There are two major obstacles preventing Tory MPs from admitting the truth about Johnson. First: he embodies 'Brexit' (which is also sh*t but they can't admit that to themselves yet). Second: they are psychologically repulsed by the idea of conceding that his critics were right. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1462880673522458624
The ‘fleeing a crime scene’ narrative didn’t last long. Where did it come from?
‘JUST IN - Darrell Brooks intentionally drove his vehicle into the Christmas parade in #Waukesha and is charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide, according to the police.’
It came from the police.
Did it? Not sure. It's very opaque
CNN were trotting out the "not terrorism, not related to Rittenhouse" narrative as soon as they could
And it all feels like premature lies now
Who do you believe if the mainstream media simply lie? This is why Fake News grows on both extremes. Democracy is fucked by social media: discuss
Ministers have spent the day ringing round Tory rebels on social care means testing. From what I hear, they've only made things worse - and turned wobblers into opponents by failing to produce reassuring facts on numbers affected. "They're just pissing colleagues off"... (1) https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1462844113091444738
There are two major obstacles preventing Tory MPs from admitting the truth about Johnson. First: he embodies 'Brexit' (which is also sh*t but they can't admit that to themselves yet). Second: they are psychologically repulsed by the idea of conceding that his critics were right. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1462880673522458624
I don't think that's true. While many of them are new and to at least some degree owe their jobs to him, we know the older intake were not enamoured of him since they only turned to him (and he did not even put himself forward) until they felt they had to.
Gushing comments to the leader once in post notwithstanding, it seemed pretty transactional. They felt he would be able to win them the next election, and they were right. That buys him a lot of leeway, but since his lack of firm ideological underpinning is part of his brand, that is he is flexible, he has to keep looking like a winner because that's the only driver of loyalty (contrast with Corbyn where ideology was the driver above any other consideration), and it probably makes them more capable of conceding his flaws.
That doesn't make them any more likely to act, however.
Gushing comments to the leader once in post notwithstanding, it seemed pretty transactional. They felt he would be able to win them the next election, and they were right. That buys him a lot of leeway, but since his lack of firm ideological underpinning is part of his brand, that is he is flexible, he has to keep looking like a winner because that's the only driver of loyalty (contrast with Corbyn where ideology was the driver above any other consideration).
This is the same mistake Sean made upthread.
Being a "winner" is no good if you can't actually do the governing part.
The ‘fleeing a crime scene’ narrative didn’t last long. Where did it come from?
‘JUST IN - Darrell Brooks intentionally drove his vehicle into the Christmas parade in #Waukesha and is charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide, according to the police.’
It came from the police.
In all senses, judging by the fact he was on bail and clearly shouldn't have been.
A horrible tragedy that will only look worse if it turns out to have been an avoidable horrible tragedy.
If it was intentional, it might not have made much difference, apart from the timing and the particular people he killed. More concerning is the apparent globalisation of the "drive into a crowd" murder technique we've seen in France and Britain.
He overtook a lot of the marching bands, passing spectators, before striking some. If he was trying to kill then why dodge the first ones?
I guess that we will find out in time.
Jesus F Christ watch the videos. He aimed for the biggest kill
This is a man who has social media praising Hitler, has been calling for the "knocking over of white people", asked for revenge over Rittenhouse, has been rhapsodising about Black Lives Matter, and who recently - weeks ago - got arrested for deliberately running over his "girlfriend". Literally running someone over last month
The idea you would be calling for measured judgment if he was a racist, criminal, homicidal, Hitlerite white guy filmed ploughing into a black parade is, shall we say, piquant
I saw the video on the news.
It was quite different to previous vehicle killings like Charlottesville, Nice or the London mosque.
I have no idea on his motivations, and I am not convinced that the frothing parts of swivel eyed social media are the place to find them.
Imagine the reaction if it had been Ed "Bacon Sandwich" Milliband making the Peppa Pig speech to the FBI. Imagine the end of the political world, an embarrassment to the office and to the country which means he MUST RESIGN.
Imagine if it had been Jezbollah...
That’s the point I’ve been making all along isn’t it? These other people don’t get away with what people with charisma like Boris can, unfair as that is
Must say the ‘I gave him a chance but I’m just embarrassed by him now” schtique, from people who have openly hated him since day one is a little transparent.
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
2. Cameron's EU referendum, OMFG
3. Brown. Botched election call, the endless stupid Blair feud
4. Major. Being a europhile twat again and again and, still, again
I'm quite serious. Boris has already proven himself a better PM than any of them by winning as mayor twice, winning the referendum, winning the election (with a huge majority), winning the vaccine race, and, it looks like - God willing - winning the Freedom Day Handicap and taking the risk on a summer opening
Boris is a risk taker. A selfish, shambolic wanker of a risk taker, but a risk taker. And he wins. That. in politics and life, counts for a LOT, as Napoleon noted
Nah. Winning an election gives you the opportunity to become a good PM. Taking risks with over peoples lives a livelihoods is not good governance. It’s what the most disastrous leaders do. The dice might be kind for a bit, but ultimately you lose big. He doesn’t care. Win or lose he’ll sell his memoirs.
He wants to be Churchill. But he will be Eden.
His epitaph will be, as Blake said of Eden's performance after the triumph of the 1955 election, 'Seldom can the euphoria of success have been followed so swiftly by the disillusionment of failure. Eden lacked the prime ministerial temperament.'
The contempt. The entitlement. The hubris. It's quite something.
EDIT: Him, I mean, Stocky, not you.
Still not clear. Peppa Pig, or Boris?
Peppa's a HER, Al, so it's clear who I'm talking about.
Bloody hell, I learn something new on here every day.
She is the most irritating of children tv characters.
No, that’s Bing
I knew I was watching to much kids tv the other day, when the absolute radio DJ said “we are going to be introducing something special on Sunday” and I thought it meant Mr Tumble was on
The ‘fleeing a crime scene’ narrative didn’t last long. Where did it come from?
‘JUST IN - Darrell Brooks intentionally drove his vehicle into the Christmas parade in #Waukesha and is charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide, according to the police.’
It came from the police.
Did it? Not sure. It's very opaque
CNN were trotting out the "not terrorism, not related to Rittenhouse" narrative as soon as they could
And it all feels like premature lies now
Who do you believe if the mainstream media simply lie? This is why Fake News grows on both extremes. Democracy is fucked by social media: discuss
Leon gets much of his source material from (dodgy) social media: discuss.
Where do you get your news?
