‘Come back to help out’: Ryanair trolls Rishi Sunak over California trip
Europe’s biggest budget airline continues to poke fun of the government on social media
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Your support makes all the difference.Ryanair has once again “trolled” the UK government on social media, imploring Rishi Sunak to “Come back to help out”.
The British chancellor is currently in California, prompting his critics to claim he is “missing in action” as omicron rates surge across the UK.
“It's not often we plug our rivals, but there's [sic] plenty of flights from California back to the UK if you've got urgent business to attend to #comebacktohelpout,” Europe’s biggest budget airline tweeted, alongside a graphic of Mr Sunak.
The carrier was referencing the “Eat out to help out” scheme, which the chancellor championed in the summer of 2020 to encourage Britons to patronise restaurants after months of lockdown.
Labour and business leaders have also joined forces to demand that the chancellor “come out of hiding” and put forward an urgent package for the hospitality industry to compensate for customers being urged to cut back on socialising as Covid infections soar.
Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “It’s frankly inexplicable that the chancellor and the business secretary are nowhere to be seen.
“What they ought to be doing is getting business leaders and trade unionists around the table, as they have done at different points throughout the pandemic, to thrash out a package of support measures for these industries.”
The tweet from Ryanair is the latest in a string of social media attacks on the government over the last week.
One recent post mocked Boris Johnson over the Christmas party controversy.
Several rumoured “gatherings” at 10 Downing Street last winter are being investigated to see if any coronavirus rules were breached. The government insists all guidelines were followed.
While the investigation continues, Ryanair has created a graphic showing what it claims is the “Downing Street party level” corresponding to coronavirus alert levels in UK.
The lowest category, Level 1, with “Covid-19 no longer present in the UK” equates to a Downing Street party level of “small gathering with wine and cheese”.
At Level 2, when “the number of cases and transmission is low”, Ryanair claims the party level involves “tinsel, party hats, PM hosting a pub quiz”.
When the virus is in “general circulation” at Level 3, the prescription is: “Booze, snogging, Gove in charge of refreshments.”
Level 4 is when transmission is “high or rising exponentially”. The party level is: “Boris topless, asking Thatcher’s portrait if she comes here often.”
At the highest level, 5, with a risk of “health care services being overwhelmed”, the party level is given as: “Full on rave. Everyone off their tits. Jacob [Rees-Mogg] crying in the corner asking for nanny.”
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