Boris Johnson ignores family's plea not to exploit victims' deaths

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Source: The Guardian

Boris Johnson ignores family’s plea not to exploit victims' deaths

PM accused of ‘distasteful’ attempt to turn London Bridge attack into election issue

Peter Walker and Frances Perraudin
Sun 1 Dec 2019 20.43 GMT
Last modified on Sun 1 Dec 2019 22.26 GMT

Boris Johnson has been accused of twisting the facts of the London Bridge terror attack in a “distasteful” attempt to turn it into an election issue, as he tried to blame Labour for the release of the terrorist who stabbed two people to death.

Despite one of the victims’ families pleading for their son’s death not to be used as an excuse for kneejerk political reaction, Johnson claimed that “a lefty government” was responsible for Usman Khan being freed.

The family of Jack Merritt called for the murder of “our beautiful, talented boy” to not be exploited for political gain, as police named the second victim as Saskia Jones, a prisoner rehabilitation volunteer.

But the Conservatives nonetheless sought to push a perceived political advantage on the issue, promising to end early release for people convicted of terrorism, while saying Jeremy Corbyn was unable to keep the public safe.

Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, accused Johnson of going “straight from a tragedy to reheating pre-packaged political lines smearing the Labour party”.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/01/boris-johnson-election-issue-london-bridge-attack