Nigella Lawson leads roasting of Tory MP who claimed Boris Johnson was ‘ambushed by cake’
Nigella Lawson (L) and Conor Burns. (Getty Images)
Nigella Lawson is leading the chorus of criticism against a British MP who absurdly claimed that Boris Johnson was “ambushed” by a birthday cake.
Conservative MP for Bournemouth West Conor Burns told Channel 4 this week that the prime minister’s birthday celebration in 2020 was not a “premeditated party”.
“As far as I can see, he was in a sense, ambushed with a cake,” he said. “They came to his office with a cake, they sang happy birthday, he was there for 10 minutes.”
The surprise birthday party is the latest in a steady drip of more than a dozen social get-togethers held by government officials at a time when such functions were forbidden.
Lawson, the camp food writer and television cook who has been a British TV mainstay since the early 2000s, slammed the openly gay lawmaker’s bizarre claim on Twitter.
“Ambushed by Cake: it just has to be the title of my next book!” she tweeted Tuesday (25 Wednesday). “#AmbushedByCake.”
https://twitter.com/Nigella_Lawson/status/1486092328867663877?s=20
But Burns in an attempt to do what human beings call “humour”, replied to Lawson’s tweet. “It’s yours if you want it?” he wrote back.
“Could I include my Granny’s Christmas cake recipe?”
Lawson, however, was not amused. Probably seeing Burns as comparable to a bitter orange tart, she said: “This is just too meta.
https://twitter.com/Nigella_Lawson/status/1486113228266610688
“Plus, you think it’s a joke? Says it all.”
Nigella Lawson dubbed ‘high priestess’ for burning Conor Burns amid partygate
Considering that beauty that Lawson’s burn to Burns took place on Burns Night, her 2.7 million followers praised the cook for scorching the MP to a crisp.
“Queen Nigella!!” tweeted one user. “#ConorBurns you absolute mug.”
“I thought I couldn’t adore her anymore and then this happens!” another added. “How to burn with style.”
“Nigella Lawson just went from qween to high priestess of us all,” a third user said.
Lawson’s dig at Boris-loyalist Burns is in no way an outlier. Countless people – from lawmakers to budget airlines – have berated Burns for his bizarre defence of Johnson.
https://twitter.com/MrJohnNicolson/status/1486078646951546884
https://twitter.com/DearbhailDibs/status/1486129089027190789
https://twitter.com/Ryanair/status/1486082072435384324
https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/1486123592677048322
https://twitter.com/Tucker5law/status/1486092217068535813
https://twitter.com/jonnyfallon/status/1486093429201321984
Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, sought to defend prime minister Boris Johnson from the latest career-threatening challenge to his premiership: A birthday cake.
Downing Street confirmed Monday that staff members gathered to celebrate Johnson’s 56th birthday in June 2020, the latest in an ever-growing series of at least 16 wine-filled, lockdown-breaking parties, gatherings and leaving dos across Downing Street, Whitehall and other government offices.
ITV News reported claims that Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, had even helped to organise the surprise get-together in the Cabinet Room at a time when indoor gatherings were not legal under coronavirus guidelines.
Up to 30 people attended the birthday bash, with snacks eaten and a birthday cake shared, the broadcaster added.
Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson (L) leaves Number 10 Downing Street. (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
“A group of staff working in No 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the prime minister a happy birthday,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “He was there for less than 10 minutes.”
But those 10 minutes add to the growing headache Johnson is facing, who has suffered repeated blows in recent weeks to his authority.
Among them, the Metropolitan Police announced an investigation into the parties held at 10 Downing Street and beyond, Lord Theodore Agnew resigning in protest of the government’s handling of fraud in government COVID-19 loans and claims that party whips had threatened Tory lawmakers into supporting the government.
Earlier, amid growing pressure, Johnson had ordered an inquiry into biting allegations of Islamophobia within his government.
Nusrat Ghani, a junior minister at the Department of Transport, lost her job during a 2020 cabinet reshuffle – her “Muslimness” had been given as one reason for this, she alleged to The Sunday Times.
