I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
Yes, the other PB has been talking about The Sun's 2020 Christmas party for ages.
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
Who would become acting PM in that scenario? Raab? Gove? Sunak?
Never mind acting anything, someone is the Prime Minister or they are not. If Johnson resigns then the Queen has to call for somebody else. Hence my earlier question: I don't know whether it's still down to Johnson to recommend a successor if he resigns in disgrace (I suspect that it might be) or if the Cabinet would have to pick one (as if he had joined the choir celestial.)
This is how Eden to Macmillan worked out:
"Eden resigned on 9 January 1957, after his doctors warned him his life was at stake if he continued in office. Although the media expected Butler would get the nod as Eden's successor, a survey of the cabinet taken for the Queen showed Macmillan was the nearly unanimous choice, and he became prime minister on 10 January 1957"
The cabinet would likely choose a successor for the Queen to send to for. Boris would have to relay the Cabinets wishes to the Queen when he goes to visit her for the final time.
Presumably that successor would then join the leadership content that has already been triggered when Johnson resigned as Con leader and PM.
Whoever that successor is would be in pole position as the eventual party leader I think as they'd already have the Prime Ministerial office of state to back up their pitch!
Of course if they didn't win the content to become Con leader they would be the shortest reigned Prime Minister of all time!
And what if he lies about the Cabinet's wishes?
Presumably the cabinet would recommend someone not considered likely to win. Dominic Raab, for example, given that he is supposedly deputy PM.
In that case Raab would benefit from incumbency and could let Sunak and Truss rip themselves apart and come through the middle to become the new PM.
I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
And how often did it happen in hospital staff rooms, or schools, or wherever? After a horrible hard shift during the pandemic?
Who can blame them? I don't think I'd say "Oh no, I can only work here next to you, I can't crack open a can of Stella at the same time, to relax"
The killer difference here is sending out a proper invite and setting up tables in the garden with racks of specially-bought booze and making so much noise passers-by overheard over the garden wall. And then Boris was stupid enough to go down and say Hi?
I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
And how often did it happen in hospital staff rooms, or schools, or wherever? After a horrible hard shift during the pandemic?
Who can blame them? I don't think I'd say "Oh no, I can only work here next to you, I can't crack open a can of Stella at the same time, to relax"
The killer difference here is sending out a proper invite and setting up tables in the garden with racks of specially-bought booze and making so much noise passers-by overheard over the garden wall. And then Boris was stupid enough to go down and say Hi?
Idiot
Oh I am not excusing Downing Street. If you are the ones making the rules, you better bloody make sure you aren't breaking them.
I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
And how often did it happen in hospital staff rooms, or schools, or wherever? After a horrible hard shift during the pandemic?
Who can blame them? I don't think I'd say "Oh no, I can only work here next to you, I can't crack open a can of Stella at the same time, to relax"
The killer difference here is sending out a proper invite and setting up tables in the garden with racks of specially-bought booze and making so much noise passers-by overheard over the garden wall. And then Boris was stupid enough to go down and say Hi?
Idiot
Isn’t the killer difference is he that made the rules?
The other problem for BoZo is this rather fucks up his future career.
I know he got sacked twice for writing lies, but if he resigns as PM for telling lies, who will want to read (or print) his crap in the future?
This is imbecilically dumb
His memoir will be fought over tooth and nail. I know you have a lunatic hatred of the man, but the fact is he is big box office, worldwide. And he has been UK Prime Minister for two of the biggest events in recent British history, Brexit and Covid, where the first had a global impact and where the second saw Britain play a pivotal global role (from the vaccine success to the lockdown failure)
And he can write. And he has a gift for personal publicity, like him or not. And he has a "vivid" private history, more than any British PM... ever?
He will make many millions, for sure
Hmm, He is just not fashionable any more. The Katie Price of politicians may find that he is about as financially viable as she is.
No I think Leon is right on this. I may not like the man and think he is the worst PM since... well ever.. but he will indeed make a fortune out of his memoirs and post-PM deals. We may not like it but that is the way of the world.
He’s got a LOT of assorted debts and charges though!
