One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
Claimed not to have travelled from his house in Spain while in quarantine for Covid and was photographed in Belgrade. Djokovic' used the convenient excuse of having the disease as an exemption for not taking the vaccination, but you are supposed to follow the rules as if you really had it.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
Very little so far as I can see.
He's a potential decent candidate, do mud requires to be slung in case he wins.
To me he is the obvious candidate unless he lets Boris tarnish him some more. If the party wants a cleaner start then Hunt is a real possibility. I am not sure about Truss. But then, I don't have a vote so what does it matter what I think?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
Very little so far as I can see.
He's a potential decent candidate, do mud requires to be slung in case he wins.
Very small radar cross section. Hard to get a target lock with the mud.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
In many ways Hunt and Sunak are cut from the same cloth.
Both public school, Oxford PPE, independently wealthy with successful careers pre politics. Neither as far as we know have any personal scandals or interesting relationship situations going on or to be dug up.
Neither have so far really presented or needed to present any sort of vision for their brand of govt.
The key differences are as far as I can see that Hunt is more part of the old guard - beneficial as less tainted by Boris, maybe appears more matured, associated in some minds with Cameron govt which is looking better as time passes but bad in that he has a track record in govt that parts of can be used against him whilst also making people ask “what did he actually do if any interest or value”.
Sunak is more of the new guard - beneficial as younger more dynamic style, good communicator with social media etc, aspirational even, Indian heritage, more down with the youth maybe but bad in that even though he’s holding the second most powerful role he might be seen as inexperienced by virtue of relative youth and also clearly a major part of the Boris govt.
If both were to stand I think ultimately a lot would ride on their “vision” for what they want to do. I also think there will be an element that Tory MPs will look at Hunt and look at Starmer and find them rather too similar and uninspiring - like a pair of boring wooden bookends and Sunak might have that bit of stardust necessary to cut through and refresh the party image.
This of course could all be rubbish!
Heightism is the last permissible prejudice and Hunt is about twice as tall as Sunak.
I know Sunak is short (in height), but I thought Hunt was also quite short - I'd have had him at about 5' 10'' at most. Turns out he's 6' 2''. Isn't the internet weird? Imagine if I'd told you 40 years ago that you could, if you so chose, break off briefly from work to speculate about the height of the third-favourite in a battle for the leadership of the conservative party which has not yet been announced, and not only find it within 15 seconds of the question occurring to you but find out in such a way that confirms other people have been asking the same question in various forms.
Heightism is insidious. 5'10" is not really "quite short". It is around or just over average height.
So I understand. But does this average include old men who have shrunk? Because it seems quite short to me. I am six foot, and of the cohort of friends I have from school who I still hang around with - 10 of us - I am the shortest. I can't think of any of my male friends who are shorter than 5' 10''.
Random selection. I knew guy at Uni, over six foot tall, who lived with 6 or 7 other gents, all north of six foot four, so he was the small one. Yet for the population at large he was above average height (and by population I mean gents of his age, for clarity).
I am 5'8, if I don't slouch. I went on an interrail holiday around Europe in 1981. In Palermo, I was looking down on the top of people's heads. A few days later , in Austria, I had neckache from looking up to people.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he hadn't traveled to any other country in the 14 days prior to his arrival in Australia, he'd been to Serbia as his social media feeds show, supposedly after having tested positive for COVID too which is potentially breaking the law in Spain.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he hadn't traveled to any other country in the 14 days prior to his arrival in Australia, he'd been to Spain as his social media feeds show, supposedly after having tested positive for COVID too which is potentially breaking the law in Spain.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he hadn't travelled to another country in the 14 days prior to entering Australia. (He had been to Spain.)
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
It has to be said heightism for men is pretty much one of the last acceptable prejudices. As mentioned in an earlier discussion on this, average height and taller men tend to love it, and many but not all women tend to acquiesce.
On the latest apology, the Mail is still giving the story a pretty low priority overall, with this sort of detail much more important than usual for the government after such a difficult week.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he hadn't traveled to any other country in the 14 days prior to his arrival in Australia, he'd been to Spain as his social media feeds show, supposedly after having tested positive for COVID too which is potentially breaking the law in Spain.
Banned from Spain too? Oh dear.
