TRADE union figures in the north-east have mocked Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge that he will “repay the trust” placed in him by working-class voters in the region who switched their support from Labour to the Tories in the general election.

Alan Mardghum, general secretary of the Durham Miners’ Association, told the Morning Star today: “When he made statements about the lazy unemployed, single mothers and the feckless working class, that is what he believes. That is the contempt he has for working people.

“When he talks about one-nation Tories he conveniently forgets that in the 1984-5 strike we were striking to protect our right to work, our jobs, our communities. They wiped us out.”

The last pit in the Durham coalfield closed in 1993.

Mr Mardghum said: “Now they are coming to us saying they will be the saviours of our communities. It is an absolute lie. Johnson will be a disaster.

“Ian Lavery MP said these people, the Johnsons of this world, believe they were born to rule. It is what they were taught from an early age.

“Johnson said he wanted to be prime minister from the age of three. Most of us wanted to be ice-cream men or firefighters.

“They blame the most vulnerable in society for the troubles of the world.

“They forget about the millions of unemployed they have created, the homeless, the hungry people having to use foodbanks.

“Johnson believes he has the right to rule and blames the victims of Tory policies for the predicaments they are in.”