I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
And how often did it happen in hospital staff rooms, or schools, or wherever? After a horrible hard shift during the pandemic?
Who can blame them? I don't think I'd say "Oh no, I can only work here next to you, I can't crack open a can of Stella at the same time, to relax"
The killer difference here is sending out a proper invite and setting up tables in the garden with racks of specially-bought booze and making so much noise passers-by overheard over the garden wall. And then Boris was stupid enough to go down and say Hi?
Idiot
Isn’t the killer difference is he that made the rules?
Well yes, that too
To be frank this is a killer story on multiple levels. I'll be surprised if Boris survives the year. Tho not entirely shocked
I find it hard to believe not a single senior journalist got invited to any of the 7,394 parties held during lockdowns 1, 2 and 3
There must be some worried people in Fleet Street, as well as Downing Street
The Sun seem consistently uninterested by these parties....
Totally unrelated to the fact Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, used to be in a relationship with Carrie Symonds.
I thought it was more the fact the Currant Bun rumoured to have a party or two themselves....to be honest, I wouldn't be exactly shocked to find loads of the media were having at very least a few sherbets in the office from time to time.
The other PB has a number of tales about the Sun’s Xmas 2020 party
Boris is easily as bankable as Blair, indeed I would guess much more so in continental Europe and maybe America. Brexit fascinates people abroad, and Boris has the entire story, and he is the man that did it
He should make £10 million from worldwide rights, plus TV and movie deals, maybe more
And if that sounds an insane amount, Barack Obama for $70 - SEVENTY - million
The idea no one will want to read Boris' story is infantile. Unless he actually goes to jail for some awful crime, he will be rich via his memoirs
Really? I think he has shat all over his brand and wouldn't be welcome as after dinner Speaker in many places. He will be person non grata. His autobiography would be full of self serving lies and completely useless to historians
Downing Street staff were advised to clean up their phones by removing information that could suggest lockdown parties were held at No 10, The Independent has been told.
Two sources claim a senior member of staff told them it would be a good idea to remove any messages implying they had attended or were even aware of anything that could “look like a party”.
Opens up a second question - is alcohol allowed to be consumed while at work and working - in a lot of places it isn't
Have you never watched Yes Minister?
There's a question about your VAT returns - from '69. And a Mr Haig is on the line as well....
Yes, the drinking culture hung on in politics far longer than in the outside world. In '95, when I joined an oil company, they had just, that year removed the bars in the building. That were open in business hours. No, not on the ground floor, but inside the offices, upstairs. Company access only.
Personally I think he might just do a runner one day.
No big resignation announcement, no podium moment, no TV interview or PMQs or whatever. Just one day, no-one can find Boris. All the journos, all the cabinet, everyone just going "where's the PM? He's not turned up for the thing and he missed the last thing".
2 days later and some fax comes in from Outer Mongolia that he's stepped down and X is now in charge. Never to be heard from again.
Or something.
cf. Reggie Perrin? They’ll just find some crumpled clothes and underwear overdue for a wash, on the beach?
Boris is easily as bankable as Blair, indeed I would guess much more so in continental Europe and maybe America. Brexit fascinates people abroad, and Boris has the entire story, and he is the man that did it
He should make £10 million from worldwide rights, plus TV and movie deals, maybe more
And if that sounds an insane amount, Barack Obama for $70 - SEVENTY - million
The idea no one will want to read Boris' story is infantile. Unless he actually goes to jail for some awful crime, he will be rich via his memoirs
Really? I think he has shat all over his brand and wouldn't be welcome as after dinner Speaker in many places. He will be person non grata. His autobiography would be full of self serving lies and completely useless to historians
You'd think that, but the history of such things is against you. Nixon made a fortune on the circuit. McNamara as well. Blair is making more money by the year....
Hell, people are throwing money at T. May as a... speaker?!
Opens up a second question - is alcohol allowed to be consumed while at work and working - in a lot of places it isn't
Have you never watched Yes Minister?
That episode ("There's a delegation of Teachers to meet you, Minister... I must go and see them before the Bell's goes...") is meant to be based on a true story, isn't it?
The other problem for BoZo is this rather fucks up his future career.