Think it was actually Serbia he went to, but either way that's the lie and Spain has got pretty tough isolation rules for people who have tested positive.
What the PM's spokesman did say however was that "No10" has written to Buckingham Palace to apologise for the event that took place during period of national mourning. BUT sounds like officials wrote the letter not the PM himself.
that Tory culture war in full: - last week: why doesn't the unpatriotic BBC play the national anthem every day - this week: we've had to apologise to the Queen for disrepecting her dead husband
I like the distinctions that Mike draws in the thread header. We have to remember that there are different circles here, only some of which overlap or even touch:
1. Tory MPs
2. Tory Membership
3. The Electorate
Johnson won two stunning victories (2016 and 2019) although we should remember they were with Dominic Cummings' considerable help. Indeed it's doubtful Boris would have had the capability to win without Dom. In 2019 he was also up against the most left-wing antisemite ever to stand for the office: totally unelectable in other words.
Johnson is NOT popular with 1. Even at his nadir his victory among MPs was not stellar. He was brilliant with 3. but is now toxic.
Liz may be favoured by 2. but I reckon she would tank with 3.
Jeremy Hunt would be unpopular with 3. Whether fairly or not he comes across as stiff and will be associated with a mean side of Conservatism.
Which leaves Rishi Sunak. I've no idea to be honest how he plays out with 1, 2, or 3. But as a left-leaning person who cannot wait for the tories to be booted out of office, it's Sunak I fear most.
If they leave Boris Johnson in position Labour will win an outright majority.
Liz appears as air-headed as Johnson. SKSIPM.
Hunt's reputation has seen a renaissance on the back benches. He is as wooden as Starmer though, nonetheless he is untainted by Johnson and could cause Labour big problems. SKSINPM.
Sunak seems as ambitious as Truss but infinitely more capable. I am not sure about the affected Tony Blair voice and mannerisms, and his star could come crashing down if the economy tanks before he becomes PM. In the short/medium term a big headache for Labour, but if he gets blamed for hyper- inflation, not such an inspired choice. SKSMBPM.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
What the PM's spokesman did say however was that "No10" has written to Buckingham Palace to apologise for the event that took place during period of national mourning. BUT sounds like officials wrote the letter not the PM himself.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
We don't have any proof that he lied on his visa application of course. I must say he was very fortunate indeed to have got Covid which potentially provided his exemption just in time for the tournament and the attendance at all those meetings after that date was clearly an oversight. When he got the two lines on his LFT he must have been the only person in the world to say: "wow that IS lucky". He is also extremely fortunate to have an army of credible and honest people taking his side, such as Mum and Dad and various people in Serbia. Additionally he has a few international figures. One of those people is a fine upstanding individual called Nigel Farage. I am not sure whether Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin have weighed in yet, but I guess there is still time.
Yeah no I get that you think he has behaved badly in all this but what was the actual transgression. According to the Beeb (which is according to his lawyers) this latest ban is for the purposes of "health and good order grounds" lest he encourage the anti-vaxxers.
What the PM's spokesman did say however was that "No10" has written to Buckingham Palace to apologise for the event that took place during period of national mourning. BUT sounds like officials wrote the letter not the PM himself.
I'd like to know whether No 10 was the only government department where all this partying and drinking was taking place.
There was some suggestion yesterday that Ms Gray was hearing of other parties elsewhere.
A number of parties all over Westminster would do wonders to avoid having to focus on a single party and so having to point the blame at the person responsible (i.e. Boris).
I don't feel much sympathy for the 'just following orders' crew like this and the Labour tweet nurse, who acted in fundamentally cruel manner because they were told to.
Aye, it's only the law. Who the gives a fuck about that?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
Very little so far as I can see.
It is problematic attacking him for his background, and it problematic attacking him for various actions he has taken.
The height stuff is a sign of people looking for something....
Rather like the sniping a Starmer, from the left, for appearing in front of Union Jacks.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Jim Waterson @jimwaterson · 2h Television news ratings last night have been *way* up on normal this week, people are actively tuning in for the latest on the Downing Street parties. BBC News at Six pushing 5m viewers, News at Ten on 4m, Newsnight and Question Time all benefitting.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
I'd like to know whether No 10 was the only government department where all this partying and drinking was taking place.
There was some suggestion yesterday that Ms Gray was hearing of other parties elsewhere.
