London, UK
Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance on the General Election campaign trail on Tuesday night (Jul 2), telling a Tory rally, "Don't let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas".
“I couldn’t say no to Rishi when he asked me to come and help,” the former prime minister said. “And we all are here because we love our country.”
Johnson addressed a Conservative campaign event at London's National Army Museum before Rishi Sunak arrived to deliver his speech. He was met with cheers, claps, whistles, and chants of “Boris, Boris, Boris.”
Notably, it was Johnson’s first appearance at a Tory campaign event in the run-up to the General Election, having earlier restricted his participation to endorsing individual candidates, writing supportive newspaper columns and reportedly putting his name on hundreds of thousands of letters sent out to voters.
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He reiterated warnings of a Labour "supermajority" and cautioned that a vote for Reform UK would contribute to that outcome. Johnson also repeated the Tory jibe that the Labour leader Keir Starmer would clock off work at 6 pm if he were to become prime minister.
Starmer described it as "laughably pathetic and desperate" that the Tories have attacked him over his preference to avoid working after 6 pm on Fridays to spend time with his family.
It may be mentioned here that Starmer previously said in interviews that he always reserved Friday evenings to spend with his family, unless “it’s absolutely urgent”.
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Rishi Sunak followed his predecessor on stage and said, “It’s great to have our Conservative family united.”
Sunak added, "Just the other day when Starmer was saying that Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better prime minister than Boris. Shameful! Can you imagine what that would have meant for Ukraine? What it would have meant for our country's security, our defence, the damage it would have done to our economy?"
While Johnson spoke about the claims by the Tories that Labour would increase taxes.
"If you actually want higher taxes this year or if you feel you’ve got a few thousands to spare, then vote for Labour on Thursday (July 4). If you want unrestrained immigration and mandatory wokery, and pointless kowtowing to Brussels again, then go vote for Starmer," Johnson said.
Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper called Johnson's appearance as an insult to people.
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She said, “Rishi Sunak has reached a new low, turning to a man who discredited the office of Prime Minister and lied to the country."
(With inputs from agencies)