Delusional
Tory minister Brandon Lewis has been defending Boris Johnson’s law breaking today, comparing the prime minister’s fine for breaking lockdown rules to a parking ticket, in a ridiculous comparison that shows just how far Tories are willing to go to defend Johnson.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, Lewis insisted that other ministers had also broken the law in the past and that Johnson’s circumstances were no different.
Asked by Kay Burley if a ‘law maker can ever be a law breaker?’, Lewis replied: “I think we do see consistently, whether it’s through parking fines or speeding fines, ministers of both parties over the years have been in that position.
“We’ve had prime ministers in the past who have received penalty notices, from what I can see, and also front bench ministers.
“I saw there was a parking notice that Tony Blair had once. We’ve seen frontbench Labour ministers and, let’s be frank, government ministers as well.”
Burley then asked: “So you think that the previous prime minister having a parking fine is in any way correlated to our prime minister making covid rules when the country was in lockdown, a 120,000 people have died and you can make the comparison between the two?”
Lewis insisted: “You’ve asked me, can someone who sets the laws and the rules, can they also be someone who breaks the rules.
“That clearly has happened with a number of ministers over the years.”
A clip of the interview shared on social media led to much damning criticism of Lewis, with some labelling him ‘delusional’ and ‘arrogant’.
One social media user wrote: “I cannot help but conclude that Brandon Lewis belongs to the ‘too thick to be in that job’ bunch of Tories. What did he think would happen when he tried desperately to minimise Johnson’s law breaking by suggesting a comparison with a parking ticket? Twat.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.