We know there was the do at the Dept of Education.
Wait! The DfE can organise a piss up?
In West London, there is an urban legend that the function suite at the Fuller's Brewery once ran out of booze mid evening. Since it is physically separate from the brewery and there were no keys etc...
EDIT: DfE always struck me as the cold-sober kind of stupid.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Interesting. I'm enjoying the case. To me it brings into sharp focus the bonkersness that has overtaken the world (rightly or wrongly) with Covid. In particular in Aus & NZ.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Interesting. I'm enjoying the case. To me it brings into sharp focus the bonkersness that has overtaken the world (rightly or wrongly) with Covid. In particular in Aus & NZ.
I had some sympathy because he was mislead by Tennis Australia, who were repeatedly told that prior infection did not qualify someone from an exemption. None now though. He clearly thinks the rules don't apply to him.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Australian immigration lawyer on R4 this morning said this appeal much less likely to succeed as the first only did because the Immigration officials failed to follow procedure. Also the “no need for vaccination if COVID positive test” deadline was December 10 - the alleged positive test was December 16.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
Let's face it - one might have feared people trying to find some pretext to stop him because he wasn't white.
Thank goodness that hasn't happened.
It is entirely possible the top three in the next Tory leadership contest are going to Sunak, Javid, and Patel, racist Tories memes won't work.
Either that, or they'd have to think of bad things to say about Javid and Patel too. What, I can't imagine.
Wel you all know I've been a critic of Priti Patel for years because she's a person of colour a horrible human being and a disgraced national security risk.
Fine label me a racist, Enoch Powell was right, the darkies are going to have the whip hand over white people.
Paul Brand @PaulBrandITV · 8m BREAKING: Downing Street has apologised to the Queen for parties held on the eve of her husband’s funeral.
It does not get much more painful than that.
Paul Brand @PaulBrandITV · 7m This also seems to be yet another admission that parties did indeed take place. Will @metpoliceuk investigate this time?
That would upset the quid pro quo. If Johnson turns a blind eye to Cressida's bungling incompetence, she could turn a blind eye to Boris' banging parties.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
We don't have any proof that he lied on his visa application of course. I must say he was very fortunate indeed to have got Covid which potentially provided his exemption just in time for the tournament and the attendance at all those meetings after that date was clearly an oversight. When he got the two lines on his LFT he must have been the only person in the world to say: "wow that IS lucky". He is also extremely fortunate to have an army of credible and honest people taking his side, such as Mum and Dad and various people in Serbia. Additionally he has a few international figures. One of those people is a fine upstanding individual called Nigel Farage. I am not sure whether Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin have weighed in yet, but I guess there is still time.
Yeah no I get that you think he has behaved badly in all this but what was the actual transgression. According to the Beeb (which is according to his lawyers) this latest ban is for the purposes of "health and good order grounds" lest he encourage the anti-vaxxers.
So what has he actually done wrong.
OK, IMO, let's start with the possibility that he has deliberately tried to dodge the rules because he thinks he is too important to need to . If that is correct and proven then he deserves everything he gets thrown at him and I hope he loses his sponsorship deals. To make this worse he has probably encouraged Mummy and Daddy to go on TV and make out he is some sort of victim.
If his "oversights" are oversights, he is a negligent idiot.
Lastly he is an anti-vaxxer. He is giving succour to all the anti-vax idiots in the world. If he wants to compete he needs to understand that there are plenty of people in the world that have to be vaccinated to do their job. If they decline they decline their right to work. Because he is an overpaid prima donna should not exempt him from that duty.
Lastly and most importantly, he appears to be a friend of Nigel Farage. If that is not doing something wrong, I don't know what is.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Interesting. I'm enjoying the case. To me it brings into sharp focus the bonkersness that has overtaken the world (rightly or wrongly) with Covid. In particular in Aus & NZ.
I had some sympathy because he was mislead by Tennis Australia, who were repeatedly told that prior infection did not qualify someone from an exemption. None now though. He clearly thinks the rules don't apply to him.
So we know what he thinks. He lied or made an oversight (!) on his visa application. Big call to say what he thinks about it all. He I presume is desperate to play in the Australian Open.
