Out of all the rickety defences of BJ, the one accusing critics of hypocrisy seems the oddest. Obviously we all live with some amount of hypocrisy in our lives, but isn't a bunch of smirking rsoles breaking the rules in the most obvious way while announcing new versions of said rules the most whited of sepulchres?
Not least when other people were putting their loved ones in their sepulchres.
I note that the rather ludicrous attempts by a few to blame Tony Blair for the fact that Boris Johnson had an illegal party and lied about it seem to have run out of steam. They could try blaming Corbyn next?
I note that the rather ludicrous attempts by a few to blame Tony Blair for the fact that Boris Johnson had an illegal party and lied about it seem to have run out of steam. They could try blaming Corbyn next?
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
- “What should be really worrying is the increasing number of Tory MPs ready to make their views known.”
Kudos to Douglas Ross MSP MP and football linesman for being the very first to break ranks yesterday. The most effective day in his political career by a country mile.
The leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party was just as assured, persuasive and coherent as his predecessor Ruth Davidson, who actually pipped him by a couple of hours (but she’s not an MP).
It was highly risky for Ross. Davidson cannot be sacked, but Ross can. If Johnson survives he’s history. If he goes, he’ll be a hero.
The biggest risk though is not if Johnson goes, but when. If he’s still there in May the SCons are looking down the barrel of a thrashing in the Single Transferable Vote council elections in May. There is no FPTP incentive for Unionist-inclined SLab and SLD voters to lend their votes to the SCons, and every incentive to give The Boris Party the solid kicking they so richly deserve, with support for Brexit now sub 20% north of the border.
So-what southern Tories might respond, but I’ll tell you what: being the first-placed Unionist party is critically important. Without those SLab and especially SLD tactical votes, all 6 SCon MPs are history. If Scottish Labour manage to build a narrative that only they can beat the SNP - which is actually true, in contrast to SCon claims - then the Tories will be back down to their core vote of 15% in no time.
Douglas Ross doesn’t care. He’s not standing for Westminster again when the next UK GE is called, and his Holyrood seat is safe. Two jobs is probably more fun than three jobs anyway.
Yes and him and all Scottish Tories are in hiding , even the cleaner was not available for GMS this morning.
Where’s gormless Murdo? He’s usually good for a laugh.
I'm old enough to remember a PBer describing Murdo's interrogation of Sturgeon during the 'Salmond' enquiry as masterly, and Jackie Baillie as a future leader of Labour.
I note that the rather ludicrous attempts by a few to blame Tony Blair for the fact that Boris Johnson had an illegal party and lied about it seem to have run out of steam. They could try blaming Corbyn next?
I think we've already had that line, actually... 😂
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
More likely in his childhood when his parents weren't there most of the time, I think - and when he moved schools about seventeen times.
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
This is the killer point. As soon as Boris makes a small step forward, the ground is going to be removed from under his feet. This is fascinating to witness. Someone’s playing a blinder. Sunak? Truss? Gove? Cummings? A.N. Other?
I suspect A.N. Other. If you’re reading this: you’re good. Very, very good. Chapeau!
Its Cummings. The guy is a higher-level strategist. Sacked by Peppa to keep the missus happy, he knows everything because he was involved in everything. So he can choose what to release when it will do the most damage, has already assessed what Peppa will do because he knows him so well, and is sat there dropping new information at the precise time to acutely cause the most damage.
Until this week I was going to vote for Sunak as next leader.
However as a Tory member if Cummings keeps up with this campaign and forces Boris out I might even vote for Truss now she has said she backs a constitutional monarchy over Sunak as I do not believe Cummings should be rewarded with what he wants. Even if that makes Starmer PM
Not a game, HYUFD. It is about the governance of the UK. You are prepared to let Starmer in and increase the odds on an indyref, just to clarify Dom's Messiah/very naughty boy status?
If Labour want to allow an indyref2 and devomax that is their problem
It’s the UK’s problem.
For which Labour would be responsible. The Tories do better in England than the UK, they have no benefit by respecting the once in a generation 2014 vote. The UK does.
If Starmer becomes PM and allows an indyref2 he will be responsible if it is lost as much as if it is won
For many of us, the allocation of responsibility is a second order issue, to keeping the country together in the first place.
That’s how Douglas Ross sees it. Union first, Union last. If the English Tories like Boris are intent on undermining the Union then fuck the English Tories and fuck Boris.
I note that the rather ludicrous attempts by a few to blame Tony Blair for the fact that Boris Johnson had an illegal party and lied about it seem to have run out of steam. They could try blaming Corbyn next?
I think we've already had that line, actually... 😂
People seem to have forgotten that Clem Attlee once turned off a roundabout without indicating, so who's the real hypocrite?
I've no idea whether this will see Johnson off or not. I hope not. Much better it happens later in the year when Starmer is more the finished article.
Cummings has his teeth into Johnson and he's made clear that's where they'll stay until he's gone. They've lived in each others pocket for over two years. He knows Johnson and his diary better than all his wives and ex's put together and he can't be bought.
