General election reactions: Lily Allen, Hugh Grant and Stormzy among stars to condemn Boris Johnson win
Grime star retweeted a post that said the results represented a ‘dark day for minorities in the UK'
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A number of pro-Labour and anti-Conservative stars have condemned Boris Johnson’s general election victory.
Hugh Grant, who had campaigned for tactical voting in the weeks leading up to the election, tweeted succinctly “There goes the neighbourhood”. He subsequently predicted that Conservative Party campaign video statements, 88 per cent of which were found to be lies earlier this week, will “unravel”.
Stormzy, a leading Jeremy Corbyn supporter, retweeted a number of messages suggesting the dire implications of Johnson’s win.
“Dark day for minorities in the UK,” wrote journalist Mehdi Hasan, in a message retweeted by the grime star. “Especially for British Muslims who watched as a man who said ‘Islam was the problem’, mocked veiled Muslim women, & also turned a blind eye to massive anti-Muslim hatred in his party, was just given a landslide majority by their fellow Britons.”
Lily Allen, another Labour advocate, called for greater attention be paid to “unchecked targeted bespoke propaganda” in a tweet, adding: “We need to start taking this seriously.”
In response to a Twitter user who called her a “privilege-denying clown”, Allen fired back: “Oh f*** off I shout out my privilege every five mins. It’s because of my privilege and proximity to to it that I know what inherently greedy c***s we all are. I KEEP TRYING TO TELL YOU.”
She also retweeted the Trainspotting novelist Irvine Welsh, who used a Game of Thrones analogy to sum up today’s mood. “Looks like the Starks voted Lannister,” he wrote.
James Corden also got involved, tweeting that he believed Corbyn was the biggest hurdle Labour had to overcome.
“I can’t shake the feeling that if Tom Watson had been leader of the Labour Party the outcome of this could’ve all been so different,” the US talk show wrote. “Jeremy Corbyn has now lost two elections to opposition candidates who could’ve and should’ve been beaten.”
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On Instagram, singer/songwriter Paloma Faith vowed to be kind to others, even while predicting a dismantling of UK institutions moving forward.
“I will do as much as I can to help this country in what might be the worst state it’s been in economically and environmentally in years as we crash out the EU/end the NHS/ and see a rise in homelessness,” she wrote. “I love Britain… and I love people.”
On Twitter, Piers Morgan lay the blame for Johnson’s victory at Grant and actor Steve Coogan, who both campaigned for tactical voting and Labour, respectively.
“Congrats Hugh Grant & Steve Coogan – you helped get Boris a landslide,” he tweeted, adding: “The British people listened to your democracy-wrecking garbage & told you to f**k off.”
Morgan’s Johnson-supporting son Spencer, meanwhile, was asked on Twitter what he had gained from a Tory win, replying: “My inheritance.”
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