So Global Tennis No.1s probably do think themselves apart from others.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Interesting. I'm enjoying the case. To me it brings into sharp focus the bonkersness that has overtaken the world (rightly or wrongly) with Covid. In particular in Aus & NZ.
I had some sympathy because he was mislead by Tennis Australia, who were repeatedly told that prior infection did not qualify someone from an exemption. None now though. He clearly thinks the rules don't apply to him.
So we know what he thinks. He lied or made an oversight (!) on his visa application. Big call to say what he thinks about it all. He I presume is desperate to play in the Australian Open.
So Global Tennis No.1s probably do think themselves apart from others.
It's not just that. It's his appearance at various events maskless mere days after testing positive. He clearly doesn't care about the rules that various countries have in place.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
I thought the Tories were mad to pick Johnson over Hunt - the difference in quality between the two is huge. Their 2019 red wall victory says I was wrong, but recent events, where Johnson's (lack of) character has at last cut through with voters, suggest otherwise. Hunt would be a sensible choice I think. The Tories' dilemma is the red wall where Johnson had a unique (and to me mystifying) attractiveness that has now disappeared. Not obvious that any of his potential successors could match it. I increasingly think Johnson will go soon. I looked again at the photo of HMQ grieving her husband alone and found myself welling up. I think a lot of folk will have a similar reaction. A line has been crossed now, there's no way back.
I hope you're right - it's just 'wrong' to have this man as PM - but I'm finding it hard to be confident he's going. It will be an amazing fall if it happens. Just 2 years after winning the best Con majority since Thatcher, only a few months since Hartlepool and looking stronger than ever, and with the pandemic that's been the only domestic story for so long on its way out, he gets the chop. It would be quite a thing. And it's when I look at it this way, the impressionistic big picture rather than the febrile daily developments, that I veer towards him surviving.
But the big picture is that he no longer has a purpose. Why did he get elected (either to the Conservative leadership or as PM)? To deliver Brexit and to defeat Corbyn. We can argue about the relative importance of each, but most of us agree it was these two. Boris was best placed to Get Brexit Done, Boris was the man to beat Corbyn. You may not like it, but it's far from obvious there was someone better to do either. Brexit is now delivered. You can argue about whether it was the right sort of Brexit - but the question is not now whether or not we Brexit, it's what the future looks like. It's picking over detail, for years. Is this anything that anyone, even Boris's firmest backers, think Boris is the ideal choice for? Similarly, Corbyn is now defeated.
So what we are left with is levelling up. I give Boris some credit for this, in a high-level big-picture type way - but levelling up after the 2019 election is now a long slog of detail. Again, not obvious that Boris is the best man for the job. Oh, and the war on woke. But whatever Boris says about this it's becoming less and less clear he actually intends to do anything. If war on woke is your priority, is Boris the man to fight it? Possibly as a journalist. Probably not as a politican. Plus all the other issues which have sprang up in the past two years - covid recovery, Russia, China, energy. Issues for Boris? Possibly not.
If the answer to all of these questions was still Boris, partygate wouldn't bring him down. Unpopularity didn't bring Thatcher down (until it did) because her backers still believed in her. But I don't see any more that anyone still needs Boris.
All very solid stuff. But that's an *analytical* big picture. It's valid but it's different to an *impressionistic* one.
Eg, a 2nd EU referendum. One of my biggest political betting wins was laying that when it was deemed likely and thus a short price. Why did I lay it with such confidence? Because, regardless of how the analysis looked, eg how the path to it looked on the face of it to be eminently feasible, I asked myself this question:
Having conducted the biggest & most meaningful national binary public vote ever, in a nation which rarely does such things, with almost everyone engaged in it, with all of the drama & high feeling, all of that political stress before during & after the campaign, all of those arguments batted to & fro, all the energy expended, would we *really* proceed to ice the result and do it all over again just a couple of years later?
That was a No - and all counter arguments were as nothing to me compared to the strength of that No.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm nothing like as confident that Johnson won't be toppled this year, but I just offer this as an example of how 'impressionistic big picture' can be a powerful prediction & betting tool. And in this case it's steering me away from lumping on him going. I'd need odds of 2/1 not 1/2.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
and the government loan schemes for business were very good.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
Quite a few were also convinced only I would come up with an innuendo campaign name like 'Eat out to help out.'
