The National Education Union, supported by the Reading Trades Union Council, GMB, TSSA and members of the Labour Party, assembled on 23 July 2019 for the peak time rush at Reading Railway Station to protest the appointment by the Conservative Party of Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister - without an election. Johnson's record of deceit and racism - and his close bond with the misogynist, racist and homophobic American President, Donald Trump, makes his appointment both a disgrace and a national humiliation.
Johnson's commitment to achieving British withdrawal from the European Union by 31 October 2019 on any terms demonstrates a flagrant disregard - or ignorance - of the negative impact a no-deal Brexit (or Brexit on World Trade Organisation terms) would inflict on the British economy. Johnson's announcements of prospective tax cuts for wealthy individuals and large corporations signals an ideological shift rightwards, as he aims to distinguish himself from Theresa May by advocating more reactionary, regressive policies.
With a speech from the NEU delegate, leafleting of commuters arriving in Reading from the station and conversations between protesters and the public beneath the fluttering trade union banners, the message was loud and clear - Reading rejects the ideology of Boris Johnson!