Serious question. There was some earnest PB-er on here earlier who said they got all their news from "Radio 4 and the Guardian". The idea that would give you a serious, neutral, informative and timely news feed is comical to the max
eg: You still wouldn't know the accused killer in Wisconsin is black, pro-BLM, has posted anti-white social media about knocking over "old white people", is apparently pro-Hitler, and so on
You might argue race is irrelevant in this crime, but in that case why was race relevant in the Rittenhouse case, when even the President rushed to call it a "white supremacist" crime?
Gushing comments to the leader once in post notwithstanding, it seemed pretty transactional. They felt he would be able to win them the next election, and they were right. That buys him a lot of leeway, but since his lack of firm ideological underpinning is part of his brand, that is he is flexible, he has to keep looking like a winner because that's the only driver of loyalty (contrast with Corbyn where ideology was the driver above any other consideration).
This is the same mistake Sean made upthread.
Being a "winner" is no good if you can't actually do the governing part.
Electing a clown doesn't help the brand...
I think you've misunderstood me. I agree with you. My point was that most of the MPs who backed him did so on the basis they thought he would win them an election, and that part was undeniably correct. That they didn't really back him until that point demonstrates plenty of them are fully capable of agreeing with your point that he would not be good at the governing, ergo the idea they cannot accept that point is probably false.
Parties will take a win over a loss every time. Something might come up, the leader might surprise positively, or they might work up the courage to remove them, they might get lucky with events etc. Their choice was rational at the time, but not, given the late swing to Borism, entirely blind to the risks.
The contempt. The entitlement. The hubris. It's quite something.
EDIT: Him, I mean, Stocky, not you.
Still not clear. Peppa Pig, or Boris?
Peppa's a HER, Al, so it's clear who I'm talking about.
Bloody hell, I learn something new on here every day.
She is the most irritating of children tv characters.
No, that’s Bing
I knew I was watching to much kids tv the other day, when the absolute radio DJ said “we are going to be introducing something special on Sunday” and I thought it meant Mr Tumble was on
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
The contempt. The entitlement. The hubris. It's quite something.
EDIT: Him, I mean, Stocky, not you.
Still not clear. Peppa Pig, or Boris?
Peppa's a HER, Al, so it's clear who I'm talking about.
Bloody hell, I learn something new on here every day.
She is the most irritating of children tv characters.
No, that’s Bing
I knew I was watching to much kids tv the other day, when the absolute radio DJ said “we are going to be introducing something special on Sunday” and I thought it meant Mr Tumble was on
I was driving down to London with Fox Jr2 last weekend, and he found on my phone his favourite album from his toddler years. So we listened to The Crazy Frog Album for old times sake. We both remembered all the words...
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
It is a lot colder now than last week. Might that be a factor?
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
Back in Newcastle after a month away. Was quieter than any Monday night I can recall since re-opening. Attendances at my class are barely half now. Anecdotal I know.
I think you've misunderstood me. I agree with you.
If the relationship was entirely transactional, BoZo would be out on his arse already
It's not always easy to back out of a transaction. There are more penalties and risks to reversing the decision than initially taking it. But it makes weakening easier.
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
2. Cameron's EU referendum, OMFG
3. Brown. Botched election call, the endless stupid Blair feud
4. Major. Being a europhile twat again and again and, still, again
I'm quite serious. Boris has already proven himself a better PM than any of them by winning as mayor twice, winning the referendum, winning the election (with a huge majority), winning the vaccine race, and, it looks like - God willing - winning the Freedom Day Handicap and taking the risk on a summer opening
Boris is a risk taker. A selfish, shambolic wanker of a risk taker, but a risk taker. And he wins. That. in politics and life, counts for a LOT, as Napoleon noted
Nah. Winning an election gives you the opportunity to become a good PM. Taking risks with over peoples lives a livelihoods is not good governance. It’s what the most disastrous leaders do. The dice might be kind for a bit, but ultimately you lose big. He doesn’t care. Win or lose he’ll sell his memoirs.
I'm not defending the guy - not entirely, anyhow (that is impossible)
But I would not be remotely surprised if he wins again, bequeaths a reasonably functioning economy (despite Brexit, OMG!), sees off Scot Nationalism, and is then viewed as a surprisingly good PM - certainly compared to the others cited - Brown, May, Cameron
I've often thought he is like Charles II, the Merry Monarch. Selfish, charismatic, sometimes ruthless, emotionally needy
Charles II is still seen as a "better king" than Charles I (Charles I is surely Cameron, who got executed for his errors) or the dour James, and many others
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
Yes, I think so. People lock themselves down if they feel it's unsafe.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
This echoes my post from earlier about some of our local village activities planned for the next week or two: book club (cancelled); pop-up pub (cancelled); group meal out (cancelled)... All due to general (irrational?) nervousness.
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and Tory MP, Mel Stride, says MPs are being asked to vote on social care finance changes that should have been announced months ago, not slipped out last Weds, and there's been no geographical assessment, nor do they have appropriate info https://twitter.com/Kate_M_Proctor/status/1462898940681011201
Imagine the reaction if it had been Ed "Bacon Sandwich" Milliband making the Peppa Pig speech to the FBI. Imagine the end of the political world, an embarrassment to the office and to the country which means he MUST RESIGN.
Imagine if it had been Jezbollah...
That’s the point I’ve been making all along isn’t it? These other people don’t get away with what people with charisma like Boris can, unfair as that is
Must say the ‘I gave him a chance but I’m just embarrassed by him now” schtique, from people who have openly hated him since day one is a little transparent.
You keep trotting out this "Boris haters" narrative, implying that anyone who finds his behaviour over the last 30 years to be tiresome is unreasonable.
The man's private life has been akin to that of some feral sink estate yobbo, but that is his business.
His public life is my business. The lying, the laziness, the casual dog whistling has affected lives for the worse, mine included. And yes much of it is down to how he behaved during the EU Referendum. He saw it as an opportunity to undermine Cameron and put himself into pole position when Cameron fell after a narrow victory in the EU Referendum. It is my view Johnson was no more a Leaver than I was, but he miscalculated that his intervention wouldn't drag Leave over the line. It did, but he had no plan as to what should happen next.
When he failed to get elected to the role of PM in 2016 he did his level best to undermine Mrs May. The man's only obligation seems to me to be to himself.
I don't hate him, but I wish with all my heart he was not my Prime Minister.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
It is a lot colder now than last week. Might that be a factor?
I think we are in the lull between Halloween/fireworks and the Christmas season. I feel sorry for November as it’s a bit of a nothing month, overshadowed by what’s to come.
The ‘fleeing a crime scene’ narrative didn’t last long. Where did it come from?
