(Don’t) buy Heck!: Remainers branded ‘snowflakes’ after demanding a BOYCOTT of the Yorkshire sausage maker after it hosted Boris Johnson on his Tory leadership campaign
- The hashtag #BoycottHeck trended on Twitter today as a row broke out
- Mr Johnson posed with a string of porky treats in Yorkshire last Thursday
- Firm was accused of ‘stripping British citizens of freedom of movement rights’
- But others hit back saying those supporting the boycott were ‘dimwits’
Remainer opponents of Boris Johnson were criticised today for demanding a boycott of a sausage maker after it hosted the Tory leadership front-runner on the campaign trail.
The hashtag #BoycottHeck trended on Twitter as opponents of the probable next prime minister urged people to avoid Heck’s posh bangers after Mr Johnson was pictured at its Yorkshire headquarters.
He posed with a string of porky treats ahead of a hustings in York last Thursday.
Absolute sausagefest: Boris Johnson at the heck factory last Thursday. The visit prompted calls on social media for a boycott of the firm
Mr Johnson had a go at making his own sausages at the site near Bedale in north Yorkshire
One Twitter user said the firm was guilty of supporting ‘stripping British citizens of our freedom of movement rights’, while another said they were backing a man who was ‘going to do untold damage to millions of people’s lives’.
But others hit back at the idea, saying the boycott was ‘peak snowflake’ and those supporting it were ‘dimwits’.
Oh Heck: Furious Remainers tore into the firm on Twitter for supporting Mr Johnson, saying he was ‘going to do untold damage to millions of people’s lives’
Mr Johnson had a go at making his own sausages – so-called ‘Boris Bangers’ – at the Heck sausage factory near Bedale in North Yorkshire before holding his handiwork above his head in an apparent victory pose.
He also posed with the firm’s packaging for waiting photographers in pictures that were widely used.
Mr Johnson has pledged to get the UK ‘match fit for no deal’ to ensure it can leave the European Union on October 31 ‘come what may’.
The Tory leadership frontrunner said there would be ‘no second chances’ as he stressed that Halloween was a real deadline, ‘not a fake one’ – a comment aimed at his rival Jeremy Hunt.
Mr Johnson’s commitment to stick to the deadline comes after he was warned that more than 30 Tories could rebel to block a no-deal Brexit if he tried to force it through Parliament.
Writing on the BrexitCentral website, Mr Johnson took aim at Mr Hunt, who referred to October 31 as a ‘fake deadline’ – before later admitting he should have described his rival’s commitment to leave on that date as a ‘fake promise’.
Mr Johnson said: ‘We need a change of direction. That’s why we must treat October 31 as a real deadline for leaving the EU, come what may, not a fake one.’
He restated his promise to protect the rights of EU expats in the UK and to put the £39 billion divorce settlement in a state of ‘creative ambiguity’ to use as leverage to secure a deal.
Discussions about the thorny issue of the Irish border would be put into the talks on the future trading relationship under his plan.
‘If our friends feel they cannot agree, then we will be match fit for no deal.’
Mr Johnson also signalled that the UK would be prepared to tear up red tape and slash taxes.
The scale of the challenge facing Mr Johnson to steer a no-deal Brexit through a hostile Commons was underlined by former leadership hopeful Sam Gyimah.
He suggested ‘about 30, 30-plus’ Tories would vote to block Mr Johnson suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit.