UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbin has blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for attempting to interfere in British elections.
“Donald Trump is trying to intervene in the UK elections to ensure the election of his friend Boris Johnson,” he wrote on Twitter, noting also that, in his opinion, Trump after trying Brexit could try to put the British healthcare system under control of American corporations.
Donald Trump is trying to interfere in Britain's election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected.
It was Trump who said in June the NHS is “on the table”. And he knows if Labor wins US corporations won't get their hands on it.
Our NHS is not for sale.pic.twitter.com/AUhht3pCgL
The head of the British parliamentary opposition made a statement after Trump gave an interview to the leader of the Brexit Party Nigel Faraj on LBC radio. In it, the American president said that Corbin would be a bad prime minister, but Johnson - "just the one who is needed."
“Corbin is a very bad option for your country, very bad, it will lead you along a very bad path, lead you into very bad situations,” Trump said.
The owner of the White House also called on Johnson and Faraj to join forces and form an "unstoppable force" on the eve of the elections scheduled for December 12.
In addition to statements about the identities of the main candidates for the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain, Donald Trump unflatteringly described the deal with the EU that Johnson’s government had previously concluded. According to him, it does not contribute to bilateral trade between the UK and the United States.
- Brexit Party Leader Nigel Faraj
- Reuters
- © Henry Nicholls
“We want to trade with the UK, and it wants to trade with us,” the US leader explained. “And I’ll say it as it is: within the framework of this transaction - its certain aspects - this is impossible.”
Balance of power
On October 29, the House of Commons of the British Parliament approved a bill by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to hold early elections in the country.
According to experts, the conservative leader hopes that the victory in the elections will help him strengthen parliamentary representation and implement Brexit.
Earlier, due to the departure of MPs who disagree with Johnson’s position, the Prime Minister lost the support of the majority in parliament. This led to the fact that he was forced to ask the EU for delay in Brexit, although he had previously promised to “die in the gutter,” but to withdraw the country from the EU until October 31.
In turn, Labor leader Jeremy Corbin, who also supported the holding of early elections, noted that he was going to hold a second referex on Brexit if his party came to power.
According to a public opinion poll conducted by YouGov on October 30-31, now most Britons are ready to vote for conservatives. 36% are going to vote for the Tories, 21% for the Labor Party, 18% for the Liberal Democratic Party, 13% for the Brexit Party, 6% for the Green Party and 6% for all other parties.
Of these political forces, conservatives and the Brexit Party by Nigel Faraj advocate speedy Brexit.
Latest Westminster voting intention (29-30 Oct)
Con - 36%
Lab - 21%
Lib Dem - 18%
Brexit Party - 13%
Green - 6%
Other - 6% https: //t.co/H0i9cEjDBWpic.twitter.com/OFE7zR3Y8T
A slightly different picture is shown by the results of a recent survey by Ipsos MORI. According to them, 41% of Britons are ready to vote for the Tories, 24% for the Labor Party, 20% of the Liberal Democrats, 7% of the Brexit Party, 3% of the Green Party and 5% of the rest.
Conservatives strengthen position in our latest #UKpoli poll for @standardnewshttps: //t.co/SUIOgR4z5g
Conservatives 41% (+8)
Labor 24% (nc)
Lib Dems 20% (-3)
Brexit Party 7% (-3)
Greens 3% (-1)
Other 5% (nc) pic.twitter.com/bIfOyAdzDY
Kira Godovanyuk, a senior fellow at the Center for British Studies at the Institute for Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with RT that Donald Trump “clearly supports Johnson.”
“This is not the first time that Donald Trump makes comments that can be described as interference. He unequivocally expressed his support for Brexit, and repeatedly Theresa May gave advice on how to negotiate with the EU. To some extent, he is now trying to put pressure on the British elites in order to secure first of all a profitable trade deal with the United Kingdom, ”the expert said.
According to her, Corbin as a left-wing politician and “anti-trumpist” is clearly an uncomfortable figure for the current president of the United States.
The search for "influence"
On October 31, Johnson's opponents raised the topic of yet another alleged foreign intervention in British elections. The chairman of the parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Dominic Griev, accused the prime minister of delaying the publication of a report on Russia's alleged influence on the Brexit referendum and elections in the United Kingdom, and called on the prime minister to publish the report before the election.
“The parliamentary committee on intelligence and security that I head is figuring out what kind of threat comes from Russia for this country,” Mane said Thursday in the House of Commons. - In the light of the upcoming elections, the parliament should and should have access to this report. And it’s simply unacceptable for the Prime Minister to keep him, forbidding access to this information. ”
In addition to Mane, who was expelled from the Conservative Party in September for opposing Johnson, the Labor Party was puzzled by the publication of the report, saying that apparently Johnson had something to hide.
Johnson sitting on an explosive official report, sanctioned by our intelligence services into Kremlin subversion of the 2016 EU referendum & influence ops in the Tory Party. This stink https://t.co/pXPqlQTeP4#votelabour#GE2019
- Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) October 31, 2019In turn, in September, The Telegraph newspaper stated that Trump's advisers did not recommend the president to share classified information with the UK if Jeremy Corbin becomes the country's prime minister. Allegedly, under Corbin, this information can “leak” to Washington’s opponents, and the Labor leader is able to side with Russia.
As Godovanyuk notes, the topic of Russian intervention is traditionally updated "in very difficult crisis moments in the political development of Great Britain."
“This is such an instrument of political game, manipulation of public opinion and playing against opponents,” the political scientist emphasizes. - Each of the parties is trying to accuse the other of some sort of conspiracy with Russia in order to scare the electorate and deprive the enemy of voters' sympathies. Therefore, it is not surprising if the topic of Russia is raised now. ”
- House of Commons of the British Parliament
- © UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor / Handout via REUTERS
According to Natalya Yeryomina, professor at the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, statements about possible foreign interference in the British elections “have nothing to do with objective reality”.
“These are questions of political games between representatives of different parties for the votes of voters. Conveniently unite against a specific enemy. And, accordingly, to explain their failures and failures by the fact that there is some kind of external interference, ”Eeryomina said in an interview with RT.
Disservice
According to experts, it is still difficult to predict how all these allegations will affect the outcome of the election campaign in the United Kingdom. In particular, according to Godovanyuk, because of the low popularity of Donald Trump in the UK, he can render Boris Johnson a "disservice".
“Such rude attempts to influence the electorate, of course, can play a cruel joke with Trump and prove to be a disservice to the Tories, for Johnson. As a result, he may lose part of the electorate, the expert notes. - But the election campaign has just begun. There are still many surprises ahead. ”
At the same time, according to Natalya Yeryomina, British voters may also listen to Trump’s position, since the United States is an important trade and economic partner of the kingdom.
- Opponents of Brexit protest in front of the British Parliament
- Reuters
- © Yara Nardi
“Trump’s support for Boris Johnson is perceived as support for the leader of a large country like the United States. She can get political points for Boris Johnson. After all, a trade agreement is at stake, countries are linked by historical relations. And their cooperation is mutually beneficial, ”said the political scientist.