‘JUST IN - Darrell Brooks intentionally drove his vehicle into the Christmas parade in #Waukesha and is charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide, according to the police.’
It came from the police.
In all senses, judging by the fact he was on bail and clearly shouldn't have been.
A horrible tragedy that will only look worse if it turns out to have been an avoidable horrible tragedy.
If it was intentional, it might not have made much difference, apart from the timing and the particular people he killed. More concerning is the apparent globalisation of the "drive into a crowd" murder technique we've seen in France and Britain.
He overtook a lot of the marching bands, passing spectators, before striking some. If he was trying to kill then why dodge the first ones?
I guess that we will find out in time.
Jesus F Christ watch the videos. He aimed for the biggest kill
This is a man who has social media praising Hitler, has been calling for the "knocking over of white people", asked for revenge over Rittenhouse, has been rhapsodising about Black Lives Matter, and who recently - weeks ago - got arrested for deliberately running over his "girlfriend". Literally running someone over last month
The idea you would be calling for measured judgment if he was a racist, criminal, homicidal, Hitlerite white guy filmed ploughing into a black parade is, shall we say, piquant
I saw the video on the news.
It was quite different to previous vehicle killings like Charlottesville, Nice or the London mosque.
I have no idea on his motivations, and I am not convinced that the frothing parts of swivel eyed social media are the place to find them.
Here you go. It's distressing so Pas Devant Les Enfants
He rammed through obstacles to GET to the parade, then he sped up and targeted
As for his motivations, he is fiercely pro-BLM and has posted social media asking for "old white people" to be "knocked over". Plus he deliberately ran over his girlfriend about a fortnight back. Plus he likes Hitler. Plus he has 50 convictions for violence and the like
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
2. Cameron's EU referendum, OMFG
3. Brown. Botched election call, the endless stupid Blair feud
4. Major. Being a europhile twat again and again and, still, again
I'm quite serious. Boris has already proven himself a better PM than any of them by winning as mayor twice, winning the referendum, winning the election (with a huge majority), winning the vaccine race, and, it looks like - God willing - winning the Freedom Day Handicap and taking the risk on a summer opening
Boris is a risk taker. A selfish, shambolic wanker of a risk taker, but a risk taker. And he wins. That. in politics and life, counts for a LOT, as Napoleon noted
Nah. Winning an election gives you the opportunity to become a good PM. Taking risks with over peoples lives a livelihoods is not good governance. It’s what the most disastrous leaders do. The dice might be kind for a bit, but ultimately you lose big. He doesn’t care. Win or lose he’ll sell his memoirs.
He wants to be Churchill. But he will be Eden.
His epitaph will be, as Blake said of Eden's performance after the triumph of the 1955 election, 'Seldom can the euphoria of success have been followed so swiftly by the disillusionment of failure. Eden lacked the prime ministerial temperament.'
Yes that is possible. Tho it is also highly arguable that Cameron is the Eden figure. To the manner born, yet completely fucked it up
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
2. Cameron's EU referendum, OMFG
3. Brown. Botched election call, the endless stupid Blair feud
4. Major. Being a europhile twat again and again and, still, again
I'm quite serious. Boris has already proven himself a better PM than any of them by winning as mayor twice, winning the referendum, winning the election (with a huge majority), winning the vaccine race, and, it looks like - God willing - winning the Freedom Day Handicap and taking the risk on a summer opening
Boris is a risk taker. A selfish, shambolic wanker of a risk taker, but a risk taker. And he wins. That. in politics and life, counts for a LOT, as Napoleon noted
Nah. Winning an election gives you the opportunity to become a good PM. Taking risks with over peoples lives a livelihoods is not good governance. It’s what the most disastrous leaders do. The dice might be kind for a bit, but ultimately you lose big. He doesn’t care. Win or lose he’ll sell his memoirs.
I'm not defending the guy - not entirely, anyhow (that is impossible)
But I would not be remotely surprised if he wins again, bequeaths a reasonably functioning economy (despite Brexit, OMG!), sees off Scot Nationalism, and is then viewed as a surprisingly good PM - certainly compared to the others cited - Brown, May, Cameron
I've often thought he is like Charles II, the Merry Monarch. Selfish, charismatic, sometimes ruthless, emotionally needy
Charles II is still seen as a "better king" than Charles I (Charles I is surely Cameron, who got executed for his errors) or the dour James, and many others
Johnson is not Charles II. He’s not Eden.
He’s closer to Roy Chubby Brown. We’re running an experiment where we’ve elected an entertainer to high office.
It’s as if Sid James had made it to number 10 in 1973. He might get a second series. It’s all a bit of a laugh.
I remember when becoming PM really meant something. Alas we’re now one of those states with a succession of weak leaders.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
As funny as his inability to read a speech and turn pages was. As mind-blowing as his "hands-up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" line was to the CBI meeting, the bit that really makes me giggle is that he made car noises. Which Downing Street had to transcribe and type out as words in the official release of the speech.
Imagine the reaction if it had been Ed "Bacon Sandwich" Milliband making the Peppa Pig speech to the FBI. Imagine the end of the political world, an embarrassment to the office and to the country which means he MUST RESIGN.
Imagine if it had been Jezbollah...
That’s the point I’ve been making all along isn’t it? These other people don’t get away with what people with charisma like Boris can, unfair as that is
Must say the ‘I gave him a chance but I’m just embarrassed by him now” schtique, from people who have openly hated him since day one is a little transparent.
You keep trotting out this "Boris haters" narrative, implying that anyone who finds his behaviour over the last 30 years to be tiresome is unreasonable.
The man's private life has been akin to that of some feral sink estate yobbo, but that is his business.
His public life is my business. The lying, the laziness, the casual dog whistling has affected lives for the worse, mine included. And yes much of it is down to how he behaved during the EU Referendum. He saw it as an opportunity to undermine Cameron and put himself into pole position when Cameron fell after a narrow victory in the EU Referendum. It is my view Johnson was no more a Leaver than I was, but he miscalculated that his intervention wouldn't drag Leave over the line. It did, but he had no plan as to what should happen next.
When he failed to get elected to the role of PM in 2016 he did his level best to undermine Mrs May. The man's only obligation seems to me to be to himself.
I don't hate him, but I wish with all my heart he was not my Prime Minister.
Doesn’t have anything really to do with my point, which is that all we are hearing is people, who have always disliked him, saying they dislike him. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any praise for him from me on here. I voted Tory for the first time, last time, as they were the only party who would implement the referendum result on my ballot.