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
And the best way to offset his height disadvantage with ladies too.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Are we past the days of having peers as PMs, in the sense of it being even legally possible? Though Lord Home got himself a safe seat as a MP pdq if I recall the recent discussion here. I'm sure someone could be persuaded to apply to the Chiltern Hundreds if need be, in a nice safe seat.
Nothing that legally says the PM cannot be in the Lords - although I imagine that there would be no such thing as a safe seat for a by-election these days, if a party tried to force one in such circumstances.
Halifax turned down PMship in 1940 on account of being a Lord
Is that so? I'd always assumed Labour wouldn't support him.
I read a couple of articles that had it as his for taking, but bottled it. He didn’t fancy being a war leader. Didn’t think we could win. Didn’t want to fight. The recent film of Churchill portrayed it like this? Is this revisionist history? It’s been revised and is more accurate?
Labour wanted Halifax and that was the general consensus of the Commons. The King wanted Halifax and was a bit upset when Halifax raised the objection of being a peer and so not able to operate effectively in the House.
That’s where I disagree with you Rottenborough. I can’t do it because I am a Lord buries the truth and distorts true history which needs to be revised, therefore your favourite history books on your shelf you always thought was history are lying to you and you need to get new ones. The truth being “havn’t slept for a week thinking I have to be war PM, I think we should make deal with Germans anyway.”
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
Quite a few were also convinced only I would come up with an innuendo campaign name like 'Eat out to help out.'
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
and the government loan schemes for business were very good.
Listening to people complaining "But I pay myself minimum wage through the business to make it tax efficient, the rest in dividends. Why should I get only minimum wage through the furlough scheme?" was quite entertaining.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
He blamed his underlings for that - which given his decision to attend press conferences while infected, seems mildly unconvincing.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
And the best way to offset his height disadvantage with ladies too.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
"the estimates suggest that the eat-out-to-help-out scheme may have been responsible for between 8%–17% of all newly detected COVID-19 infections (and likely many more non-detected asymptomatic infections) in late summer."
TENNIS star Novak Djokovic is to compete in the Australian Open remotely via Zoom, it has been confirmed.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
I've always thought that's the best way to distinguish a sport from a game - the former can't be meaningfully played over the telephone. So tiddlywinks is a sport; chess a game.
What about soggy biscuit?
It's a new slogan for a Sunak/Truss dream ticket: Eat "jizz to help Liz"
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
Quite a few were also convinced only I would come up with an innuendo campaign name like 'Eat out to help out.'
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Interesting. I'm enjoying the case. To me it brings into sharp focus the bonkersness that has overtaken the world (rightly or wrongly) with Covid. In particular in Aus & NZ.
I had some sympathy because he was mislead by Tennis Australia, who were repeatedly told that prior infection did not qualify someone from an exemption. None now though. He clearly thinks the rules don't apply to him.
So we know what he thinks. He lied or made an oversight (!) on his visa application. Big call to say what he thinks about it all. He I presume is desperate to play in the Australian Open.
So Global Tennis No.1s probably do think themselves apart from others.
Top sports people often think like that.
Hell, countries change the tax law to allow them to compete without having to pay too much. Ministers and Monarchs glad hand them.
To them. immigration is something that one of the staff fixes up, in cooperation with the next country.
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
He blamed his underlings for that - which given his decision to attend press conferences while infected, seems mildly unconvincing.
Penalty of perjury only applies to the person filling out the form, even if they are a designate?
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people".
What has Rishi done to deserve this continual propaganda about his height?
Very little so far as I can see.
It is problematic attacking him for his background, and it problematic attacking him for various actions he has taken.
The height stuff is a sign of people looking for something....
Rather like the sniping a Starmer, from the left, for appearing in front of Union Jacks.
It's standard leftist dogwhistling. He's of average height for an Indian man, so making jokes about how short he is is code for attacking his ethnicity.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
and the government loan schemes for business were very good.
Listening to people complaining "But I pay myself minimum wage through the business to make it tax efficient, the rest in dividends. Why should I get only minimum wage through the furlough scheme?" was quite entertaining.
Not for those experiencing it. Only those in nice safe PAYE jobs that have never set up a business would find it amusing
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Australian immigration lawyer on R4 this morning said this appeal much less likely to succeed as the first only did because the Immigration officials failed to follow procedure. Also the “no need for vaccination if COVID positive test” deadline was December 10 - the alleged positive test was December 16.