But the really bad news is that the man's something of a genius. To devise a campaign that persuaded 17,500,000 people to do something clearly against their best interest takes the art of selling onto another level. This man is not a simple Iago
At the moment he's having fun like a cat with a bird but there's little doubt that when he chooses his moment Johnson will be gone
Keep thinking about this quote. Can't think why. ‘The thing about Boris Johnson is that he’s like a rat. He bumbles on amiably enough until he’s trapped. Then he’ll chew through bone, kill anyone, do anything to get free.”
Johnson’s main achievement is to have created a new political party, bearing the Conservative name, that does not believe in the sanctity of Parliamentary democracy or the rule of law. That is a lasting legacy that all his potential successors are firmly bought into.
I note that the rather ludicrous attempts by a few to blame Tony Blair for the fact that Boris Johnson had an illegal party and lied about it seem to have run out of steam. They could try blaming Corbyn next?
Talk me through that reasoning.
It's Corbyn's fault for not winning the GE in 2019? If Johnson hadn't won, he wouldn't be in No. 10 so couldn't have a garden party there? Bloody Corbyn, eh.
I don't think PMQ's or the bumble beforehand will be decisive.
Decisive has already happened in the eyes of voters. This one we will never forget or forgive.
It's now simply a question of whether the tory MPs listen and wake up in time. They 'might' limit the damage with Rishi Sunak in charge. Otherwise they are heading for a drubbing in 2024.
This is the killer point. As soon as Boris makes a small step forward, the ground is going to be removed from under his feet. This is fascinating to witness. Someone’s playing a blinder. Sunak? Truss? Gove? Cummings? A.N. Other?
I suspect A.N. Other. If you’re reading this: you’re good. Very, very good. Chapeau!
Its Cummings. The guy is a higher-level strategist. Sacked by Peppa to keep the missus happy, he knows everything because he was involved in everything. So he can choose what to release when it will do the most damage, has already assessed what Peppa will do because he knows him so well, and is sat there dropping new information at the precise time to acutely cause the most damage.
Until this week I was going to vote for Sunak as next leader.
However as a Tory member if Cummings keeps up with this campaign and forces Boris out I might even vote for Truss now she has said she backs a constitutional monarchy over Sunak as I do not believe Cummings should be rewarded with what he wants. Even if that makes Starmer PM
Not a game, HYUFD. It is about the governance of the UK. You are prepared to let Starmer in and increase the odds on an indyref, just to clarify Dom's Messiah/very naughty boy status?
If Labour want to allow an indyref2 and devomax that is their problem
It’s the UK’s problem.
For which Labour would be responsible. The Tories do better in England than the UK, they have no benefit by respecting the once in a generation 2014 vote. The UK does.
If Starmer becomes PM and allows an indyref2 he will be responsible if it is lost as much as if it is won
For many of us, the allocation of responsibility is a second order issue, to keeping the country together in the first place.
That’s how Douglas Ross sees it. Union first, Union last. If the English Tories like Boris are intent on undermining the Union then fuck the English Tories and fuck Boris.
Sarwar and Starmer are the beneficiaries.
OTOH it's possible that the ScoTories might benefit locally, or that Ms Ballantyne's lot will mop up some of their votes (the Real Brexiter not Treasonous ScoTory Party).
- “What should be really worrying is the increasing number of Tory MPs ready to make their views known.”
Kudos to Douglas Ross MSP MP and football linesman for being the very first to break ranks yesterday. The most effective day in his political career by a country mile.
The leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party was just as assured, persuasive and coherent as his predecessor Ruth Davidson, who actually pipped him by a couple of hours (but she’s not an MP).
It was highly risky for Ross. Davidson cannot be sacked, but Ross can. If Johnson survives he’s history. If he goes, he’ll be a hero.
The biggest risk though is not if Johnson goes, but when. If he’s still there in May the SCons are looking down the barrel of a thrashing in the Single Transferable Vote council elections in May. There is no FPTP incentive for Unionist-inclined SLab and SLD voters to lend their votes to the SCons, and every incentive to give The Boris Party the solid kicking they so richly deserve, with support for Brexit now sub 20% north of the border.
So-what southern Tories might respond, but I’ll tell you what: being the first-placed Unionist party is critically important. Without those SLab and especially SLD tactical votes, all 6 SCon MPs are history. If Scottish Labour manage to build a narrative that only they can beat the SNP - which is actually true, in contrast to SCon claims - then the Tories will be back down to their core vote of 15% in no time.
Douglas Ross doesn’t care. He’s not standing for Westminster again when the next UK GE is called, and his Holyrood seat is safe. Two jobs is probably more fun than three jobs anyway.
Yes and him and all Scottish Tories are in hiding , even the cleaner was not available for GMS this morning.
Where’s gormless Murdo? He’s usually good for a laugh.
I'm old enough to remember a PBer describing Murdo's interrogation of Sturgeon during the 'Salmond' enquiry as masterly, and Jackie Baillie as a future leader of Labour.