I keep on telling you the Welsh rugby union fans are savages, further proof, although this applies to the Welsh as a whole.
Drunk Wales fan vomits on six-year-old boy leaving him 'in floods of tears'
Officials admit to concerns about levels of drunkenness, making alcohol bans a future possibility
A young Wales rugby supporter attending his first match was left traumatised after a drunk fan vomited on him during Saturday's game against Australia.
Six-year-old supporter Joey was sitting with his parents in the upper tier of the Principality Stadium when he was vomited on by a supporter in the seats behind him, covering the young boy's back, his coat and the floor and leaving Joey in "floods of tears".
Joey's mother, Sophie Delaney, told the BBC that the drunk fan did not say a word afterwards and appeared unaware of what they had done, adding that the supporter was "slumped over his seat and obviously very, very drunk".
The incident was referred to matchday stewards with the Welsh Rugby Union now investigating the steward's report.
It was noticeably 'larier' than normal at Twickenham for the England Australia game the Saturday before last. A lot of people seemed to be so drunk they couldn't really follow the match. I assumed it was the late kick-off but who knows.
2002 at Twickenham was where I saw the drunkest man ever.
He was at the urinals, he took out what was his todger but was in fact the bottom of his shirt, and ended up pissing on himself, totally oblivious to what he was doing.
Walked out, the front of his trousers and shoes absolutely drenched in piss and he didn't even know.
Drunkest man I ever saw was brought to an Indian restaurant by a taxi driver, set up at a table and fed by the staff. He was so drunk he seemed to be eating the tablecloth at one point...
Not the drunkest ever, but the most impressive feats of drunkenness was the roofer for the Working Men's Club. On Friday, fell off a kerb on his way home, bumped his head. Came in on Saturday with a comedy head bandage saying 'docs told me to ease up'. Proceeded to round robin the various bars drinking low alcohol beer until he was dancing on the tables. So, bar staff consulted and figured he'd ordered somewhere in the mid-30s pints of the stuff over the course of the evening. Like I say, he was a roofer.
Imagine the reaction if it had been Ed "Bacon Sandwich" Milliband making the Peppa Pig speech to the FBI. Imagine the end of the political world, an embarrassment to the office and to the country which means he MUST RESIGN.
Imagine if it had been Jezbollah...
That’s the point I’ve been making all along isn’t it? These other people don’t get away with what people with charisma like Boris can, unfair as that is
Must say the ‘I gave him a chance but I’m just embarrassed by him now” schtique, from people who have openly hated him since day one is a little transparent.
You keep trotting out this "Boris haters" narrative, implying that anyone who finds his behaviour over the last 30 years to be tiresome is unreasonable.
The man's private life has been akin to that of some feral sink estate yobbo, but that is his business.
His public life is my business. The lying, the laziness, the casual dog whistling has affected lives for the worse, mine included. And yes much of it is down to how he behaved during the EU Referendum. He saw it as an opportunity to undermine Cameron and put himself into pole position when Cameron fell after a narrow victory in the EU Referendum. It is my view Johnson was no more a Leaver than I was, but he miscalculated that his intervention wouldn't drag Leave over the line. It did, but he had no plan as to what should happen next.
When he failed to get elected to the role of PM in 2016 he did his level best to undermine Mrs May. The man's only obligation seems to me to be to himself.
I don't hate him, but I wish with all my heart he was not my Prime Minister.
Doesn’t have anything really to do with my point, which is that all we are hearing is people, who have always disliked him, saying they dislike him. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any praise for him from me on here. I voted Tory for the first time, last time, as they were the only party who would implement the referendum result on my ballot.
There is something in what you say, however there are probably some on here who either used to like him, or at least did not particularly dislike him, who then came to dislike him (albeit well before recent events took place). That eventually more of those who currently like him will tread the same path is not controversial, everyone will eventually lose popularity, so the question is really just whether or not there has been any movement in that direction lately, even if most of the noise is coming from the usual crowd.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
See also that item on tomorrow's Telegraph front page
"Help! How to cure HOGO: the Hassle Of Going Out"
We've all got used to Staying In. Cooking our own food (miso soup!). Seeing the odd friend. Doing nothing much. The plague has made us antisocial. It is not good
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
See also that item on tomorrow's Telegraph front page
"Help! How to cure HOGO: the Hassle Of Going Out"
We've all got used to Staying In. Cooking our own food (miso soup!). Seeing the odd friend. Doing nothing much. The plague has made us antisocial. It is not good
It's how I basically spent my time anyway, but it is for some unfathomable reason much more depressing to me if lots more people are doing the same.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
It is a lot colder now than last week. Might that be a factor?
It could be. One of the knitters who came along is a native of Calgary, but most people will have noticed it as the coldest day of the winter so far.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
Farage tells @thesun: "migrant crisis hasn't even started: numbers are only going to go up and up - this is only beginning." "This was meant to be an era of new hope, this was meant to be Brexit Britain. And its not just migrants Net Zero and taxes too."
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
The cities are booming and the towns are not?
Yep, anywhere with students and the like is quite busy. Once you get away from where the youngsters are, it is pretty quiet.
A Tory MP tells me: "It might not only be Father Christmas’ postbag filling up towards the end of the year – Sir Graham Brady could find he needs a bigger one too."
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
The cities are booming and the towns are not?
We were in Inveraray at the weekend. The hotel where we were staying had to put a sign outside on Saturday night to tell people the restaurant and bars were all full and they couldn’t let anyone else in. The place was rammed.
I've tried to determine voting intention from all the comments above and from remembering other conversations. Sorry if I've missed anyone but I had several hours' worth to trawl through. @ydoethur I only made a list of people who'd previously commented this day, though now I look it stops at T in the alphabet so either you hadn't previously commented on this thread, or something went bad with my extract
>>confirmed / admitted: bigjohnowls = Con dixiedean = Lab Farooq = SNP GIN1138 = Con JBriskin3 = Con kjh = Ldem IanB2 = LDem Mexicanpete = Lab murali_s = LDem Omnium = Con SeaShantyIrish2 = Lab Theuniondivvie = SNP tlg86 = Con
>>predicted by others: Big_G_NorthWales = Con Cicero = LDem CorrectHorseBattery = Lab Dura_Ace = Green HYUFD = Con kinabalu = Lab MikeSmithson = LDem NickPalmer = Lab valleyboy = Lab
Lab 7 Con 7 LDem 4 SNP 2 Green 1
You can put me down as LD, but willing to vote tactically.
I see that leftwingers keep bringing up Peppa Pig in mockery (and no I've not seen the clip or the news or the video speech, I've been busy).
