Reactions poured in after former Brexit minister David Frost appeared to have joined a WhatsApp group of Tory MPs opposed to Covid restrictions.
In a screenshot posted by Sunday Times Whitehall Editor Gabriel Pogrund, Tory MP Mark Harper added Lord Frost, who is not an MP, to the group, saying: “Welcome David, The Rt Hon Lord Frost of Allenton CMG.”
Frost said he was “looking forward to helping”, to which Brexiteer MP Steve Baker replied: “Hero”.
Naturally, Twitter didn’t keep quiet about the leaked chat.
Reactions
Lib Dem Councillor Thomas Janke alluded to Frost’s resignation before ‘getting Brexit done’, a Tory election promise he was in charge of.
“Looking forward to Frost ‘getting Covid done’ and then resigning from the group,” Cllr Janke said.
“If Lord Frost had a conscience, he would set up a Brexit Recovery Group,” Twitter user Colin Alston added.
One person said Frost was made a peer so that prime minister Boris Johnson could put him in the Cabinet “to make an even bigger pigs arse of Brexit”, adding: “Now he’s joined Baker & Co in the CRG – ‘the group of Tory MPs opposed to Covid-19 restrictions.’
“But Frost isn’t an MP. And we are NOT a democracy.”
One user took the opportunity to remind others that a proportional representation electoral system is needed, whilst another mercilessly noted Steve Baker’s words: “Imagine looking at David Frost and thinking hero. The term should be reserved for such remarkable people as David Attenborough or Dolly Parton.”
Nadine Dorries ‘kicked out’ of chat for praising ‘hero’ Boris Johnson
Last month, Frost resigned from his role as Brexit Secretary, claiming the reason was growing ‘disillusionment’ with the ‘direction’ of Tory policy – with the suggestion that this was caused by new Covid measures such as vaccine passports, as well as tax rises and ‘net zero’ environmental policies costs.
But Sky News Europe correspondent Adam Parsons suggested there may be another reason why Frost resigned.
He quoted a senior EU diplomat saying: “Until now, every British Brexit negotiator has resigned or was sacked. Is it because Brexit is bad for Britain and leaves UK negotiators with the impossible task of squaring the circle?”
Dorries was removed from the 100-strong Tory Whatsapp group after saying “the hero is the prime minister who delivered Brexit’.
“I’m aware as someone said today that regicide is in the DNA of the Conservative party, but a bit of loyalty to the person who won an 83 majority and delivered Brexit wouldn’t go amiss,” she added.
Former chair of pro-Brexit European Research Group Steve Baker immediately removed Dorries from the group, adding: “Enough is enough”, before another MP added it was “about time”.
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