I really should be paying for such insights.
I love them both! I’m thinking of having Big Jackie as my profile pic once De Pfeffel bites the dust. But Glaikit Murdo is a strong challenger.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
Never heard of such a proposal, not least because Scottish voters form more like 8-9% of the UK electorate.
As for the wider issue of principle, you do sound just like Lord Foulkes complaining that the SNP were doing the right thing "deliberately".
Well, Scotland has 8-9% of UK people but, as you well know and maybe contrary to what we are somewhat told by some commentators from north of the border, the SNP does not speak for all of Scotland. So, 4-5% of MPs is about right. Which, of course, would be significantly smaller than the 45 MPs it has now.
There are almost no free LFTs. What we take for granted in regularly doing LFTs is unheard of there as you have to pay for them all, that is if you can find any. Presumably they are only using them for testing if you have symptoms. A friend this morning said her son got a positive LFT this morning before school with no symptoms.
I remember a lot of laughing late in 2020 with project "Moonshot" with a vast rapid testing programme. It seems to have almost happened though by stealth and it is ingrained in our way of life now it seems. In fact, the difficult part will now be weaning ourselves off it as Covid is now endemic.
There was too much in it’s in hand of opposition to finish Boris off on here last night. This is a Conservative party crisis, not a national crisis. It falls on the Conservatives to act, as Conservative MPs are the ones with the guillotine mechanism. In the meantime those on government payroll, from top down, can resign and refuse to serve Boris (anyone at all resigned yet?) The balls in court of the Tories, not parliamentary opponents.
I think the main thing holding them back at the moment is that the main contenders want the job later rather than sooner.
This is the killer point. As soon as Boris makes a small step forward, the ground is going to be removed from under his feet. This is fascinating to witness. Someone’s playing a blinder. Sunak? Truss? Gove? Cummings? A.N. Other?
I suspect A.N. Other. If you’re reading this: you’re good. Very, very good. Chapeau!
Its Cummings. The guy is a higher-level strategist. Sacked by Peppa to keep the missus happy, he knows everything because he was involved in everything. So he can choose what to release when it will do the most damage, has already assessed what Peppa will do because he knows him so well, and is sat there dropping new information at the precise time to acutely cause the most damage.
Until this week I was going to vote for Sunak as next leader.
However as a Tory member if Cummings keeps up with this campaign and forces Boris out I might even vote for Truss now she has said she backs a constitutional monarchy over Sunak as I do not believe Cummings should be rewarded with what he wants. Even if that makes Starmer PM
Not a game, HYUFD. It is about the governance of the UK. You are prepared to let Starmer in and increase the odds on an indyref, just to clarify Dom's Messiah/very naughty boy status?
If Labour want to allow an indyref2 and devomax that is their problem
It’s the UK’s problem.
For which Labour would be responsible. The Tories do better in England than the UK, they have no benefit by respecting the once in a generation 2014 vote. The UK does.
If Starmer becomes PM and allows an indyref2 he will be responsible if it is lost as much as if it is won
For many of us, the allocation of responsibility is a second order issue, to keeping the country together in the first place.
That’s how Douglas Ross sees it. Union first, Union last. If the English Tories like Boris are intent on undermining the Union then fuck the English Tories and fuck Boris.
Sarwar and Starmer are the beneficiaries.
OTOH it's possible that the ScoTories might benefit locally, or that Ms Ballantyne's lot will mop up some of their votes (the Real Brexiter not Treasonous ScoTory Party).
That might have been true if there was any Scottish media left, but it is all foreign owned and run nowadays. The focus is solely on Westminster, not Ms Bannatyne (who?) and assorted SCon nonentities.
The population of the UK is projected to increase by 3.2% in the first 10 years of the projections, from an estimated 67.1 million in mid-2020 to 69.2 million in mid-2030.
England's population is projected to grow more quickly than the other UK nations: 3.5% between mid-2020 and mid-2030, compared with 2.6% for Wales, 2.0% for Northern Ireland and 0.3% for Scotland.....
Over the 25-year period between mid-2020 and mid-2045, England is projected to have the largest increase in population, at 6.7%. The projected increase over the same period for Wales is 4.2% and for Northern Ireland it is 2.3%. Scotland is projected to see a decrease of 1.5% over this time.
Gavin Barwell @GavinBarwell · 1h Not as easy as it looks for @Keir_Starmer today. The goal is so huge and so glaringly open that expectations are very high
Yes. Many will not be satisfied if PMQs doesn't end with Johnson loaded onto a hurdle for the journey to Tyburn.
I'm still frankly incredulous at how BJ has screwed up his premiership.
Obviously I loathe the man but plenty of people liked him. They don't anymore. It's just astonishing how quickly he fell from grace.
I guess it was covid. I mean, I know he would have been unmasked eventually. It's clear (to me) that Brexit is a dud but we can argue the toss over that one. Other things might have eventually found him out but he's such a slippery customer, who knows? Maybe he'd have lasted 10 years or so?