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
I've tried to determine voting intention from all the comments above and from remembering other conversations. Sorry if I've missed anyone but I had several hours' worth to trawl through. @ydoethur I only made a list of people who'd previously commented this day, though now I look it stops at T in the alphabet so either you hadn't previously commented on this thread, or something went bad with my extract
>>confirmed / admitted: bigjohnowls = Con dixiedean = Lab Farooq = SNP GIN1138 = Con JBriskin3 = Con kjh = Ldem IanB2 = LDem Mexicanpete = Lab murali_s = LDem Omnium = Con SeaShantyIrish2 = Lab Theuniondivvie = SNP tlg86 = Con
>>predicted by others: Big_G_NorthWales = Con Cicero = LDem CorrectHorseBattery = Lab Dura_Ace = Green HYUFD = Con kinabalu = Lab MikeSmithson = LDem NickPalmer = Lab valleyboy = Lab
Lab 7 Con 7 LDem 4 SNP 2 Green 1
I'm a LibDem. But will vote tactically for the good of the country to remove this government for whichever party is best served to do so. David Duguid even stood up at a recent PMQs to praise Peppa Pig for supporting our constituency by shit-canning the CCS scheme. He, the Tories, the PM - they have to go. And if that means I need to vote SNP then fine.
A Tory MP tells me: "It might not only be Father Christmas’ postbag filling up towards the end of the year – Sir Graham Brady could find he needs a bigger one too."
Even if there was a no confidence vote Boris would still win it provided the polls are level.
Even Thatcher got over 50% of Tory MPs in the first round in 1990 despite trailing Kinnock badly in the polls and even IDS got 45% of Tory MPs in 2003 despite no previous election win like Boris and trailing in most polls.
May of course comfortably won the only no confidence vote she faced in late 2018 too, she resigned in 2019 though only when she clearly trailed Labour and was losing large numbers of votes to the Brexit Party
I've tried to determine voting intention from all the comments above and from remembering other conversations. Sorry if I've missed anyone but I had several hours' worth to trawl through. @ydoethur I only made a list of people who'd previously commented this day, though now I look it stops at T in the alphabet so either you hadn't previously commented on this thread, or something went bad with my extract
>>confirmed / admitted: bigjohnowls = Con dixiedean = Lab Farooq = SNP GIN1138 = Con JBriskin3 = Con kjh = Ldem IanB2 = LDem Mexicanpete = Lab murali_s = LDem Omnium = Con SeaShantyIrish2 = Lab Theuniondivvie = SNP tlg86 = Con
>>predicted by others: Big_G_NorthWales = Con Cicero = LDem CorrectHorseBattery = Lab Dura_Ace = Green HYUFD = Con kinabalu = Lab MikeSmithson = LDem NickPalmer = Lab valleyboy = Lab
Lab 7 Con 7 LDem 4 SNP 2 Green 1
I'm a LibDem. But will vote tactically for the good of the country to remove this government for whichever party is best served to do so. David Duguid even stood up at a recent PMQs to praise Peppa Pig for supporting our constituency by shit-canning the CCS scheme. He, the Tories, the PM - they have to go. And if that means I need to vote SNP then fine.
I called your transition to SNP a while ago.
LibDems are just a stepping stone for you. Your heart lies with the SNP.
I see that leftwingers keep bringing up Peppa Pig in mockery (and no I've not seen the clip or the news or the video speech, I've been busy).
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
Yeah, but what would ultra left-winger Adolf Hitler think?
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
The cities are booming and the towns are not?
We were in Inveraray at the weekend. The hotel where we were staying had to put a sign outside on Saturday night to tell people the restaurant and bars were all full and they couldn’t let anyone else in. The place was rammed.
If it was the George I think it’d be rammed after the third month of a nuclear winter.
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
This echoes my post from earlier about some of our local village activities planned for the next week or two: book club (cancelled); pop-up pub (cancelled); group meal out (cancelled)... All due to general (irrational?) nervousness.
At some point the government will have to decide that the mass testing programme is needlessly creating a climate of fear and can be drastically scaled back. Though if they did this now I'm sure there's lots of people who would panic at the "cover up" and so it might be net counter productive.
Perhaps when the booster programme has completed and we've made it through Christmas without the hospital system crashing, or restrictions being imposed.
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
I've tried to determine voting intention from all the comments above and from remembering other conversations. Sorry if I've missed anyone but I had several hours' worth to trawl through. @ydoethur I only made a list of people who'd previously commented this day, though now I look it stops at T in the alphabet so either you hadn't previously commented on this thread, or something went bad with my extract
>>confirmed / admitted: bigjohnowls = Con dixiedean = Lab Farooq = SNP GIN1138 = Con JBriskin3 = Con kjh = Ldem IanB2 = LDem Mexicanpete = Lab murali_s = LDem Omnium = Con SeaShantyIrish2 = Lab Theuniondivvie = SNP tlg86 = Con
>>predicted by others: Big_G_NorthWales = Con Cicero = LDem CorrectHorseBattery = Lab Dura_Ace = Green HYUFD = Con kinabalu = Lab MikeSmithson = LDem NickPalmer = Lab valleyboy = Lab
Lab 7 Con 7 LDem 4 SNP 2 Green 1
I'm a LibDem. But will vote tactically for the good of the country to remove this government for whichever party is best served to do so. David Duguid even stood up at a recent PMQs to praise Peppa Pig for supporting our constituency by shit-canning the CCS scheme. He, the Tories, the PM - they have to go. And if that means I need to vote SNP then fine.
I called your transition to SNP a while ago.
LibDems are just a stepping stone for you. Your heart lies with the SNP.
Never say never, but at the moment I can't see it. But Duguid is a simpering arse and needs to go.
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
I see that leftwingers keep bringing up Peppa Pig in mockery (and no I've not seen the clip or the news or the video speech, I've been busy).
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
Yeah, but what would ultra left-winger Adolf Hitler think?
I see that leftwingers keep bringing up Peppa Pig in mockery (and no I've not seen the clip or the news or the video speech, I've been busy).
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
Yeah, but what would ultra left-winger Adolf Hitler think?
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
When increasing numbers of Tory grandees and Red Wall Tories are gobbing off in horror I rather think that we are winning the argument!
As I said earlier Big_G and others seem to willing to defend pretty much anything (despite claiming they want him gone). Imagine had PM Milliband done it...
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
Only if you want change to your opinion
Yeah but the beauty of being a nobody is that you don't need to care about changing anyone else's opinion.