Djokovic seems to have had a plan to get to play in the Australian open without getting vaccinated. What's maybe surprising is that the plan was so full of holes, and so sloppily carried out.
Also, has anyone asked him what he was going to do if he hadn't got that positive test result on December 16th, or whenever it was supposed to have been?
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
"the estimates suggest that the eat-out-to-help-out scheme may have been responsible for between 8%–17% of all newly detected COVID-19 infections (and likely many more non-detected asymptomatic infections) in late summer."
Would be interested in a study from an actual scientist, not an economist.
Kevin Rudd sums it up : “What a surprise! Morrison’s govt cancels Djokovic’s visa to win the weekend media cycle - showing us all how hairy chested he is. Why on earth did they issue the visa in the first place? One big political distraction from empty shelves & the national shortage of boosters & RATs.”
A 11% lead? That’s @HYUFD arbitrary “more than 10%” criteria met.
It doesn't matter now, the Tory vote share is up 1 per cent, so the recovery is beginning, people loved Boris Johnson's apology in th Commons.
I think that is right Eagles. The polls taken since his fulsome apology have shown an improvement in Tory share, the only conclusion is Boris is still popular, the public liked his apology, and the wave of disappointment has peaked now, he Is over the worst.
[this is fun pretending we are HY. As I typed that twisted bull shit I felt like a teen having a strop. Everyone should try it, it’s kind of liberating being free of the truths and darkness across the land]
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
The furlough scheme, undoubtedly.
Which he is widely applauded for but goodness me what inequality resulted from it - doling out £2500 pm of taxpayer cash to some people and zilch for others.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
Quite a few were also convinced only I would come up with an innuendo campaign name like 'Eat out to help out.'
Why, are you a cunning linguist?
I am, I have a very talented tongue, I can speak seven languages.
1) English 2) Urdu 3) Punjabi 4) Latin 5) Greek 6) German 7) French
One of the most distasteful elements (for me) of both the No10 party story and the Djokovic story is the arrogance. Both smack of "rules are for little people". Djokovic clearly thinks he is so important that he can behave by a different set of rules to others and so does Johnson.
He clearly lied on his visa application. And now almost every border guard in the world knows he lied on his visa application. He's not going to have a fun time travelling...
What was the lie on his visa application.
That he didn't travel 14 days before coming to Australia. He's even admitted it was wrong.
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
tyvm so is that not instant grounds for ejection. Why all the appeals.
I think the first one was because of the way the authorities handled the case, rather than the merits of the refusal. The second? Well, everyone has the opportunity to appeal decisions.
Australian immigration lawyer on R4 this morning said this appeal much less likely to succeed as the first only did because the Immigration officials failed to follow procedure. Also the “no need for vaccination if COVID positive test” deadline was December 10 - the alleged positive test was December 16.
Djokovic seems to have had a plan to get to play in the Australian open without getting vaccinated. What's maybe surprising is that the plan was so full of holes, and so sloppily carried out.
Also, has anyone asked him what he was going to do if he hadn't got that positive test result on December 16th, or whenever it was supposed to have been?
He would have been better off coming to London in early December and catching Omicron like the rest of us here. No real danger to him as he's already had COVID before and it would give him a reliable certificate of recovery that the Australians wouldn't quibble with.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
As I recall, cases picked up as Eat Out to Help Out rolled out. As these were due to higher social interactions the campaign probably did indirectly contribute to the trend, to the extent it was successful in driving more business to restaurants. I was astonished but somewhat impressed that the CoE should get involved in restaurant marketing.
I think Sunak would make an OK PM. He's definitely not Johnson and is personable and very smart in a Goldman Sachs kind of way but suffers from a lack of common sense. He's been responsible for a number of blunders in government but has been clever in not being associated with them.
Truss is more of continuity candidate, which may not be an advantage right now.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
The furlough scheme, undoubtedly.
Which he is widely applauded for but goodness me what inequality resulted from it - doling out £2500 pm of taxpayer cash to some people and zilch for others.
Yes, it was not very fairly applied, as were some of the grants etc., but I think overall the support for business was good and he should be applauded for most of it
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
The furlough scheme, undoubtedly.