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
What is this 4% of the whole UK of which you speak?
Mr Ed thinks the population of the UK is 110 million. To be fair, he's right if you count Sean's alter egos.
On a serious note. The vaccination effort has proved that the numbers for the UK population we have, are wrong.
Going by the official population figures, portions of Scotland have vaccinated 106% (and like numbers) of the available people of age X.
Maybe Scotland is a *bigger* part of the union than previously thought :-)
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
More likely in his childhood when his parents weren't there most of the time, I think - and when he moved schools about seventeen times.
Aha. Didn’t know that.
You’ve managed to induce a previously unknown emotion for me: sympathy for Alexander Johnson. The child, not the adult.
It is surely in the Tory party's interest for it to be short and sharp. Why drag it out?
Because MPs might have very strong preferences about who replaces him, and don't want to risk getting the one they don't want if the timing is wrong?
Surely it's blindingly obvious that it has to be Sunak?
As someone leftie he's the one I'd most fear in 2024.
Liz Truss would result in a Labour landslide.
That and they want to make sure that whoever they put in is not going to be bogged down in exactly the same scandals.
Hence my asking about Sunak and Truss with respect to lockdown parties at the office etc, the yesterday - if either of them nibbled a cracker, then there is a serious betting opportunity there.
It is surely in the Tory party's interest for it to be short and sharp. Why drag it out?
Because MPs might have very strong preferences about who replaces him, and don't want to risk getting the one they don't want if the timing is wrong?
Surely it's blindingly obvious that it has to be Sunak?
As someone leftie he's the one I'd most fear in 2024.
Liz Truss would result in a Labour landslide.
That and they want to make sure that whoever they put in is not going to be bogged down in exactly the same scandals.
Hence my asking about Sunak and Truss with respect to lockdown parties at the office etc, the yesterday - if either of them nibbled a cracker, then there is a serious betting opportunity there.
Truss seems to think she is clean. A story was leaked a bit ago, prob. by her, of treasury drinks after an autumn statement or some such.
I've no idea whether this will see Johnson off or not. I hope not. Much better it happens later in the year when Starmer is more the finished article.
Cummings has his teeth into Johnson and he's made clear that's where they'll stay until he's gone. They've lived in each others pocket for over two years. He knows Johnson and his diary better than all his wives and ex's put together and he can't be bought.
But the really bad news is that the man's something of a genius. To devise a campaign that persuaded 17,500,000 people to do something clearly against their best interest takes the art of selling onto another level. This man is not a simple Iago
At the moment he's having fun like a cat with a bird but there's little doubt that when he chooses his moment Johnson will be gone
You're right, this is awesome manipulation of politics and the media by DC.
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
The only thing worse than Apple fans are Tesla fans. And the only thing worse than Tesla fans are wine snobs
I'm still frankly incredulous at how BJ has screwed up his premiership.
Obviously I loathe the man but plenty of people liked him. They don't anymore. It's just astonishing how quickly he fell from grace.
I guess it was covid. I mean, I know he would have been unmasked eventually. It's clear (to me) that Brexit is a dud but we can argue the toss over that one. Other things might have eventually found him out but he's such a slippery customer, who knows? Maybe he'd have lasted 10 years or so?
In two years covid has destroyed him.
Absolutely right, and it's difficult to see what he could have done differently to avoid it.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
What is this 4% of the whole UK of which you speak?
Mr Ed thinks the population of the UK is 110 million. To be fair, he's right if you count Sean's alter egos.
On a serious note. The vaccination effort has proved that the numbers for the UK population we have, are wrong.
Going by the official population figures, portions of Scotland have vaccinated 106% (and like numbers) of the available people of age X.
Maybe Scotland is a *bigger* part of the union than previously thought :-)
Perfectly possible. The population of Scotland declined from 1975 but then started growing steadily about 2007 or so. We can correlate that with changes in government ... and it's ten years since the 2010 census.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
What is this 4% of the whole UK of which you speak?
Mr Ed thinks the population of the UK is 110 million. To be fair, he's right if you count Sean's alter egos.
I think he's just taking a purist position on what makes a true Scot, like a Scot-supremacist HYUFD. Maybe only SNP voters are true Scots, that would get somewhere close to 4%, would it not?
Yes, I suppose it would. The consequences of such a view would also be a very easy Yes majority.
Tut Tut @Farooq, you need to pay a bit more attention if you are going to be a smart arse especially given your track record.
The 4% referred to the SNP's share of MPs, so around their share of polling nationally.
Scotland is 8-9% of the electorate as @Carnyx pointed out.
Let's by the way hear it for @Tissue_Price. The 13 refuseniks on the Paterson vote are the only 13 clean skins on the tory benches, and he was the most outspoken of them. Rare coincidence of morally right, and brilliant careerwise. I'd have a flutter on him to lead the party by say 2035.
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
The only thing worse than Apple fans are Tesla fans. And the only thing worse than Tesla fans are wine snobs
As a good and devout Muslim this is one of those conversations I'm not qualified to participate in.