See also that item on tomorrow's Telegraph front page
"Help! How to cure HOGO: the Hassle Of Going Out"
We've all got used to Staying In. Cooking our own food (miso soup!). Seeing the odd friend. Doing nothing much. The plague has made us antisocial. It is not good
I'm not sure I'm more antisocial, as such, but a lot of what I do is done habitually, and I'm out of the habit of going out.
I've always thought of myself as being very introverted, but I've really missed being around other people. And yet, despite knowing I've missed other people I've had to make quite an effort to coax myself back out.
I see that leftwingers keep bringing up Peppa Pig in mockery (and no I've not seen the clip or the news or the video speech, I've been busy).
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
Watch the speech for yourself before beating up on "leftwingers". It was astonishing. I doubt you could spin it out.
That said will it impact on him? Maybe not. Supporters will claim it humanises him. Detractors will find it confirms what we already knew
Just back from my second post-pandemic knit night at the pub.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
I tend to find the pub I go to gets progressively quieter as the month goes on before a bumper crowd on and around pay day.
Hmm. I was in Hereford, my old hometown, last week, and it was eerily quiet. I haven't been there in 30 years so quite possibly my anecdote is entirely worthless, as its context is so dated
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
It's impossible to get a table reservation on Friday/Saturday without a weeks notice at anywhere decent in Newcastle at the moment. Unheard of until recently.
The cities are booming and the towns are not?
We were in Inveraray at the weekend. The hotel where we were staying had to put a sign outside on Saturday night to tell people the restaurant and bars were all full and they couldn’t let anyone else in. The place was rammed.
If it was the George I think it’d be rammed after the third month of a nuclear winter.
It was the George. BTW, Alba until the SNP become a democratic party again.
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Yep. He's taking the piss. If you can't see that you're either thick or not paying attention. And if you can but don't care you're a knob. These are the only 3 possible categories for those who still like and rate this guy. Thick. Asleep. Knob.
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
Nearly losing? She ended up with 55 seats MORE than Corbyn.
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
When increasing numbers of Tory grandees and Red Wall Tories are gobbing off in horror I rather think that we are winning the argument!
As I said earlier Big_G and others seem to willing to defend pretty much anything (despite claiming they want him gone). Imagine had PM Milliband done it...
I want Boris replaced but remember he will not always be there and right now neither labour of the lib dems are in a better place
Labour provide a Tony Blair style platform then who knows, I voted for him twice
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
When increasing numbers of Tory grandees and Red Wall Tories are gobbing off in horror I rather think that we are winning the argument!
As I said earlier Big_G and others seem to willing to defend pretty much anything (despite claiming they want him gone). Imagine had PM Milliband done it...
I want Boris replaced but remember he will not always be there and right now neither labour of the lib dems are in a better place
Labour provide a Tony Blair style platform then who knows, I voted for him twice
I agree with you there - and do I have to restate that I expect the Tories to replace Peppa and then win the next election? I am not ramping for Labour nor do I expect them to win.
But there are standards. When bad happens call it out. This. Is. Bad. Saying so - and that we have to have better - is not saying vote Labour. The Tories should be better than this. They used to be. They could be again.
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own a property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through the Commons, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
Nearly losing? She ended up with 55 seats MORE than Corbyn.
She lost her outright Majority to him despite you voting for her
And despite all this he leads Starmer as best PM in tonight's RedfieldWilton poll and conservatives drew level with Labour
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
There is a much broader issue - embarrassment. As in national.
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
Then you need to win the argument
You don't need to "win" any argument to hold an opinion Big G.
When increasing numbers of Tory grandees and Red Wall Tories are gobbing off in horror I rather think that we are winning the argument!
As I said earlier Big_G and others seem to willing to defend pretty much anything (despite claiming they want him gone). Imagine had PM Milliband done it...
I want Boris replaced but remember he will not always be there and right now neither labour of the lib dems are in a better place
Labour provide a Tony Blair style platform then who knows, I voted for him twice
I agree with you there - and do I have to restate that I expect the Tories to replace Peppa and then win the next election? I am not ramping for Labour nor do I expect them to win.
But there are standards. When bad happens call it out. This. Is. Bad. Saying so - and that we have to have better - is not saying vote Labour. The Tories should be better than this. They used to be. They could be again.
We are much on the same page and to be honest, I do not think Boris is well
He may still be suffering long covid, he certainly had a heavy cold last week, and he has looked exhausted for a while
I did say at the time of his speech it was cringeworthy and I expect he is coming under increasing pressure to get his act together or else !!!!
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
Nah. Remember the North only voted Tory to get Brexit done. They're not arsed about things like levelling up.
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
The North voted mostly for Labour MPs even in 2019, it was the Midlands and South which had a majority of Tory seats and gave Boris his majority.
Most voters in seats the Tories won in the RedWall will still get to keep more of their assets exempt from care costs than they do now as I said, so these reforms benefit even them
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
The North voted mostly for Labour MPs even in 2019, it was the Midlands and South which had a majority of Tory seats and gave Boris his majority.
Most voters in seats the Tories won in the RedWall will still get to keep more of their assets exempt from care costs than they do now as I said, so these reforms benefit even them
It is fascinating just how short your political antennae are.
Notable about the "hands up if you've been to Peppa Pig World" segment of the PM's speech to the CBI (fuxsake...). He was lost again. Pages being sifted through. Winging it. Again.
This isn't Labour vs Tory. This is what image you are supposed to have as Prime Minister.
Disraeli Gladstone Lloyd George Churchill Macmillan Wilson Thatcher Blair
Now some bumbling fool blathering on about Peppa Pig.
We used to matter as a country. It used to matter who was PM, what they did and how they did it.
Forget the greats. Let's consider the disappointments we have recently had as PM.
May. She couldn't take her party with her, but she was prepared to stand there and take the abuse to try to promote her vision of the future. And if we're honest, her vision was more coherent and better than that of the incumbent.
Cameron. Made one epoch-defining mistake, but open to working with others, able to speak without notes, willing to work through the essay crisis.
Brown. At some level mad, and deliberately chose to ignore some red flashing elephants in the room. But clearly clever and on top of stuff.
Major. Had the misfortune to hold the exploding parcel when the music stopped. But got more done than you might think, and the epitome of decently keeping buggering on.
None of them great PMs. But I'd have any of them back in a heartbeat, because the incumbent is just painful to watch.
