Rishi Sunak's Ominous Vow To Show 'No Mercy' To Criminals Flipped Right Back At Him
Rishi Sunak’s solemn social media post about taking on crime has been ripped apart.
Days after the prime minister triggered outrage by leaving the 80th anniversary commemorations for D-Day early, and was then widely accused of avoiding the media, he has come under attack once again for not quite reading the room.
On Monday, he posted on X (formerly Twitter): “If you’re a criminal, the law should show you no mercy.”
If you're a criminal, the law should show you no mercy.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 10, 2024
It was most likely an attempt to promote the Conservatives’ plan to recruit 8,000 more officers over the next three years if they get back into Downing Street.
But Sunak had still not followed this post up with another message about his party’s strategy within two hours – leaving him wide open to all of X’s criticism.
For instance, he was quickly reminded that he was fined £50 when police concluded he (along with then PM Boris Johnson) broke lockdown rules on social distancing.
Weird thing to say when you got a promotion after breaking a law passed by a government in which you were a serving senior minister, but sure https://t.co/0zmhI017sA
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) June 10, 2024
Others remembered how Sunak was also fined for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving vehicle while he was filming a video for social media.
https://t.co/XovIda1AmIpic.twitter.com/lucFCmtYQx
— Alexander Brown (@AlexofBrown) June 10, 2024
Says the man fined for breaking the law twice. https://t.co/uXJJy5qVj2
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) June 10, 2024
Some X users recalled how the prison system has changed under Sunak, as he oversaw a scheme to release “low-level offenders” in England and Wales up to 70 days early.
They also blamed him for declining numbers of police officers, and major delays for victims waiting for trial.
If you’re a criminal, @RishiSunak and his pals have made it as easy as possible for you by slashing police numbers, cutting prosecutors, selling off courts, creating record backlogs, forcing victims to wait *years* for a trial and making the prisons too full to take any more. https://t.co/rrJUwDxETd
— The Secret Barrister (@BarristerSecret) June 10, 2024
You might want to sit down for this one Rishi, but you are - quite literally - letting criminals walk out of prison early. https://t.co/5RjBKQst8O
— Joanna Hardy-Susskind (@Joanna__Hardy) June 10, 2024
The government also famously admitted that the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU would “break international law” in a “specific and limited way” back in 2020 – when Sunak was chancellor.
What if you break the law in a specific and limited way
— Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) June 10, 2024
Some posts joked that this was a reference to the wave of stories related to Tory sleaze in the last few years.
Is this about party discipline?
— HENRY MORRIS (@mrhenrymorris) June 10, 2024
Others remembered how Sunak was accused of allowing “fraudsters” to exploit “weakness” in the Covid loans scheme in 2022, too.
but if you had a dodgy Covid loan, no worries https://t.co/ALenxusxY9
— Toby Earle ???????? Threads tobyontv (@TobyonTV) June 10, 2024
What about if you defraud the UK for vast amounts of £££… but the Chancellor of the day shrugs it off?
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) June 10, 2024
A spending tracker from the Best for Britain also found the Tories have squandered £130billion of taxpayer money since the last general election.
And if you oversee £131bn in scandalous spending, the voters should show you no mercy either https://t.co/EK8p9uAv0C
— Naomi Smith (@pimlicat) June 10, 2024
And, of course, there were just the general jibes at the PM too.
(Terms and conditions apply.) https://t.co/yrGHhhI9D0
— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) June 10, 2024
At this point, I picture him in bed gently sobbing, just asking ChatGPT for election slogans https://t.co/3MtMM5rayB
— James Withers (@JamesRWithers) June 10, 2024
me to my mum in 1998 when my brother stole two quid from my money tin https://t.co/SD6LMk0bRP
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) June 10, 2024
My bold proposal: make crime illegal https://t.co/PxoIP77wWJ
— Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent) June 10, 2024
Oh no https://t.co/E656z95Mjj
— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) June 10, 2024
Love just randomly tweeting this with no follow-up at 10am https://t.co/YNPOIynPvo
— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) June 10, 2024