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
Carrie, and only Carrie.
Shame Carrie is neither an elected politician nor a civil servant. The governance of the UK is undemocratic and unaccountable.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
Never heard of such a proposal, not least because Scottish voters form more like 8-9% of the UK electorate.
As for the wider issue of principle, you do sound just like Lord Foulkes complaining that the SNP were doing the right thing "deliberately".
Well, Scotland has 8-9% of UK people but, as you well know and maybe contrary to what we are somewhat told by some commentators from north of the border, the SNP does not speak for all of Scotland. So, 4-5% of MPs is about right. Which, of course, would be significantly smaller than the 45 MPs it has now.
But of course. That's the entire basis of PR. YOu referred, however, to Scotland, not the SNP, unless you think that only SNP MPs are somehow qualified to represent Scotland?
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
What is this 4% of the whole UK of which you speak?
Mr Ed thinks the population of the UK is 110 million. To be fair, he's right if you count Sean's alter egos.
I think he's just taking a purist position on what makes a true Scot, like a Scot-supremacist HYUFD. Maybe only SNP voters are true Scots, that would get somewhere close to 4%, would it not?
Yes, I suppose it would. The consequences of such a view would also be a very easy Yes majority.
Tut Tut @Farooq, you need to pay a bit more attention if you are going to be a smart arse especially given your track record.
The 4% referred to the SNP's share of MPs, so around their share of polling nationally.
Scotland is 8-9% of the electorate as @Carnyx pointed out.
Actually, apologies @Farooq - that comment should have been directed at @Theuniondivvie. I should have guessed...
The population of the UK is projected to increase by 3.2% in the first 10 years of the projections, from an estimated 67.1 million in mid-2020 to 69.2 million in mid-2030.
England's population is projected to grow more quickly than the other UK nations: 3.5% between mid-2020 and mid-2030, compared with 2.6% for Wales, 2.0% for Northern Ireland and 0.3% for Scotland.....
Over the 25-year period between mid-2020 and mid-2045, England is projected to have the largest increase in population, at 6.7%. The projected increase over the same period for Wales is 4.2% and for Northern Ireland it is 2.3%. Scotland is projected to see a decrease of 1.5% over this time.
The population of the UK is projected to increase by 3.2% in the first 10 years of the projections, from an estimated 67.1 million in mid-2020 to 69.2 million in mid-2030.
England's population is projected to grow more quickly than the other UK nations: 3.5% between mid-2020 and mid-2030, compared with 2.6% for Wales, 2.0% for Northern Ireland and 0.3% for Scotland.....
Over the 25-year period between mid-2020 and mid-2045, England is projected to have the largest increase in population, at 6.7%. The projected increase over the same period for Wales is 4.2% and for Northern Ireland it is 2.3%. Scotland is projected to see a decrease of 1.5% over this time.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
Never heard of such a proposal, not least because Scottish voters form more like 8-9% of the UK electorate.
As for the wider issue of principle, you do sound just like Lord Foulkes complaining that the SNP were doing the right thing "deliberately".
Well, Scotland has 8-9% of UK people but, as you well know and maybe contrary to what we are somewhat told by some commentators from north of the border, the SNP does not speak for all of Scotland. So, 4-5% of MPs is about right. Which, of course, would be significantly smaller than the 45 MPs it has now.
But of course. That's the entire basis of PR.
Indeed. And, it may be that the SNP is prepared to accept PR and see its seats fall by a 1/3 in support of a principle, which would be admirable. However, fact remains that, if PR comes in, having 30 MPs gives you a lot more bargaining power than their 45 MPs do.
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
The only thing worse than Apple fans are Tesla fans. And the only thing worse than Tesla fans are wine snobs
So worse^3 would be a wine snob posting wine snobbery on his/her iPhone* from a Tesla. While using FSD... ?
The best wine in the world is the one *you* like drinking.
*With the stupid "from an iPhone" thing left turned on.
Johnson now leads a zombie government, that much is now clear. The critical question for the Tories is can a new leader recover what has been so needlessly squandered? The problem now is that any in the current cabinet can be guilty by association. However, the old Tories and the ERG lack power to defeat each other. So the new leader will face a mutinous and chaotic party caucus at just the time that they need discipline and focus. In that sense Johnson has remade the party in his own image, and if he goes I'm not at all sure the Tories can avoid a profound split. In the same way that widening the franchise did for the Old Liberal Party in the 1920s under somewhat similar circumstances, I think PR could well do the same for the Conservatives a century later. A century of Tory dominance may finally be drawing to a close.
PR of course kills off any chance of a Labour majority government ever again.
Corbynites break away and form their own party as the ERG would break away and join RefUK and also win seats under PR.
PR kills the 2 main parties as current and majority governments, its main beneficiaries the LDs who would nearly always be in power and smaller parties like ReformUK and the Greens. It also hits the SNP at Westminster
Indeed, but the SNP are in favour of PR at Westminster. It's called strange things, 'principle' and 'good of the country'.
