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

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:
Focus must be on securing a sensible deal as we exit the European Union which doesn’t build a new border between NI & rest of the UK.
We stand by our record of delivery for NI:
✅£1B to support:
📚schools,
🚘roads,
🚑hospitals,
👨⚕️mental health services
👨💻rural broadband pic.twitter.com/Z5Ctjqi7sb— Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) September 2, 2019
Read on...
But people on social media weren’t so confident of her chances.
You’re in big trouble at GE. Pengelly is losing her seat for sure. And despite what BoZo promises you – NI will have special status/BS. Britain can’t function without trade deals with EU or US – which they won’t get without GFA being protected. @SpeakerPelosi @RepBrendanBoyle
— HmmHmm 🇪🇺☘️ (@HeavenScentxs) September 2, 2019
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:
Oh no it looks like the renewal of your bung deal will not be getting renewed anytime soon.
— Wills Mclellan (@wills_mclellan) September 2, 2019
People put Foster in her place
People online also reacted to her election chances after Foster declared:
we’re not afraid of elections
Arlene that isn't going to save you if your support a No Deal that puts a border back on this island. Are you panicking that a snap GE is coming and you are about the lose your role as king-maker & you will have to face the N.I electorate that you have ignored.
— Belfastchild76☘#FBPE (@JacquiGrant76) September 2, 2019
Others picked up on the hesitation in her address:
— Harry McMahon (@Harry_McMahon) September 2, 2019
While others presented her with the hard facts about the DUPs chances:
— Brendan Toolan 🇪🇺 (@Tuo1969) September 2, 2019
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 need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.