Its time to stand up to Boris Johnson.
By: Josie Sawtell
Tags: Politics, Conservatives, Brexit, Bullying, Sexism

When I was at primary school, teachers would always talk about bullying and the need to stand up to bullies. There was bullying at my school, as there is nationally, but we challenged it.

In 2019, the modern day, we have our own bullies in society. Their names — Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. They target the most vulnerable communities. They attack the most vulnerable for self-vanity and they cannot be leaders in our society. They are the bullies in disguise of politicians, and it is our moral responsibility to stand up against them and demand justice.

Its Farage that has suggested women should sit in a corner to breastfeed, women are paid less as they are worth less and its Johnsons that has suggested Burqas are like letter boxes among many other racist, sexist and homophobic comments. They are targeting the most vulnerable in society and using it to strengthen themselves.

Perhaps what’s most scary, is that Johnson and Farage are now leading a social movement in UK. This movement is characterised on using immigrants as scapegoats for the inequality in society, targeting the most vulnerable and ultimately, choosing fear over hope.

And, most crucially, this is all rooted to Brexit. Whilst Brexit is perceived as purely leaving the European Union, it is undeniable to repercussions this will have on public attitude and prospects of society. Brexit intensifies and consolidates the social conservative attitudes that Boris Johnson is utilising to bully those most vulnerable in society.

Essentially, by surrendering to the leaders of Brexit we are allowing the social conservative views of Farage and Johnson to shape the political climate of 2019.

Before I continue, I want to stress that its Johnson and Farage that are to blame, not the electorate. Millions across Britain were lied to and manipulated by these two as a way of gaining power and political strength. Johnson and Farage are a dangerous, scary force that can channel frustrations from society to blaming the most vulnerable. We need to listen to to the concerns of the leave voters but the solution is never to incite fear through Brexit.

We deserve better. For the sake of so many in society we deserve better and for the sake of history books, we deserve a society we can be proud of. One that champions love and hope, not one that is rooted in fear.

Since the Brexit vote of 2016, there’s has been a shocking and incredibly saddening increase in hate crimes.

In 2016 58% of ethnic minorities reported to facing racial discrimination (that’s still 58% too much and incredibly disappointing) however this increased to 71% in 2019. It’s shocking. An increase that should never have happened and one that saddens me to this day. The fact that in the modern day, people are still discriminated purely due to their race, and it’s not only a few cases, its 71% of Ethnic minorities. Racially motivated hate crimes have reached a record high of 71,251 incidents in 2018. We cannot let this happen. We need to stand up to the narrative of Brexit that is fuelling hate crimes and feeding on fear

As Omar Khan, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think-tank,

suggested, Brexit is directly “normalising hate and increasing division”. We cannot let this happen and we won’t let this happen.

We will stand up to the bullies that are Johnson and Farage. By resisting Brexit, we are rejecting the racist, sexist and homophobic rhetoric of the leaders. We are rejecting what Brexit embodies and we are striving for a society that encapsulates hope.

There is already a backlash to the social movement felled by Brexit. People across Britain are already uniting against Brexit and demanding change. This is the crossroads of modern society and there is hope of a better future.

As the tide is beginning to change, more and more people are resisting and challenging the narrative of Brexit and what it incites. There is a fightback and the people leading it are the generation of tomorrow, they are young and incredibly kickass.

Young people are more engaged than ever and now are becoming the architects in a potentially socially liberal, progressive Britain.

I’m sure you have all heard of Stormzy — He’s a rapper from London and has sky rocketed into fame. His most recent song, Vossi bop, has an incredibly poetic and poignant lyric ‘fuck the government, fuck Boris’. This lyric has transcended to many young people’s life and encapsulated the anger and frustration to the political climate. Stormzy performed Vossi Bop at Radio 1 Big Weekend and, unsurprisingly, the crowd literally screamed those lyrics.

Young people are angry and they aren’t hiding it any time soon.

The fightback is starting on the streets and in the polling station. In Nottingham, there was a 50% turnout for the European elections 2019. That was one of the highest turnouts but it doesn’t stop there. The youth led group, our future our choice was actively involved in the recent demonstration in London that brought together 1 million people.

As Kira Lewis suggested ‘Young people are rightly furious, watching older generations take our futures away from us’.

We are fed up with elite. We are angry at the narrative of Brexit. And we are not letting the bullies lead this nation.

And this isn’t just in the UK. This is in Europe. There is a new movement emerging Europe wide fronted by young people demanding hope and love.

The European election of 2019 were only the start of a new form of politics. The Green movement had an incredible surge in seats. In Germany, The Greens came 2nd. Many of this vote came from young people disillusioned with current politics. This is going to radically transform the political agenda in the European Union. This politics is fronted by the generation of tomorrow.

Like the UK, Europe has its own bullies like Marine Le Pen. Like Johnson they are targeting those most vulnerable in society and again, it is our moral responsibly to stand up to them.

Being socialist is being internationalist. It is about collaborating with a worldwide community of progressives to challenge movements formed by hate. We are at a crossroads in 2019. We can either leave the European union or remain and challenge the social conservative attitudes threatening Europe’s most vulnerable communities. We can work with our European partners to demand a better future.

This future can be great if we work hard enough. We can push a green agenda and invest in the climate. We can campaign for workers’ rights, Europe wide and a focus on hope in society.

The European elections of 2019 are only the start of this movement and the future looks bright within the EU.

We need to stand up to the hate that has threatened Britain’s and Europe most vulnerable community. We have the potential to not only challenge hate, but champion love. This can be a great moment in history, a turning point, but it relies on the actions right now. it relies on everyone challenging Johnson and resisting his leadership. It relies on us standing up the growing numbers of of hate crimes and it relies on us demanding a better future than leaving the European Union.

Stand up to the bullies that are Johnson ad Farage and demand a society that works for us all. For the sake of the generation of tomorrow, lets show the world that you don’t have to choose fear and by standing up against hateful leaders you can change society.

Let’s re-ignite our hope in humanity.