Which he is widely applauded for but goodness me what inequality resulted from it - doling out £2500 pm of taxpayer cash to some people and zilch for others.
It was a good scheme but clearly it went on for too long. I think if they had the knowledge now of what happened we'd have had our final unlockdown at the end of May and ended furlough in June. We didn't do too badly with the July unlockdown and September end of furlough but there was potentially 1.5% of GDP given up and £20bn in additional business and employee support spent that we could have funded the whole northern rail plan with.
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
The furlough scheme, undoubtedly.
Which he is widely applauded for but goodness me what inequality resulted from it - doling out £2500 pm of taxpayer cash to some people and zilch for others.
At my suggestion, supported by others, the service company for the Faculty paid back several hundred thousand from that scheme when income fell considerably less than expected. For which we got no positive publicity at all, so far as I could see. Should probably have kept it.
Yougov now has the Tories in 3rd place with 2016 Remain voters on 12%, with Labour on 53% and the LDs on 18%.
However 52% of Leave voters still back the Tories, with 22% now backing Labour and 13% backing RefUK.
In London Labour have a huge 33% lead compared to only a 15% Labour lead in London in 2018, suggesting a bloodbath for the Tories in the capital in May where all London council seats are up but may not be quite as bad in the few other English councils up nor in Wales. In Scotland the Tories are also still holding up on 21% in the subsample, so the Scottish locals may be OK for the blues https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/48dfh8v55q/TheTimes_VI_220113_W.pdf
What’s Sunak’s best known policy? Perhaps it’s Eat Out to Help Out, which spent a large amount of public money, had limited economic benefit and caused large numbers of COVID cases.
Probably furlough. He was paying half the country to stay at home.
"Eat Out to Help Out" didn't cause a spike in cases, IIRC.
"the estimates suggest that the eat-out-to-help-out scheme may have been responsible for between 8%–17% of all newly detected COVID-19 infections (and likely many more non-detected asymptomatic infections) in late summer."
Would be interested in a study from an actual scientist, not an economist.
Sounds plausible though. On the plus side the policy gave a very welcome fillip to the sector and created much joy - I remember that time well it was so special to go out again, pub bookings were in high demand.
Comments
The tennis star also admitted to a mistake on his Australian travel declaration, in which a box was ticked indicating that he had not, or would not, travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
Yeah, f*ck it, in for a penny...
I went on an interrail holiday around Europe in 1981.
In Palermo, I was looking down on the top of people's heads.
A few days later , in Austria, I had neckache from looking up to people.
There was some suggestion yesterday that Ms Gray was hearing of other parties elsewhere.
On the latest apology, the Mail is still giving the story a pretty low priority overall, with this sort of detail much more important than usual for the government after such a difficult week.
Matthew Holehouse
@mattholehouse
·
29m
No 10 has apologised to the Palace.
“It was regrettable this took place at a time of national mourning.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman repeatedly refuses to define what “this” is.
Imagine having Gavin Williamson as your boss, that would drive even me to drink.
https://twitter.com/henrymance/status/1481968859087355906
that Tory culture war in full:
- last week: why doesn't the unpatriotic BBC play the national anthem every day
- this week: we've had to apologise to the Queen for disrepecting her dead husband
Hunt's reputation has seen a renaissance on the back benches. He is as wooden as Starmer though, nonetheless he is untainted by Johnson and could cause Labour big problems. SKSINPM.
Sunak seems as ambitious as Truss but infinitely more capable. I am not sure about the affected Tony Blair voice and mannerisms, and his star could come crashing down if the economy tanks before he becomes PM. In the short/medium term a big headache for Labour, but if he gets blamed for hyper- inflation, not such an inspired choice. SKSMBPM.
Thank goodness that hasn't happened.
Muscle's much heavier than fat. We've been through that.
So what has he actually done wrong.
https://twitter.com/cjsnowdon/status/1481965417136537601?s=20
Edit: and @Benpointer
The height stuff is a sign of people looking for something....
Rather like the sniping a Starmer, from the left, for appearing in front of Union Jacks.
@jimwaterson
·
2h
Television news ratings last night have been *way* up on normal this week, people are actively tuning in for the latest on the Downing Street parties. BBC News at Six pushing 5m viewers, News at Ten on 4m, Newsnight and Question Time all benefitting.