Because it leads to weak UK Governments and, like the LDs, the SNP would also have a role to play. I'm assuming that the SNP would have a PR adjustment so that Scotland's 'special position' would be taken into account as opposed to being 4% of the whole UK?
Never heard of such a proposal, not least because Scottish voters form more like 8-9% of the UK electorate.
As for the wider issue of principle, you do sound just like Lord Foulkes complaining that the SNP were doing the right thing "deliberately".
Well, Scotland has 8-9% of UK people but, as you well know and maybe contrary to what we are somewhat told by some commentators from north of the border, the SNP does not speak for all of Scotland. So, 4-5% of MPs is about right. Which, of course, would be significantly smaller than the 45 MPs it has now.
But of course. That's the entire basis of PR.
Indeed. And, it may be that the SNP is prepared to accept PR and see its seats fall by a 1/3 in support of a principle, which would be admirable. However, fact remains that, if PR comes in, having 30 MPs gives you a lot more bargaining power than their 45 MPs do.
And we are at the Foulkesian stage again. SNP get blamed for doing the right thing just because it's not the Unionist thing ...
It is surely in the Tory party's interest for it to be short and sharp. Why drag it out?
Because MPs might have very strong preferences about who replaces him, and don't want to risk getting the one they don't want if the timing is wrong?
Surely it's blindingly obvious that it has to be Sunak?
As someone leftie he's the one I'd most fear in 2024.
Liz Truss would result in a Labour landslide.
I know Liz Truss has polled badly, and Sunak clearly has built a savvy media team, but I have a sense that Truss is the only potential replacement for Johnson who has the required chutzpah that is necessary for turning this Tory government around.
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
The only thing worse than Apple fans are Tesla fans. And the only thing worse than Tesla fans are wine snobs
As a good and devout Muslim this is one of those conversations I'm not qualified to participate in.
I'm still frankly incredulous at how BJ has screwed up his premiership.
It is only incredulous if somehow you had never heard of Boris Johnson and his previous escapades. He is performing just as poorly as his many critics predicted he would. Of course the die-hard right wing of the Tory party thought they knew better and that electing a lying lazy scruffy adulterous nincompoop was just what the country needed. They are almost as idiotic as the PM.
Based on conversations with my other half and colleagues, Boris Johnson and everyone in Downing Street should resign and be imprisoned for serving and drinking (Tesco) rosé.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
Makeup of the population increase for the UK - More deaths than births.
6.6 million people will be born 6.7 million people will die 5.6 million people will immigrate long-term to the UK 3.4 million people will emigrate long-term from the UK
...I remember a lot of laughing late in 2020 with project "Moonshot" with a vast rapid testing programme. It seems to have almost happened though by stealth and it is ingrained in our way of life now it seems. In fact, the difficult part will now be weaning ourselves off it as Covid is now endemic.
Most of that laughing was over the spin. It wasn't a 'moonshot', given it was fairly clear from summer 2020 that LFTs were an effective health tool, and were available off the shelf from China (which is where they're still coming from, via a US middleman). And the cost is a fraction of the £100bn that was nonsensically talked about at the time.
Though you're right - a lot of countries have done far worse.
This is the killer point. As soon as Boris makes a small step forward, the ground is going to be removed from under his feet. This is fascinating to witness. Someone’s playing a blinder. Sunak? Truss? Gove? Cummings? A.N. Other?
I suspect A.N. Other. If you’re reading this: you’re good. Very, very good. Chapeau!
Its Cummings. The guy is a higher-level strategist. Sacked by Peppa to keep the missus happy, he knows everything because he was involved in everything. So he can choose what to release when it will do the most damage, has already assessed what Peppa will do because he knows him so well, and is sat there dropping new information at the precise time to acutely cause the most damage.
Until this week I was going to vote for Sunak as next leader.
However as a Tory member if Cummings keeps up with this campaign and forces Boris out I might even vote for Truss now she has said she backs a constitutional monarchy over Sunak as I do not believe Cummings should be rewarded with what he wants. Even if that makes Starmer PM
Not a game, HYUFD. It is about the governance of the UK. You are prepared to let Starmer in and increase the odds on an indyref, just to clarify Dom's Messiah/very naughty boy status?
If Labour want to allow an indyref2 and devomax that is their problem
It’s the UK’s problem.
For which Labour would be responsible. The Tories do better in England than the UK, they have no benefit by respecting the once in a generation 2014 vote. The UK does.
If Starmer becomes PM and allows an indyref2 he will be responsible if it is lost as much as if it is won
For many of us, the allocation of responsibility is a second order issue, to keeping the country together in the first place.
That’s how Douglas Ross sees it. Union first, Union last. If the English Tories like Boris are intent on undermining the Union then fuck the English Tories and fuck Boris.
Sarwar and Starmer are the beneficiaries.
Is Sarwar still in the country, sightings are rarer than Dodo's.
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
Carrie, and only Carrie.