I know he got sacked twice for writing lies, but if he resigns as PM for telling lies, who will want to read (or print) his crap in the future?
This is imbecilically dumb
His memoir will be fought over tooth and nail. I know you have a lunatic hatred of the man, but the fact is he is big box office, worldwide. And he has been UK Prime Minister for two of the biggest events in recent British history, Brexit and Covid, where the first had a global impact and where the second saw Britain play a pivotal global role (from the vaccine success to the lockdown failure)
And he can write. And he has a gift for personal publicity, like him or not. And he has a "vivid" private history, more than any British PM... ever?
He will make many millions, for sure
Hmm, He is just not fashionable any more. The Katie Price of politicians may find that he is about as financially viable as she is.
No I think Leon is right on this. I may not like the man and think he is the worst PM since... well ever.. but he will indeed make a fortune out of his memoirs and post-PM deals. We may not like it but that is the way of the world.
He’s got a LOT of assorted debts and changes though!
There is surely a limit though to how much he can earn through his shambolic comedy act. He isn't going to be useful and influential in the way that someone like Obama or Blair is. And he is going to just burn through the money, it won't ever be enough.
Boris is easily as bankable as Blair, indeed I would guess much more so in continental Europe and maybe America. Brexit fascinates people abroad, and Boris has the entire story, and he is the man that did it
He should make £10 million from worldwide rights, plus TV and movie deals, maybe more
And if that sounds an insane amount, Barack Obama for $70 - SEVENTY - million
The idea no one will want to read Boris' story is infantile. Unless he actually goes to jail for some awful crime, he will be rich via his memoirs
Really? I think he has shat all over his brand and wouldn't be welcome as after dinner Speaker in many places. He will be person non grata. His autobiography would be full of self serving lies and completely useless to historians
You'd think that, but the history of such things is against you. Nixon made a fortune on the circuit. McNamara as well. Blair is making more money by the year....
Hell, people are throwing money at T. May as a... speaker?!
Yep. There have always been folk with more money than sense.
Boris is easily as bankable as Blair, indeed I would guess much more so in continental Europe and maybe America. Brexit fascinates people abroad, and Boris has the entire story, and he is the man that did it
He should make £10 million from worldwide rights, plus TV and movie deals, maybe more
And if that sounds an insane amount, Barack Obama for $70 - SEVENTY - million
The idea no one will want to read Boris' story is infantile. Unless he actually goes to jail for some awful crime, he will be rich via his memoirs
Really? I think he has shat all over his brand and wouldn't be welcome as after dinner Speaker in many places. He will be person non grata. His autobiography would be full of self serving lies and completely useless to historians
Presumably, he will make good money from the memoirs, maybe enough to have some left over after dealing with divorce settlements, loans from benefactors and whatnot.
What he won't be is the Great Man of History. If he goes soon, he'll have lasted even less time than May. And I doubt he will be welcome in polite society afterwards.
If he just wanted to be rich, famous and loved, he could and should have gone down the celebrity route. Presenter of Top Gear or something. Though that might well be more like hard work than he really wants.
Regarding the discussion earlier about flats, my understanding the emerging building safety legislation is going to cause a lot of additional ongoing obligations for freeholders, which is likely to translate in to additional service charges for leaseholders. It seems that this will be a particularly big issue on taller buildings. It could ultimately make tall blocks of flats in cheap areas effectively worthless.
Boris is easily as bankable as Blair, indeed I would guess much more so in continental Europe and maybe America. Brexit fascinates people abroad, and Boris has the entire story, and he is the man that did it
He should make £10 million from worldwide rights, plus TV and movie deals, maybe more
And if that sounds an insane amount, Barack Obama for $70 - SEVENTY - million
The idea no one will want to read Boris' story is infantile. Unless he actually goes to jail for some awful crime, he will be rich via his memoirs
Really? I think he has shat all over his brand and wouldn't be welcome as after dinner Speaker in many places. He will be person non grata. His autobiography would be full of self serving lies and completely useless to historians
You'd think that, but the history of such things is against you. Nixon made a fortune on the circuit. McNamara as well. Blair is making more money by the year....
