Boris Johnson has declined to apologise for his language about Jo Cox and ducked a Commons debate on inflammatory rhetoric, instead attending a meeting of Tory MPs to say he will continue to use the phrase “surrender bill” to refer to the act passed to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
What on earth did he say? That Jo Cox was a surrender monkey who deserved what she got? Worse?
In the Commons on Wednesday, he told one MP that her concerns about aggressive language fuelling violence were “humbug” and another that the best way to honour Cox was to “get Brexit done”.
The Guradian in one of its other articles about the scandal quoted the actual MP's speech:
“I genuinely do not seek to stifle robust debate, but this evening the prime minister has continually used pejorative language to describe an act of parliament passed by this house. And I’m sure you would agree, Mr Speaker, that we should not resort to using offensive, dangerous or inflammatory language for legislation that we do not like....“And we stand here, Mr Speaker, under the shield of our departed friend [the murdered MP Jo Cox] with many of us in this place subject to death threats and abuse every single day. And let me tell the prime minister that they often quote his words, ‘surrender’, ‘betrayal’, ‘traitor’, and I for one am sick of it. And it has to come from the prime minister first. So I would be interested in hearing his opinion, he should be absolutely ashamed of himself.”
This might risk being accused of opportunism or bad taste? Even the Graun quoted B Jenkins:
Sir Bernard Jenkin, a Eurosceptic backbencher, said MPs should not reference the murder of Jo Cox to “try and make political points”...MPs responded with shouts of outrageous when Jenkin said: “There is already a danger in these exchanges of it turning into a holier-than-thou competition...“I think we should reflect on how much unhappiness and anxiety there is among members of the House, and that this is going to be expressed in various ways, and people are going to use robust and emotive language in order to express their views, and that is entirely understandable...“Can I just make one request, that we no longer invoke the name of any person who has been the victim of attacks in order to try and make political points.”
But this was outweighed by the outrage, of course, gathered by the Grauun and helped on the way to becoming a ridiculous generalized moral panic with terms smeared from one object to another
As the woman who has taken over a seat that was left by our dear friend Jo Cox, can I ask him, in all honesty, as a human being, going forward, will he moderate his language so that we will all feel secure when going about our jobs.”...“The tone of the prime minister’s speech was truly shocking, and if he recognises that tensions are inflamed, it is up to him not to stoke them further by whipping up hatred, treating parliament with contempt and dividing our country still further... It takes a lot to reduce this honourable member to tears. I am not alone tonight; there are others who I believe have left the estate, such has been their distress....I may add that, today, I have reported to the police a threat against my child – and that [?] was dismissed as humbug.
P Toynbee is Queen of Outrage as usual:
...most shocking of all was not the prime minister but the wall of Conservative hoodlums whooping and cheering him on. Conservative? These are law-defying anarchists willing to stir up violence in the country....When confronted by female MPs warning him against using language that spurs on daily death threats to them and their children, that only added to his glee. Misogyny is part of his focus-grouped assault on every kind of political correctness, though it comes naturally to a man whose worst insult is “girly”....Some MPs were in tears.
.. this self-intoxicated scoundrel....calculated contempt for parliament and the judiciary...women especially will be revolted by his sneering contempt for violence against them....this brute...Johnson as the wild-man extremist....this unspeakable prime minister.
But Toynbee thinks that the reference to Brexit outweighs everything else in outrage:
The most grievous affront came in answer to Tracey Brabin, Jo Cox’s successor MP: “The best way to honour the memory of Jo Cox and indeed the best way to bring this country together would be, I think, to get Brexit done.”
Others agree:
Johnson was even criticised by his own sister, Rachel, who told Sky: “I do think it was particularly tasteless for those grieving a mother, MP and friend to say the best way to honour her memory is to deliver the thing she and her family campaigned against....“
What he actually said was, first in response to the Labour MP's remarks:
“I think Mr Speaker, I have to tell you Mr Speaker, I have to say Mr Speaker, that I have never heard so much humbug in my life.”
And then, to the second MP:
“But what I will say is that the best way to honour the memory of Jo Cox and indeed the best way to bring this country together would be, I think, to get Brexit done.”
In other outrages, the Attorney -General referred to the old trick of being asked whether you have stopped beating your wife. The reactions have been too predictable to bother recording
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