It has been a very turbulent week for the UK government and to top it all off Boris Johnson and his chums have now been compared to Love Island.
Thursday’s edition of BBC Question Time, which came from Hendon, London saw British entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor Steven Bartlett come up with an apt metaphor for the various apparent scandals that have rocked the government in the past few weeks.
We hardly need to list them for you by now but in case you missed them: an alleged Christmas Party that happened during the height of lockdown last December; their ‘plan B’ approach to the omicron variant; Johnson’s flat refurbishment, and the sleaze scandal from just a few weeks ago.
When asked if the British public had “lost faith” in Johnson’s government, 29-year-old Bartlett said: “The public has definitely lost trust in the government and, to me, as a twentysomething, watching politics play out in this country, this is when you know you are screwed, when your government becomes a more interesting reality show than Love Island.
“There has been cocaine, there has been an affair, lies, every time I refresh my Twitter feed, the breaking news story from this government is someone has lied, deceived us and has double standards. How could you possibly, in that context, have trust that these people will lead us out of a pandemic, and the consequence of a lack of trust is very clear.”
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“I don’t actually think you trust Boris.”
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) December 9, 2021
“Yes I do trust him.”
Entrepreneur @SteveBartlettSC and the Conservatives’ @redditchrachel clash over the Prime Minister. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/HCCBffrH2Z
Bartlett then turned to his fellow guest, Tory MP Rachel Maclean, to ask if she still had trust in the prime minister. Maclean, as host Fiona Bruce pointed out supported Michael Gove in the 2019 leadership election, denied this accusation and said that she did still trust Johnson.
Bruce didn’t buy this and said that there was a “low murmur of disbelief” from the audience, some of whom could be seen shaking their heads and raising their arms in despair.
Needless to say, the government is not looking in great shape right now and a comparison to Love Island on national television isn’t going to do them any favours. Perhaps it won’t be long before we see a cabinet version of the ITV reality show where ministers have to couple up to avoid getting voted out by the public...
