Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gave Boris Johnson short shrift after the UK Prime Minister tried to engage him in friendly chit-chat before a Queen’s speech that was ostensibly a pre-election pitch from the Tory government.

The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth II on Monday saw a raft of new policy announcements by PM Johnson’s administration. Many opposition lawmakers and political commenters believe the speech is ultimately "pointless."

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The widespread view is that the 26 bills for the new parliamentary session will struggle to get through the House of Commons, because the government has a working majority of minus 43.

As is the tradition, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition lead all MPs from the House of Commons to the Lords to hear the monarch’s speech. While Johnson attempted, during this procession, to exchange some pleasantries with the Labour Party leader, Corbyn kept straight-faced and kept exchanges very short.



As expected, the chemistry between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn is electric pic.twitter.com/kxKU8Bw0qU — Julian Druker (@Julian5News) October 14, 2019

The footage of the two ends with Corbyn pulling a hilarious face, full of concern for the camera operator, which was picked-up-on by many on social media, who saw it more as a comment on the Labour leader’s feelings towards Johnson.

“He really doesn’t want to be sharing that oxygen, does he?” tweeted one observer, while another thought the expressive pose looked like Corbyn had “a selfie stick.”

A few eagle-eyed people identified a painting behind Johnson and Corbyn showing a person lying down sleeping and questioned whether it could be Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg – a reference to the posh Etonian’s recent incident that went viral.



The government’s new agenda included an immigration bill that would essentially end freedom of movement for EU citizens and introduce a points-based entry system for all immigrants.

When it comes to law and order, the government proposes to increase the six-month maximum jail term for foreign offenders who return to the UK in breach of deportation orders.

The speech also included a plan to make people show photographic ID before being allowed to vote under a new measure to prevent voter fraud. Many critics of the proposal claim such a move would prevent people from casting their ballot.

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