Shame Carrie is neither an elected politician nor a civil servant. The governance of the UK is undemocratic and unaccountable.
Carrie is without doubt the biggest issue here - she shouldn't be having any say in anything yet she's managed to get herself into the heart of politics via Boris's trousers..
The population of the UK is projected to increase by 3.2% in the first 10 years of the projections, from an estimated 67.1 million in mid-2020 to 69.2 million in mid-2030.
England's population is projected to grow more quickly than the other UK nations: 3.5% between mid-2020 and mid-2030, compared with 2.6% for Wales, 2.0% for Northern Ireland and 0.3% for Scotland.....
Over the 25-year period between mid-2020 and mid-2045, England is projected to have the largest increase in population, at 6.7%. The projected increase over the same period for Wales is 4.2% and for Northern Ireland it is 2.3%. Scotland is projected to see a decrease of 1.5% over this time.
Let's by the way hear it for @Tissue_Price. The 13 refuseniks on the Paterson vote are the only 13 clean skins on the tory benches, and he was the most outspoken of them. Rare coincidence of morally right, and brilliant careerwise. I'd have a flutter on him to lead the party by say 2035.
Let's by the way hear it for @Tissue_Price. The 13 refuseniks on the Paterson vote are the only 13 clean skins on the tory benches, and he was the most outspoken of them. Rare coincidence of morally right, and brilliant careerwise. I'd have a flutter on him to lead the party by say 2035.
Problem is I think he will need to find a proper job come the next election and I suspect he will be dealing with a labour lead local authority come May.
Why can't Boris just take a leaf out of Jokeovic's book? "Somebody else made a mistake and I didn't know at the time and I didn't want to disappoint people."
I quite like these pictures of Liz Truss that DA produces. It's good to see a politician genuinely looking as if they're having a good time.
We all talk about the negatives of being a politician: the hard life, living your life under a microscope; the effect it has on their family. But there must be times when they get to do things which few of us ever do.
Lots of debate here about whether Johnson will walk or be pushed. I doubt he’ll walk, he’ll believe this is all a triviality and will have convinced himself (with the help of his wife, unless I misjudge her) that he’s done nothing wrong and has been making noble sacrifices for the good of the nation.
So who delivers the whisky bottle and revolver. I doubt it’s Cabinet collectively, as most are supine and will lose their jobs once he goes. He has few trusted political advisors left, Cain, Frost, Cummings, Lister etc… all gone.
It can’t be someone in the running to take his job. But needs to be someone he trusts and who hasn’t so far been a vocal opponent. Someone who retains something of the old fashioned view of how things ought to be done. Don’t scoff at the back, but if he’s going to go without the humiliation of the letters, it will be Rees Mogg that talks him into it.
Good post. Thought provoking. Who does Boris respect and listen to? Apart from the wee devil Boris on his shoulder. Shame the wee saint Boris was murdered back at Eton.
Carrie, and only Carrie.
Shame Carrie is neither an elected politician nor a civil servant. The governance of the UK is undemocratic and unaccountable.
Carrie is without doubt the biggest issue here - she shouldn't be having any say in anything yet she's managed to get herself into the heart of politics via Boris's trousers..
Bit unfair. Plenty of hereditary peers who got there via dad's trousers (one hopes).
I quite like these pictures of Liz Truss that DA produces. It's good to see a politician genuinely looking as if they're having a good time.
We all talk about the negatives of being a politician: the hard life, living your life under a microscope; the effect it has on their family. But there must be times when they get to do things which few of us ever do.
I quite like these pictures of Liz Truss that DA produces. It's good to see a politician genuinely looking as if they're having a good time.
We all talk about the negatives of being a politician: the hard life, living your life under a microscope; the effect it has on their family. But there must be times when they get to do things which few of us ever do.
She's having fun. That's cool.
Reminds me of Ruth Davidson of old. And Boris Johnson ditto.
Comments
I really should be paying for such insights.
One senior minister: "we are not going defenestrate a prime minister over the exuberance of a civil servant."
Not sure that's a watertight defence...
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1481213673578414081
Sarwar and Starmer are the beneficiaries.
https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2022/01/if-johnson-has-to-quit-is-it-best-he-does-so-quickly.html
Cummings has his teeth into Johnson and he's made clear that's where they'll stay until he's gone. They've lived in each others pocket for over two years. He knows Johnson and his diary better than all his wives and ex's put together and he can't be bought.
But the really bad news is that the man's something of a genius. To devise a campaign that persuaded 17,500,000 people to do something clearly against their best interest takes the art of selling onto another level. This man is not a simple Iago
At the moment he's having fun like a cat with a bird but there's little doubt that when he chooses his moment Johnson will be gone
''‘A hero is laid to rest’: Cambodia’s landmine-sniffing rat dies'
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/12/a-hero-is-laid-to-rest-cambodias-landmine-sniffing-rat-dies
“It’s clear it’s all over. Just a matter of time. Colleagues have got to decide whether it’s going to be long and painful, or short and sharp. [1/3]
https://twitter.com/MhariAurora/status/1481214226287017986
I can relax and put on episode three of Boba Fett and not worry about politics.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/deeply-inappropriate-clarke-gayford-sorry-for-confusion-after-claim-he-tried-to-get-mate-rapid-covid-test/BERMJTAVSMBW756EZLHP56PCVA/
PM's fiancé tried to get a friend a LFT rather than a PCR. Amusing how such a seemingly trivial thing is making headlines there.
