Rishi Sunak’s pledge to scrap a series of green measures has prompted ridicule from critics who say they were never a reality – and on social media have taken on a life of their own. “You boy, which of the seven bins is it this week?” read the caption above an image of Scrooge – from the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol – in a tweet lampooning the prime minister’s claim he had spared people from being forced to recycle in as many different bins. The pledge inspired the lion’s share of mickey-taking, including a mocked-up picture featuring a scene from a fictitious film, “Snow White and the Seven Bins (1937)”, with its eponymous heroine flying over a snowy, bin-strewn hillside. Another post used an image from an encounter Sunak had with a homeless person while briefing manning a soup kitchen. “Yes I scrapped the meat tax. Seven bins? Not on my watch mate. Compulsory Badger racing also cancelled,” read the caption.
The broadcaster and author James O’Brien, meanwhile, shared his relief on Thursday, telling followers: “Thank goodness I don’t have to put all seven of them out any more.” Wednesday’s announcement at Downing Street was likened to Soviet-era rewriting of history, such as when secret police official Nikolai Yezhov was airbrushed out of a photo showing Stalin at the Moscow canal. Standing in front of Stalin in a new imaging of the photo were … those seven bins; it was followed by another version of this image in which the bins had been made to conveniently disappear. Elsewhere, the thought of what the Conservative leader may promise next occupied users’ imaginations. “Next up on @RishiSunak’s list: – Santa made to have a pilots licence – Monsters under your bed deported to Rwanda – Unicorns limited in horn length – Tooth fairy income will be taxed – Number limits on invisible friends kids can have,” suggested a user of X, formerly known as Twitter. The @Parody_PM account, which boasts more followers than many MPs, promised to unveil further moves on Thursday to scrap imaginary proposals, pledging: “Today I will be announcing the cancellation of the requirement for people to work in a chain gang for five years.”