Keir Starmer slammed the PM’s ‘half-arsed bluster and waffle’ and the internet cheered
Keir Starmer finally said the quiet part out loud at PMQs on Wednesday, as he described Boris Johnson’s approach to the sacking of 800 workers by P&O as “half-arsed bluster and waffle”.
.@Keir_Starmer just called @BorisJohnson govt "half arsed". Speaker didn't rule it unParliamentary#PMQs
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) March 23, 2022
The PM had said that the company would be fined for breaching regulations, which is unlikely, but also claimed that an EU directive had allowed the mass sackings, which is even less likely.
Breaking: Boris Johnson says it looks like P&O has broken employment law and he will be taking action against them.
— Alan White (@aljwhite) March 23, 2022
In fact, a perfect storm had made them possible.
Chris Grayling made an amendment allowing the owners of foreign-registered ships to fire in large numbers without giving the government advance notice.
The P&O ferries were registered abroad.
Brexit meant that the workers weren’t protected by EU employment laws.
So let me get this straight. We* voted for Brexit to prevent forriners from taking our jobs and now P&O have used the fact that we are no longer governed by EU employment law to sack all the British workers and give the jobs to forriners.
*not me, to be clear.
— Shiwon (@Shiwon_NZ_Ao) March 17, 2022
#PMQs Boris Johnson says the law the UAE owners of P&O Ferries are citing as making their mass sackings legal was introduced as a result of EU directives.
And there's me thinking it was down to Chris Grayling. Silly me.
— Paul (@PaulOnBooks) March 23, 2022
i did a joke a few days ago that Chris Grayling must be running P&O ferries and as always the truth is even worse
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) March 23, 2022
PoliticsJOE shared this clip of Starmer’s full response to Johnson, in which he also described the PM as being “all mouth and no trousers.”
"Why does the prime minister think that they will take a crumb of comfort from his half-arsed bluster and waffle today?"@keir_starmer accuses Boris Johnson of failing to protect vulnerable P&O workers #PMQs pic.twitter.com/b6bqHyYg1t
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) March 23, 2022
A virtual cheer went up on Twitter.
1.
I’ll have Keir Starmer know that “half-arsed bluster and waffle” is exactly what has got me where I am today.#PMQs
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) March 23, 2022
2.
'Boris Johnson's half-arsed government' immortalised https://t.co/Ybb5Zn9tee
— Toby Earle 🇺🇦 (@TobyonTV) March 23, 2022
3.
Did Starmer just say ‘half arsed’ at the dispatch box? #PMQs
Bravo if he did. @Keir_Starmer see me to up your swearing game.
— jojo77💙 (@other_mrs) March 23, 2022
4.
Something very satisfying about hearing Starmer slam Johnson's 'half arsed bluster and waffle' in the Commons
— Liam Thorp (@LiamThorpECHO) March 23, 2022
5.
what Keir Starmer said at PMQs was very unfair, does this look even close to being ‘half-arsed’ pic.twitter.com/mvoZwUstwX
— Toby Earle 🇺🇦 (@TobyonTV) March 23, 2022
6.
"All mouth and no trousers" says Starmer. My dad says that. "All 'is lot," waving an arm at the Tory benches. "Half-arsed bluster and waffle." He's gone well Kent. LIKE.
— fleetstreetfox (@fleetstreetfox) March 23, 2022
7.
Keir was right there, and "half arsed" sums up the PM's attitude to quite literally everything. #PMQs
— Yasmin Qureshi MP (@YasminQureshiMP) March 23, 2022
8.
"And then Starmer called the shitgibbon half arsed."
— Lord TollyT of Baconland💙🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺🇨🇦🇮🇪 (@TollytB) March 23, 2022
9.
I’m surprised it scores as high as half. https://t.co/sGCVIPKd3K
— Ian Murray MP (@IanMurrayMP) March 23, 2022
Tony T objected.
Completely unacceptable from @Keir_Starmer
The only correct way to describe Boris Johnson's Government is "Fully Arsed"…🙄
— Tony T 🐕…🌹…🇺🇦 (@shrimptony) March 23, 2022
Credit where it’s due, and all that.
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Keir Starmer’s comeback to Boris Johnson’s bad joke was a highlight of PMQs
Source PoliticsJOE Image Screengrab