Boris is better than all of those. He wins. He would never make such a major fuck up as:
1. May. Social care, nearly losing to Corbyn, NI backstop, eating chips
2. Cameron's EU referendum, OMFG
3. Brown. Botched election call, the endless stupid Blair feud
4. Major. Being a europhile twat again and again and, still, again
I'm quite serious. Boris has already proven himself a better PM than any of them by winning as mayor twice, winning the referendum, winning the election (with a huge majority), winning the vaccine race, and, it looks like - God willing - winning the Freedom Day Handicap and taking the risk on a summer opening
Boris is a risk taker. A selfish, shambolic wanker of a risk taker, but a risk taker. And he wins. That. in politics and life, counts for a LOT, as Napoleon noted
You seem to have confused being a risk taker with being a twat.
He is the worst kind of decision maker, whose instinct is to prevaricate and flip flop and procrastinate until a decision becomes unavoidable, and even then it may get unmade again the following day. If he ends up taking a risk it is through ineptitude rather than calculated judgement.
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
The North voted mostly for Labour MPs even in 2019, it was the Midlands and South which had a majority of Tory seats and gave Boris his majority.
Most voters in seats the Tories won in the RedWall will still get to keep more of their assets exempt from care costs than they do now as I said, so these reforms benefit even them
It is fascinating just how short your political antennae are.
The alternative eg having £100,000 of assets exempt from care costs but all assets above that liable for residential and at home care costs as May originally proposed in 2017 might benefit a handful of RedWall seats with the lowest house prices a bit more. However it would devastate the Tories in the South and London and lead to mass defections to ReformUK in protest, letting Labour and the LDs through the backdoor in those areas.
Remember how badly May's dementia tax hit her poll rating, forcing her to U-turn mid campaign. Boris' £86,000 care costs cap is far better
More good news for the government - its motion to have poor northerners sell their homes to pay for the care of rich southerners has gone through.
Genuinely poor people don't own any property at all, they live in social housing or rent via housing benefit. They will still get all their care costs covered by the local authority.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
As I said. Make the North pay for the south. Bye Bye red wall, bye bye Tory government.
The North voted mostly for Labour MPs even in 2019, it was the Midlands and South which had a majority of Tory seats and gave Boris his majority.
Most voters in seats the Tories won in the RedWall will still get to keep more of their assets exempt from care costs than they do now as I said, so these reforms benefit even them
It is fascinating just how short your political antennae are.
The alternative eg having £100,000 of assets exempt from care costs but all assets above that liable for residential and at home care costs as May originally proposed in 2017 might benefit a handful of RedWall seats with the lowest house prices a bit more. However it would devastate the Tories in the South and London and lead to mass defections to ReformUK in protest, letting Labour and the LDs through the backdoor in those areas.
Remember how badly May's dementia tax hit her poll rating, forcing her to U-turn mid campaign. Boris' £86,000 care costs cap is far better
Your "handful of red wall seats" is the difference between a May minority and a Peppa majority.
As I said, amazingly clueless. You can't even do self-centred pig-ignorance "as long as we're alright, we're alright" properly as you actually need to win a majority. Which means the red wall.
Comments
https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1462880673522458624
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/20-injured-suv-drives-wisconsin-holiday-parade-route-rcna6292
ETA and police are still saying it was not terrorism.
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1462844113091444738
Gushing comments to the leader once in post notwithstanding, it seemed pretty transactional. They felt he would be able to win them the next election, and they were right. That buys him a lot of leeway, but since his lack of firm ideological underpinning is part of his brand, that is he is flexible, he has to keep looking like a winner because that's the only driver of loyalty (contrast with Corbyn where ideology was the driver above any other consideration), and it probably makes them more capable of conceding his flaws.
That doesn't make them any more likely to act, however.
Being a "winner" is no good if you can't actually do the governing part.
Electing a clown doesn't help the brand...
It was quite different to previous vehicle killings like Charlottesville, Nice or the London mosque.
I have no idea on his motivations, and I am not convinced that the frothing parts of swivel eyed social media are the place to find them.
Must say the ‘I gave him a chance but I’m just embarrassed by him now” schtique, from people who have openly hated him since day one is a little transparent.
His epitaph will be, as Blake said of Eden's performance after the triumph of the 1955 election, 'Seldom can the euphoria of success have been followed so swiftly by the disillusionment of failure. Eden lacked the prime ministerial temperament.'
I knew I was watching to much kids tv the other day, when the absolute radio DJ said “we are going to be introducing something special on Sunday” and I thought it meant Mr Tumble was on
Serious question. There was some earnest PB-er on here earlier who said they got all their news from "Radio 4 and the Guardian". The idea that would give you a serious, neutral, informative and timely news feed is comical to the max
eg: You still wouldn't know the accused killer in Wisconsin is black, pro-BLM, has posted anti-white social media about knocking over "old white people", is apparently pro-Hitler, and so on
You might argue race is irrelevant in this crime, but in that case why was race relevant in the Rittenhouse case, when even the President rushed to call it a "white supremacist" crime?
Parties will take a win over a loss every time. Something might come up, the leader might surprise positively, or they might work up the courage to remove them, they might get lucky with events etc. Their choice was rational at the time, but not, given the late swing to Borism, entirely blind to the risks.
I know it's a Monday, and it's just one observation, but it was eerily quiet. There were four of us knitting and no more than two or three others. They always had a decent crowd in even on Mondays before the pandemic, and there were twice as many people a fortnight ago.
Wondering how tough it will be for many businesses if people are choosing to stay at home without being told to do so.
Attendances at my class are barely half now.
Anecdotal I know.
But I would not be remotely surprised if he wins again, bequeaths a reasonably functioning economy (despite Brexit, OMG!), sees off Scot Nationalism, and is then viewed as a surprisingly good PM - certainly compared to the others cited - Brown, May, Cameron
I've often thought he is like Charles II, the Merry Monarch. Selfish, charismatic, sometimes ruthless, emotionally needy
Charles II is still seen as a "better king" than Charles I (Charles I is surely Cameron, who got executed for his errors) or the dour James, and many others
Maybe BoZo will try another reshuffle
https://twitter.com/Kate_M_Proctor/status/1462898940681011201
The man's private life has been akin to that of some feral sink estate yobbo, but that is his business.
His public life is my business. The lying, the laziness, the casual dog whistling has affected lives for the worse, mine included. And yes much of it is down to how he behaved during the EU Referendum. He saw it as an opportunity to undermine Cameron and put himself into pole position when Cameron fell after a narrow victory in the EU Referendum. It is my view Johnson was no more a Leaver than I was, but he miscalculated that his intervention wouldn't drag Leave over the line. It did, but he had no plan as to what should happen next.
When he failed to get elected to the role of PM in 2016 he did his level best to undermine Mrs May. The man's only obligation seems to me to be to himself.
