to travel unless absolutely essential.
On Friday, the Met Office issued its first-ever red alert warning for extreme heat – signifying a risk of “serious illness or danger to life”, even for healthy people. The UK Health Security Agency’s chief scientific officer, Isabel Oliver, yesterday pointed out that during a significantly cooler heatwave last year, 1,600 people died.
The government’s response was led by Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse, who chaired the Cobra meeting in Johnson’s absence, prompting Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner to accuse the prime minister of going “missing in action”.
“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,” she said.
Downing Street insiders said it was not unusual for senior ministers other than the prime minister to chair a Cobra meeting.
Of course, this has been the problem with Johnson from the start, he wants to glory, but is not prepared to do the work.
