Thursday 12th December, 2019: We’re Not Choosing, We’re Chucking

Mario López-Goicoechea
3 min readDec 7, 2019

On Thursday 12th December 2019 we are not electing a new government in the UK; we’re getting rid of one. Once you let this idea sink in, you will understand why the events next week will be generation-changing and why you have such an important role to play in them. I am not only referring to the impact of a Boris Johnson’s premiership on my generation or my children’s, but also on the ones after them.

The current government, both in its coalition and Tory-led incarnations, has ridden roughshod over everything we hold dear in the UK. Whether you were born in this country or (as in my case) you hail from outside the British Isles, there are a set of human rights-driven principles you are encouraged to adopt as your own. Sadly, they have been imperilled for almost a decade, and now they find themselves risking total extinction if Boris Johnson remains in Number 10.

It was Boris Johnson who tried to close down parliament illegally in the summer. It is Boris Johnson who has shown neither respect for nor acceptance of people from other communities. From Muslim women (he’s called them “letterboxes”) to gay men (whom he’s mocked as “bumboys”) he has displayed nothing but contempt. It is Boris Johnson who has compromised British democracy by employing such a devious and hatred-filled figure like Dominic Cummings. This Fouchénesque character with no specific remit in government has been one of the key players in the transformation of British politics, spreading his poison and creating divisions all over our land. In a clear “two-finger” signal to our democratic system and institutions, Boris Johnson recruited Dominic Cummings, the former head of the Vote Leave campaign, who only four months before had been found in contempt of parliament by a committee of MPs investigating fake news.

For Brexit-supporting voters who think Boris Johnson is their man, I say: think twice. Pathological liar Boris Johnson had a post-referendum newspaper column ready to celebrate Remain’s victory. In his own words, Boris Johnson said that Britain’s continued membership of the EU would be a “boon for the world and for Europe”. He also highlighted the importance of the EU as a trade partner by stating that “this is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms. The