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A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 12 december 2019

Leaders scramble for final votes as UK’s ugly election ends

By JILL LAWLESS or years of negotiations on class towns in central and mestic issues, especially the fronted with past broken
Associated Press future trade relations with northern England that have wear and tear to the coun- promises, untruths and of-
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s the bloc, involving tough elected Labour lawmakers try’s state-funded health fensive statements, from
election has been like the trade-offs between inde- for decades, but also vot- service after nine years of calling the children of sin-
country’s late-autumn gle mothers “ignorant, ag-
weather: chilly and dull, gressive and illegitimate” to
with blustery outbursts. comparing Muslim women
On the last day of the cam- who wear face-covering
paign, political leaders veils to “letter boxes.”
dashed around the U.K. on Corbyn has been accused
Wednesday trying to win of allowing anti-Semitism to
over millions of undecided spread within the party. The
voters who will likely deter- 70-year-old left-winger is
mine the outcome. portrayed by opponents as
Opinion polls suggest an aging Marxist with unsa-
Prime Minister Boris John- vory past associations with
son’s Conservatives have Hamas and the IRA.
a lead over the main op- Though the candidates
position Labour Party led claim to carry positive mes-
by Jeremy Corbyn ahead sages, the campaign has
of Thursday’s election. But been littered with allega-
all the parties are nervous tions of mudslinging and
about the verdict of a vola- dishonesty — largely by
tile electorate fed up after the Conservatives. The To-
years of Brexit wrangling. ries doctored a video of an
Truck driver Clive Jordan interview with a senior La-
expressed a weariness that bour lawmaker to make it
could be heard up and appear as if he had failed
down the country during to answer a question, when
the five-week campaign. he had. The party re-brand-
“Basically I just want it ed its press office Twitter
over and done with now,” account “FactCheckUK”
he said. “Nobody’s do- during a television debate,
ing what they said. Every- earning a warning but no
body’s lying.” Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative party leader Boris Johnson poses as he hammers a “Get sanction from the social
Britain’s first December Brexit Done” sign into the garden of a supporter, in Benfleet, east of London on Wednesday, Dec. media site.
vote since 1923 has been 11, 2019, the final day of campaigning for the general election. Johnson combined an ag-
dubbed the Brexit Election. Associated Press gressive online campaign
It is being held more than with a cautious approach
two years early in hopes of to live appearances. He
breaking Britain’s political pendence and access. ed strongly in 2016 to leave Conservative government largely avoided tough in-
deadlock over the coun- “His campaign was all the EU. austerity. Labour also prom- terviews — to the fury of
try’s stalled departure from about ‘Getting Brexit Polls suggest that plan may ises to boost public spend- opponents — and had a
the European Union. done,’ but actually it’s be working, and the Con- ing, nationalize Britain’s rail- generally gaffe-free elec-
Johnson has focused re- about getting Brexit start- servatives have also been ways and utilities and pro- tion until the final days of
lentlessly on Brexit through- ed,” said Tony Travers, pro- helped by the Brexit Party vide everyone in the coun- the campaign.
out the campaign, end- fessor of government at the led by Nigel Farage, which try with free internet access On Monday, Johnson was
lessly repeating his slogan London School of Econom- decided at the last minute — all paid for by raising caught making a ham-
“Get Brexit done.” He says ics. “Elections seem to sug- not to contest 317 Conser- taxes on high earners. fisted and seemingly un-
that if he wins a majority of gest these things are easy; vative-held seats to avoid “My message to all those sympathetic reaction to
the 650 House of Commons they’re not.” splitting the pro-Brexit vote. voters who are still un- a picture of a 4-year-old
seats on Thursday, he will But the notion of an end Labour — which is largely decided is that you can boy lying on a hospital floor
get Parliament to ratify his to the Brexit melodrama but ambiguously pro-EU vote for hope in this elec- because no beds were
“oven-ready” divorce deal is tempting to voters who — faces competition for tion,” Corbyn planned to available. Asked to look at
with the EU and take Britain have watched politicians anti-Brexit voters from the say Wednesday at his final the picture on a reporter’s
out of the bloc as sched- bicker for more than three centrist Liberal Democrats, campaign rally. phone, Johnson grabbed
uled on Jan. 31. years since Britain’s June Scottish and Welsh nation- On Brexit, Labour says it will the device and pocketed
“If we can get a working 2016 vote to leave the Eu- alist parties and the Greens. negotiate a new divorce it. On Tuesday, the father of
majority, we have a deal, ropean Union. “The only reason the Con- deal with the EU, then offer a man killed in last month’s
it’s ready to go,” Johnson “Brexit is fueling the elec- servatives are so far ahead voters the choice in a new knife attack near London
said Wednesday as he tion,” said Allan Bailey, a in the polls now is that the referendum between leav- Bridge accused the prime
watched pies being baked parish councilor in Clowne, ‘remain’ vote is divided,” ing on those terms and re- minister of using his son’s
at a catering firm in central a former coal-mining vil- said Rosie Campbell, pro- maining in the bloc. death for political gain.
England. “We put it in, slam lage in the central England fessor of politics at King’s For many voters, Thursday’s It’s unclear how much
it in the oven, take it out constituency of Bolsover. “If College London. “For ‘re- election offers an unpalat- those moments will influ-
and there it is -- get Brexit one person can offer this main’ voters it has been a able choice. Both Johnson ence the outcome when
done.” area ... Brexit, that person real failure of leadership.” and Corbyn have personal Britain’s voters pass their
As a slogan, “Get Brexit will win.” If the Tories fail to win a ma- approval ratings in nega- verdict on Thursday. Polls
done” is both mislead- The Conservatives have jority, it will be a sign that tive territory, and both have are open from 7 a.m.
ing and effective. If Britain focused much of their en- voters think other issues are been dogged by questions to 10 p.m. (0700GMT to
leaves the EU on Jan. 31 it ergy on trying to win seats just as important as Brexit. about their character. 2200GMT), with most results
will only kick-start months like Bolsover — working- Labour has focused on do- Johnson has been con- expected early Friday.q