Richard Hawley had some choice words for prime minister Rishi Sunak at a show in London on Saturday night (June 8).
The Sheffield musician was headlining the Eventim Apollo, and before launching into his 2007 classic ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’, he shared some thoughts on the current UK General Election campaign.
“You know, I’m 57 years old and I’ve seen some fucking arsehole politicians, but Sunak takes the fucking piss,” he said.
The Conservative leader called the surprise early election on May 22, which will be held on July 4.
“The thing that slaughters me is the fact that literally probably about a week ago, he came up with a stupid fucking idea to enlist teenagers for a year or two years or whatever, poor fuckers, you know what I mean?” Hawley continued.
“That bastard couldn’t even manage a day, you know what I mean?”
Hawley appears to be referencing the recent Tory pledge to introduce 12 months of mandatory national service for 18-year-olds, should they win the election. Under the plans, there would be the option to apply for one of 30,000 full-time military placements, or to volunteer one weekend a month to carry out a community service.
He also alluded to the fact that Sunak opted to leave the commemoration events for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday (June 6) in Normandy, in order to return to the UK for a pre-recorded political interview with ITV News, for which he has taken criticism from all sides.
“Whoever you vote for, please, please, whatever it is, get the Tory cunts out,” Hawley added.
The former Longpigs and Pulp man released his 10th solo album ‘In This City They Call You Love’ on May 31, which included the single ‘Prism In Jeans’.
Ahead of its release, he spoke to NME about whether he believes an incoming Labour government would represent meaningful change.
“Oh, it will lead to change, but whether or not that’s good change, we’ll see. I just hope they stick to the script. We’ve been here before. I remember the utter euphoria of when Tony Blair got it. It was an amazing moment that didn’t go so well. I don’t want to be negative because there are enough reasons to be so in this modern world.
“It’s a weird thing, man. The one thing I will say about COVID and lockdown is that I naively thought that humanity was going to learn something about it. I genuinely believed that after such a cataclysmic and almost apocalyptic experience that we’d learn some shit at last – but it seems to be the opposite. Things have got much, much worse, the greedy have got greedier and the fuckwits have got more fuckwittier and the dumb have got dumber.”
Hawley’s UK and Ireland tour continues throughout this month and he will also headline Sheffield’s Rock’N’Roll Circus and appear at End Of The Road 2024. Visit here for tickets and more information.