Hell, people are throwing money at T. May as a... speaker?!
Yep. There have always been folk with more money than sense.
Though in May's case, she's a smart tough cookie with worthwhile stuff to say... think of her "Nasty Party" speech in 2002, or her ability to respond meaningfully during the interminable fiascos of 2016-9. She failed as PM (though one wonders if anyone else could have succeeded), and in normal circumstances she'd never have got near the job, but she deserved to be at the top table for a decade.
Whereas BoJo has always relied on a pissed audience to cover his incoherence and lack of preparation. Even as an after-dinner speaker, he's a more-money-than-sense Gyles Brandreth. (And talking of memoirs of people near power but without power themselves, "Breaking the Code" is a damn good account of 1990-7.)
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
Who would become acting PM in that scenario? Raab? Gove? Sunak?
Never mind acting anything, someone is the Prime Minister or they are not. If Johnson resigns then the Queen has to call for somebody else. Hence my earlier question: I don't know whether it's still down to Johnson to recommend a successor if he resigns in disgrace (I suspect that it might be) or if the Cabinet would have to pick one (as if he had joined the choir celestial.)
This is how Eden to Macmillan worked out:
"Eden resigned on 9 January 1957, after his doctors warned him his life was at stake if he continued in office. Although the media expected Butler would get the nod as Eden's successor, a survey of the cabinet taken for the Queen showed Macmillan was the nearly unanimous choice, and he became prime minister on 10 January 1957"
The cabinet would likely choose a successor for the Queen to send to for. Boris would have to relay the Cabinets wishes to the Queen when he goes to visit her for the final time.
Presumably that successor would then join the leadership content that has already been triggered when Johnson resigned as Con leader and PM.
Whoever that successor is would be in pole position as the eventual party leader I think as they'd already have the Prime Ministerial office of state to back up their pitch!
Of course if they didn't win the content to become Con leader they would be the shortest reigned Prime Minister of all time!
And what if he lies about the Cabinet's wishes?
Presumably the cabinet would recommend someone not considered likely to win. Dominic Raab, for example, given that he is supposedly deputy PM.
That's possible.
But I think whoever got the role as nominal PM during any contest would be in pole position in that contest as the title, the office and place has an "elevating" effect... so if it ever comes to it the cabinet choose wisely...
They might offer up JRM or Priti to HMQ thinking they're not going to win the contest only to find they become leader after the office elevates them... wouldn't that be fun haha!
Raab, Priti or JRM must surely be unthinkable aren't they?
Comments
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17289144/china-quarantine-camps-toughest-lockdown/
Who can blame them? I don't think I'd say "Oh no, I can only work here next to you, I can't crack open a can of Stella at the same time, to relax"
The killer difference here is sending out a proper invite and setting up tables in the garden with racks of specially-bought booze and making so much noise passers-by overheard over the garden wall. And then Boris was stupid enough to go down and say Hi?
Idiot
Ergo he will do his best to cling on to office.
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1481020967174516739
To be frank this is a killer story on multiple levels. I'll be surprised if Boris survives the year. Tho not entirely shocked
Yes, the drinking culture hung on in politics far longer than in the outside world. In '95, when I joined an oil company, they had just, that year removed the bars in the building. That were open in business hours. No, not on the ground floor, but inside the offices, upstairs. Company access only.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Harold_Holt
Hell, people are throwing money at T. May as a... speaker?!
My best guess is reviving that old Jabba the Hutt puppet.
I was wrong. He's toast
What he won't be is the Great Man of History. If he goes soon, he'll have lasted even less time than May. And I doubt he will be welcome in polite society afterwards.
If he just wanted to be rich, famous and loved, he could and should have gone down the celebrity route. Presenter of Top Gear or something. Though that might well be more like hard work than he really wants.
Whereas BoJo has always relied on a pissed audience to cover his incoherence and lack of preparation. Even as an after-dinner speaker, he's a more-money-than-sense Gyles Brandreth. (And talking of memoirs of people near power but without power themselves, "Breaking the Code" is a damn good account of 1990-7.)
This thread has been offered a million pound contract to publish its memoirs.