Boris Johnson’s £2.6m briefing room is over after a month – 11 perfect takedowns
On the incredibly news-heavy day that was Tuesday, you could be forgiven for having failed to notice developments around Boris Johnson’s communications set-up at Downing Street.
Breaking:
Boris Johnson has axed plans for televised White House-style press conferences
Allegra Stratton, his press secretary, will become his spokeswoman for COP26
The £2.6m No 9 briefing room will instead be used by the PM, ministers and officials
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) April 20, 2021
The expensive briefing room had only come into use four weeks ago.
MPs were unimpressed.
£2.6m wasted on a briefing room for a press secretary who will never use it. In a country where record numbers are using food banks. This is truly the most reckless, wasteful and self-interested government I’ve ever witnessed. https://t.co/82tEeKOiLy
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 20, 2021
I hope next time he just pops to IKEA when he has one of his little Ideas. Get a hobby flower arranging or Upcycling furniture for god sake and stop asking us to pay for your expensive fads of unusable or none existant press rooms and flowery bridges. https://t.co/6wh9SOm1Yn
— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) April 20, 2021
Journalists were unsurprised.
WHO COULD HAVE FORESEEN THIS? https://t.co/HRS16DRHlI
— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) April 20, 2021
We've been waiting for Boris Johnson to axe White House-style briefings ever since they were announced.
Anybody who has been at a lobby briefing could see they were a high risk strategy for Govt.
They might think they control the message, but there's also nowhere to hide. https://t.co/qSjXScMs5i
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) April 20, 2021
And Twitter pisstakers were uninhibited. Feast your eyes on these.
1.
I've just remembered I don't like being asked questions.
Still, wasting £2.6m on a briefing room we don't want will never be noticed alongside the billions we've given our mates over the last year. https://t.co/BhrLbTZ5a5— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) April 20, 2021
2.
Hahahaha. Fuck me. Is there anything that illustrates his entitled adolescent posho persona better than demanding a £2.6m briefing room, only to get bored with it two weeks later. https://t.co/n52gmPfQO9
— Chris Addison💙 (@mrchrisaddison) April 20, 2021
3.
This is actually a fucking joke, £2.6 million for fuck all https://t.co/rrkUlZcL4o
— Nadine Batchelor-Hunt (@nadinebh_) April 20, 2021
4.
Wait… £2.6 million?! Who built it, Seaborne Freight?
It looks like they spent £80 in Maplin insolvency stock, and £12 in flags R us. pic.twitter.com/dqtR8icFPl— Ignacio Lopez (@comedylopez) April 20, 2021
5.
I hope they remember to remove all the Russian recording equipment before they use it for private government discussions. https://t.co/0ThQ3Ol4dt
— HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) April 20, 2021
6.
— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) April 20, 2021
7.
Soz if I’ve got this wrong but did Boris just spend £2.6 million on a room for his hoover pic.twitter.com/vpPHb4M8rp
— Alice Jones (@alicevjones) April 20, 2021
8.
The 1996 TARDIS console room probably cost the same, and got more screentime. https://t.co/KHIeQd66lD
— Stephen Graham (@StephenCVGraham) April 20, 2021
9.
So what did I say?
Don’t piss away £2.6m of taxpayers money on a vanity project press briefing room.
And what did you do?
Pissed away £2.6m of taxpayers money on a vanity project press briefing room. pic.twitter.com/mRkyx1tZeq
— Robin Flavell (@RobinFlavell) April 20, 2021
10.
People need to find ways to spend money you know – Charles Moore calls it the wealth trap. The thing is it shouldn't really be our money… https://t.co/If4rEVXs4q
— Jessica Simor QC (@JMPSimor) April 20, 2021
11.
It was a very brief briefing room.
— Fr Ian Maher SCP🏴🇪🇺💙🐝#RejoinEU (@IanMaher7) April 20, 2021
In conclusion –
Piss-up. Brewery. https://t.co/Icxa7Heumr
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) April 20, 2021
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Ian Hislop’s scathing take on that £2.6m briefing room was a Question Time high spot
Source Steven Swinford Image Screengrab
