When Arlene Foster says ‘we’re not afraid of elections’ nobody believes her

Arlene Foster and Polling Station sign


Support us and go ad-free

Following Boris Johnson’s unconvincing announcement outside Downing Street on 2 September, a UK general election could now take place on 14 October.

When the possibility of this election was put to the leader of the DUP Arlene Foster, she said she ‘didn’t want one’ but the DUP would fight it on its record:

Related articles

Read on...

But people on social media weren’t so confident of her chances.

DUP election

Foster said “we’re not afraid of elections, but we don’t believe it’s the right time”. Her DUP party is propping up this Tory government through a confidence and supply agreement negotiated after the 2017 general election.

But in the event of an election, Foster said the DUP “will of course stand on our record of delivery through the confidence and supply” having delivered £1bn of UK taxpayers money for the north of Ireland.

And Foster seemed confident of negotiating even further financial concessions:

The fact that we’ve delivered a billion pounds here to the people of Northern Ireland, and indeed that we’re building on now in speaking to the chancellor around the spending round which is coming on Wednesday.

Others weren’t so sure of her negotiation chances:

People put Foster in her place

People online also reacted to her election chances after Foster declared:

we’re not afraid of elections

Others picked up on the hesitation in her address:

While others presented her with the hard facts about the DUPs chances:

What’s ahead and consequences of an election

Just like Foster, in Johnson’s half-hearted announcement he also said he didn’t want an election. And despite weeks and weeks of big talk from both of them, neither are remotely convincing.

So whether it’s by a cross party agreement in the Commons, or by a general election, the vulnerability of all that bluster is finally being exposed.

Featured image via YouTube – Sky News / Flickr – Andy Thornley

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Related articles