I don't hate him, but I wish with all my heart he was not my Prime Minister.
A UK visa scheme for prize-winning scientists has received no applications. https://bit.ly/3nCT9ia
He rammed through obstacles to GET to the parade, then he sped up and targeted
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1462814371126599692?s=20
As for his motivations, he is fiercely pro-BLM and has posted social media asking for "old white people" to be "knocked over". Plus he deliberately ran over his girlfriend about a fortnight back. Plus he likes Hitler. Plus he has 50 convictions for violence and the like
Oh FFS why do I bother
The Woke Will Do Their Thing
Which you don't, obviously...
He’s closer to Roy Chubby Brown. We’re running an experiment where we’ve elected an entertainer to high office.
It’s as if Sid James had made it to number 10 in 1973. He might get a second series. It’s all a bit of a laugh.
I remember when becoming PM really meant something. Alas we’re now one of those states with a succession of weak leaders.
🗣️ Times columnist @Dannythefink
🗣️ Guardian columnist @pollytoynbee
🗣️ Ex-No 10 comms director @CraigOliver100
#Newsnight https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1462901312887173125/photo/1
But it wasn't for a lack of open pubs. They were all open. On a Friday evening. A mild and clear evening, at that. The ideal night for a get together. Yet the boozers were 30% full at best and the restaurants no better
"Help! How to cure HOGO: the Hassle Of Going Out"
We've all got used to Staying In. Cooking our own food (miso soup!). Seeing the odd friend. Doing nothing much. The plague has made us antisocial. It is not good
I have yet to be convinced all this is cutting through though Paterson did and as long as he is not behind in the polls, your 24/7 negative Boris posts will I expect continue and you will have many more months to work on your output, and even then he may win in GE24 for another 5 years of pain for you
And the main site is not working
But there were cold days before the pandemic too.
Farage tells @thesun: "migrant crisis hasn't even started: numbers are only going to go up and up - this is only beginning."
"This was meant to be an era of new hope, this was meant to be Brexit Britain. And its not just migrants Net Zero and taxes too."
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16817161/nigel-farage-threatens-return-to-politics-over-britains-migrant-crisis/
Frankly I don't care that much about lagging index polls somehow saying all this is alright. That the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going to the UN General Assembly, throwing a speech together on the train up there and talking about Kermit the Frog's mistreatment of Miss Piggy is alright. That the same Prime Minister going to the CBI to make vroom vroom noises and hands up who's been to Peppa Pig World.
Whether it cuts through or not isn't front of mind. Its appalling. Embarrassing. Wrong. Those of us who are paying attention and care about politics - increasingly of all parties - know how profoundly damaging He is.
So frankly I don't care for the argument that "you're all biased against him" and "the polls still give him a narrow lead". There can be no defence. No justification. No succour. For Kermit the Frog at the UN and vroom vroom Peppa Pig World at the CBI. For all our sakes it has to stop.
A Tory MP tells me: "It might not only be Father Christmas’ postbag filling up towards the end of the year – Sir Graham Brady could find he needs a bigger one too."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/22/johnson-losing-the-confidence-of-tory-party-after-rambling-cbi-speech https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1462906234655367170/photo/1
Peppa Pig isn't "just" a children's cartoon its an iconic cultural export well known in millions of households not just in the UK but around the globe.
Even Thatcher got over 50% of Tory MPs in the first round in 1990 despite trailing Kinnock badly in the polls and even IDS got 45% of Tory MPs in 2003 despite no previous election win like Boris and trailing in most polls.
May of course comfortably won the only no confidence vote she faced in late 2018 too, she resigned in 2019 though only when she clearly trailed Labour and was losing large numbers of votes to the Brexit Party
LibDems are just a stepping stone for you. Your heart lies with the SNP.
Perhaps when the booster programme has completed and we've made it through Christmas without the hospital system crashing, or restrictions being imposed.
I never said that he was an ultra left-winger.
As I said earlier Big_G and others seem to willing to defend pretty much anything (despite claiming they want him gone). Imagine had PM Milliband done it...
I've always thought of myself as being very introverted, but I've really missed being around other people. And yet, despite knowing I've missed other people I've had to make quite an effort to coax myself back out.
That said will it impact on him? Maybe not. Supporters will claim it humanises him. Detractors will find it confirms what we already knew
BTW, Alba until the SNP become a democratic party again.
Labour provide a Tony Blair style platform then who knows, I voted for him twice
But there are standards. When bad happens call it out. This. Is. Bad. Saying so - and that we have to have better - is not saying vote Labour. The Tories should be better than this. They used to be. They could be again.
Those with assets under £100,000 will also get assistance with care costs on a means tested basis, now only those with assets under £23,250 do.
Those with assets over £100,000 will no longer have to pay more than £86,000 for care costs, now they can lose all their assets down to their last £23,250 if they need residential care.
So good news the new social care bill has gone through the Commons, despite even most SNP MPs voting with Labour and opposition parties even though the social care bill will only affect England
He may still be suffering long covid, he certainly had a heavy cold last week, and he has looked exhausted for a while
I did say at the time of his speech it was cringeworthy and I expect he is coming under increasing pressure to get his act together or else !!!!
Most voters in seats the Tories won in the RedWall will still get to keep more of their assets exempt from care costs than they do now as I said, so these reforms benefit even them
He is the worst kind of decision maker, whose instinct is to prevaricate and flip flop and procrastinate until a decision becomes unavoidable, and even then it may get unmade again the following day. If he ends up taking a risk it is through ineptitude rather than calculated judgement.
These same people say we never call out Labour when they do bad things, yet they’re just the same. They have double standards.
https://twitter.com/BernieSpofforth/status/1462740215571918849
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-11/quarantine-in-darwin-howard-springs-facility-becomes-a-holiday/12648762
Camps ! !
Remember how badly May's dementia tax hit her poll rating, forcing her to U-turn mid campaign. Boris' £86,000 care costs cap is far better
As I said, amazingly clueless. You can't even do self-centred pig-ignorance "as long as we're alright, we're alright" properly as you actually need to win a majority. Which means the red wall.
I don't recall Corbyn being attacked for name checking one of the most popular cultural exports globally that this country has generated this century.
Peppa Pig generates over a billion dollars per annum. https://www.statista.com/statistics/623382/retail-revenue-peppa-pig/
Chancellor Hammond also named Peppa Pig in a speech in the past. I don't recall any uproar over that. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/chancellor-hails-peppa-pig-as-screen-industry-boosts-uk-economy-by-79bn-37398860.html