With Australia cancelling Djokovic’s visa for a second time ahead of his first match on Monday, the 34-year-old Serbian will work from home by playing all of his games over the video conferencing platform.
https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/djokovic-to-defend-title-via-zoom-20220114216290
EDIT: DfE always struck me as the cold-sober kind of stupid.
Long may it continue.
As to the substance it's all about actions not words. Last XX Lab leaders haven't shown a huge amount of diversity, now have they.
And the notification didn't specify that Johnson wasn't there ...
person of coloura horrible human being and a disgraced national security risk.Fine label me a racist, Enoch Powell was right, the darkies are going to have the whip hand over white people.
If his "oversights" are oversights, he is a negligent idiot.
Lastly he is an anti-vaxxer. He is giving succour to all the anti-vax idiots in the world. If he wants to compete he needs to understand that there are plenty of people in the world that have to be vaccinated to do their job. If they decline they decline their right to work. Because he is an overpaid prima donna should not exempt him from that duty.
Lastly and most importantly, he appears to be a friend of Nigel Farage. If that is not doing something wrong, I don't know what is.
So Global Tennis No.1s probably do think themselves apart from others.
Eg, a 2nd EU referendum. One of my biggest political betting wins was laying that when it was deemed likely and thus a short price. Why did I lay it with such confidence? Because, regardless of how the analysis looked, eg how the path to it looked on the face of it to be eminently feasible, I asked myself this question:
Having conducted the biggest & most meaningful national binary public vote ever, in a nation which rarely does such things, with almost everyone engaged in it, with all of the drama & high feeling, all of that political stress before during & after the campaign, all of those arguments batted to & fro, all the energy expended, would we *really* proceed to ice the result and do it all over again just a couple of years later?
That was a No - and all counter arguments were as nothing to me compared to the strength of that No.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm nothing like as confident that Johnson won't be toppled this year, but I just offer this as an example of how 'impressionistic big picture' can be a powerful prediction & betting tool. And in this case it's steering me away from lumping on him going. I'd need odds of 2/1 not 1/2.
Ewww and you hideous beast.
Quite a few people *said* it would, though.
The truth being “havn’t slept for a week thinking I have to be war PM, I think we should make deal with Germans anyway.”
"the estimates suggest that the eat-out-to-help-out scheme may have been responsible for between 8%–17% of all newly detected COVID-19 infections (and likely many more non-detected asymptomatic infections) in late summer."
Hell, countries change the tax law to allow them to compete without having to pay too much. Ministers and Monarchs glad hand them.
To them. immigration is something that one of the staff fixes up, in cooperation with the next country.
Also, has anyone asked him what he was going to do if he hadn't got that positive test result on December 16th, or whenever it was supposed to have been?
[this is fun pretending we are HY. As I typed that twisted bull shit I felt like a teen having a strop. Everyone should try it, it’s kind of liberating being free of the truths and darkness across the land]
https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1481962879955914752
1) English
2) Urdu
3) Punjabi
4) Latin
5) Greek
6) German
7) French
Eight if you include American.
I beg to differ.
I think Sunak would make an OK PM. He's definitely not Johnson and is personable and very smart in a Goldman Sachs kind of way but suffers from a lack of common sense. He's been responsible for a number of blunders in government but has been clever in not being associated with them.
Truss is more of continuity candidate, which may not be an advantage right now.
'Boris Johnson has less probity and self awareness than Chris Huhne.'
However 52% of Leave voters still back the Tories, with 22% now backing Labour and 13% backing RefUK.
In London Labour have a huge 33% lead compared to only a 15% Labour lead in London in 2018, suggesting a bloodbath for the Tories in the capital in May where all London council seats are up but may not be quite as bad in the few other English councils up nor in Wales.
In Scotland the Tories are also still holding up on 21% in the subsample, so the Scottish locals may be OK for the blues
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/48dfh8v55q/TheTimes_VI_220113_W.pdf
“What sort of suitcase are we talking about? Was it a carry-on? Or the kind a family of four would take on a holiday to Tenerife?”
(Re suitcase of booze for party on eve of Philip funeral)
No10: can’t pre-empt Sue Gray investigation
Reminder: some geniuses in No.10 wanted to televise Lobby briefings. Every day.
https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1481964587675226114
It is, frankly, moronic.