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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the PM is shamelessly using the Ukraine crisis for his own benefit

44 replies

Poetrypatty · 29/01/2022 08:49

He's planning on a trip there next week, which is very convenient because it coincides with the Sue Gray report- or at least the tiny bit of it they'll put out. It wouldn't surprise me if he went there instead of doing PMQs. Maybe I'm being overly suspicious though.

YABU - He cares about Ukraine and is right to visit
YANBU - His main thoughts are with himself.

OP posts:
AndAllOurYesterdays · 29/01/2022 08:52

That's what I thought. I'm not sure he'd be rushing to Ukraine without the report hanging over him. Desperate attempt at deflection.

mum2jakie · 29/01/2022 09:26

He's entirely motivated by his own self interest so of course he'll be going there as a distraction. Will try and downplay everything else as usual because WAR!!!!

AFS1 · 29/01/2022 09:31

He’s desperately hoping that this will do for him what the Falklands war did for Thatcher. She was failing badly in the polls until then, and it bounced her back to another 2(?) election victories. Wars generally help PMs so Johnson will use it as much as he can.

Handholding587 · 29/01/2022 09:45

@AndAllOurYesterdays

That's what I thought. I'm not sure he'd be rushing to Ukraine without the report hanging over him. Desperate attempt at deflection.
This.
OperationRinka · 29/01/2022 09:48

If I was the leader of Ukraine facing a hair trigger international crisis I'm bot sure the words "oh good, Boris is here!" would naturally spring to mind, regardless of the UK's senior NATO status.
Mind you the natural person to go would be Liz Truss which is not much more appealing.

DeadButDelicious · 29/01/2022 09:48

Of course he is. He uses everything for his own benefit. Why on earth would this be any different? He's an opportunist. Always has been. And the thing is, he's never made any real effort to hide it, so how people are still surprised when he does what he has always done is beyond me.

northumberlandavenue · 29/01/2022 09:48

If he'd resigned as he should have done weeks ago, we could be focusing on Ukraine and working with other like minded countries. The UK view might be taken seriously, which it won't be with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister and Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary.

northumberlandavenue · 29/01/2022 09:57

The recess for half term starts 10 February. Assuming the Sue Grey report is not issued whilst Boris Johnson is out of the country, is it an attempt to delay publication until the House is not sitting?

WhatIsGinLiqueurAnyway · 29/01/2022 10:05

yanbu - we could now be in a situation where he escalates conflict in Ukraine to distract attention from his partying back home. Seriously, allowing him to remain in power is downright dangerous right now.

KonTikki · 29/01/2022 10:16

We have British troops in the Ukraine. Its not completely surprising that he is going there.
However, as suggested, with Sue Grays report due out anytime now, it certainly benefits him to be out of the country, and avoiding a difficult PMQ's.
No 10 will view this trip as Win Win.
It is true that Johnson has an absolute talent for surviving self inflicted crises that would be career ending for other politicians.

thegcatsmother · 29/01/2022 10:55

I would hope that he is going as we have troops there, and to show that Ukraine is on the agenda both for the UK and NATO.

Original poster
Poetrypatty · 29/01/2022 10:56

I don't see what good him going there will do. He's an embarrassment.

OP posts:
AlexaShutUp · 29/01/2022 11:07

I'm sure that he doesn't give a flying fuck about Ukraine. The only thing Boris Johnson cares about is himself.

I really thought that the latest slew of scandals - partygate, the covid loan fraud, the lies about Penn Farthing etc - would finally be enough to finish him off, but I am now coming to the sickening realisation that he intends to ride it out and that the Tories are going to let him do just that. The threat of war is a perfect distraction.

It is shocking to me that we can allow a sitting prime minister to repeatedly demonstrate such a blatant lack of integrity and disregard for the truth without any apparent consequence.

I wrote to my MP. She said wait for Sue Gray. We waited, and clearly it wasn't worth it. The police are now investigating but there is no clarity about how long that investigation will take or whether its outcomes will be made public. On the contrary, it seems likely that we'll get a sanitised version of Sue Gray's report with all of the important stuff taken out,
the police investigation will drag on until everyone has forgotten about it and the whole thing will be conveniently brushed under the carpet. Meanwhile, we are stuck with a PM who has no morals and no shame.

I honestly beginning to think that we need a revolution!

Original poster
Poetrypatty · 29/01/2022 12:25

It is shocking to me that we can allow a sitting prime minister to repeatedly demonstrate such a blatant lack of integrity and disregard for the truth without any apparent consequence

Same

OP posts:
thegcatsmother · 29/01/2022 12:37

Poetrypatty He is the PM of a NATO nation. The UK is a nuclear power. If, by going to Ukraine, it helps to reinforce the message that the Western Alliance is opposed to Putin salami slicing pieces of Ruusia's near abroad, then good. If Putin is allowed to annexe Ukraine, then what about Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who are NATO Nations? We are then into Article 5 territory. What if Putin then decides he wants a land corridor to Kaliningrad?

We are in a dangerous time, so yes, the PM should go to Ukraine.

CorrBlimeyGG · 29/01/2022 12:40

Not only the report, he's hiding from the impending NI rise, along with the cost of living crisis.

Perfect time for a photo opportunity with the troops!

CorrBlimeyGG · 29/01/2022 12:42

If, by going to Ukraine, it helps to reinforce the message that the Western Alliance is opposed to Putin salami slicing pieces of Ruusia's near abroad, then good.

Putin thinks Johnson is a joke, a puppet. The trip is of zero use to anyone.

LizzieSiddal · 29/01/2022 12:43

Of course he is and yes our country is in dire straights when we’re lead by someone who has no morals or integrity.

kickupafuss · 29/01/2022 12:45

Every single thing he does is for his own benefit.

Akire · 29/01/2022 12:45

I don’t know why he’s going he be no bloody use when he gets there. Few photo ops to look like leader sorry it goes deeper than that.

CaveWoman1 · 29/01/2022 12:46

The Ukrainians don't need to worry - Boris will be there soon, on the frontline with them to single-handed halt those Russian tanks with one swish of his unruly hair and some smoothly perfected platitudes. He is the unlikely hero of his own drama by all accounts - stepping forward into conflict to save..............himself

thegcatsmother · 29/01/2022 12:46

That's your opinion Corr, it's not mine. I thought Blair used Afghanistan as a photo options, but again he was PM, and it was part of his job, however much I despised the man.

Theunamedcat · 29/01/2022 12:47

Seriously I wouldn't want to go near people with live ammo right now if I was pm

Nightlystroll · 29/01/2022 12:53

I don't know why he's going there but I'd be pretty disturbed and pissed off if a PM wasn't concerned about the Ukraine situation and didn't speak out about it. Especially as we have good relations with several of the Eastern border EU countries which are looking to our armed forces for support. To just ignore the situation so posters on MN don't get the idea that he might be using the Ukraine as a diversion tactic would be far worse.

CorrBlimeyGG · 29/01/2022 13:15

I don't know why he's going there but I'd be pretty disturbed and pissed off if a PM wasn't concerned about the Ukraine situation and didn't speak out about it.

He can do that from here. There is zero need for him to travel to Ukraine.