Decisive has already happened in the eyes of voters. This one we will never forget or forgive.
It's now simply a question of whether the tory MPs listen and wake up in time. They 'might' limit the damage with Rishi Sunak in charge. Otherwise they are heading for a drubbing in 2024.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-12/rats-diverted-to-federal-government-amid-high-demand/100751754
There are almost no free LFTs. What we take for granted in regularly doing LFTs is unheard of there as you have to pay for them all, that is if you can find any. Presumably they are only using them for testing if you have symptoms. A friend this morning said her son got a positive LFT this morning before school with no symptoms.
I remember a lot of laughing late in 2020 with project "Moonshot" with a vast rapid testing programme. It seems to have almost happened though by stealth and it is ingrained in our way of life now it seems. In fact, the difficult part will now be weaning ourselves off it as Covid is now endemic.
England's population is projected to grow more quickly than the other UK nations: 3.5% between mid-2020 and mid-2030, compared with 2.6% for Wales, 2.0% for Northern Ireland and 0.3% for Scotland.....
Over the 25-year period between mid-2020 and mid-2045, England is projected to have the largest increase in population, at 6.7%. The projected increase over the same period for Wales is 4.2% and for Northern Ireland it is 2.3%. Scotland is projected to see a decrease of 1.5% over this time.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2020basedinterim
Obviously I loathe the man but plenty of people liked him. They don't anymore. It's just astonishing how quickly he fell from grace.
I guess it was covid. I mean, I know he would have been unmasked eventually. It's clear (to me) that Brexit is a dud but we can argue the toss over that one. Other things might have eventually found him out but he's such a slippery customer, who knows? Maybe he'd have lasted 10 years or so?
In two years covid has destroyed him.
I think TMay has queered the "Look at me, I'm a woman like Maggie was" pitch for Truss, thankfully.
Going by the official population figures, portions of Scotland have vaccinated 106% (and like numbers) of the available people of age X.
Maybe Scotland is a *bigger* part of the union than previously thought :-)
As someone leftie he's the one I'd most fear in 2024.
Liz Truss would result in a Labour landslide.
Apparently for connoisseurs of alcohol/people with good taste it is the equivalent of drinking lighter fluid.
You’ve managed to induce a previously unknown emotion for me: sympathy for Alexander Johnson. The child, not the adult.
@MrHarryCole
Wagons starting to circle a bit...
One senior minister: "we are not going defenestrate a prime minister over the exuberance of a civil servant."
Not sure that's a watertight defence...
Hence my asking about Sunak and Truss with respect to lockdown parties at the office etc, the yesterday - if either of them nibbled a cracker, then there is a serious betting opportunity there.
Chances he can prove this: non-zero.
1) Get rid of him now
2) let him cop the blame for the next few months than pretend all the pain was his fault.
I can see very much why 2 is the preferred option, the surprise is that the option seems to be disappearing.
In fact this is classic Boris, the cabinet are delaying things until there is only 1 inevitable choice left to make..
Can’t imagine Liz saying “Fuck business!”
However, she’s a very English type of gal. Scottish Tory ladies tend towards more of the Auntie Goldie matronly end of the spectrum. Much less fun.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotland-future-opportunities-challenges-scotlands-changing-population/pages/4/
The 4% referred to the SNP's share of MPs, so around their share of polling nationally.
Scotland is 8-9% of the electorate as @Carnyx pointed out.
(A chacun son gout)
https://twitter.com/AlecStapp/status/1481057526980489226/photo/1
The best wine in the world is the one *you* like drinking.
*With the stupid "from an iPhone" thing left turned on.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/diary-2508490
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/306802015
?
Bugger, I serve it at all my soirees. Complements the Ferrero Rocher.
6.6 million people will be born
6.7 million people will die
5.6 million people will immigrate long-term to the UK
3.4 million people will emigrate long-term from the UK
It wasn't a 'moonshot', given it was fairly clear from summer 2020 that LFTs were an effective health tool, and were available off the shelf from China (which is where they're still coming from, via a US middleman). And the cost is a fraction of the £100bn that was nonsensically talked about at the time.
Though you're right - a lot of countries have done far worse.
No doubt the authorities will be around soon to issue on-the-spot fines.
https://twitter.com/sima_kotecha/status/1481222816477417472
Therefore of little use for this PM.
"Somebody else made a mistake and I didn't know at the time and I didn't want to disappoint people."
We all talk about the negatives of being a politician: the hard life, living your life under a microscope; the effect it has on their family. But there must be times when they get to do things which few of us ever do.
She's having fun. That's cool.