I must say the Boris premiership is proving great entertainment. I never expected any PM to preside over a government funnier and more dysfunctional than Gordon Brown's, but Boris has beaten even the snow plot, farmy-farm and 'gulags for slags'.
@Leon if I tell you what it is will you host my wife and I for drinks at one of your favourite watering holes?
(I'll bring drugs if necessary)
OK if you bring REALLY good ayahuasca
That's just DMT sir, afaik.
Having done both - ayahuasca and DMT - I can assure you that the former is way more powerful than the latter, and an entirely more profound experience
Many users describe profound, life-changing experiences such as visiting other worlds, talking with alien entities known as “DMT elves” or “machine elves,” and total shifts in the perception of identity and reality. Mental side effects may linger for many days or weeks after ingestion of the drug.
@Leon if I tell you what it is will you host my wife and I for drinks at one of your favourite watering holes?
(I'll bring drugs if necessary)
OK if you bring REALLY good ayahuasca
That's just DMT sir, afaik.
Having done both - ayahuasca and DMT - I can assure you that the former is way more powerful than the latter, and an entirely more profound experience
Is that not just because of the extras in it though? Much like opium and smack are different (although in that case it's the other way around where you have thebaine moderation and lack of diamorphine headrush in the natural stuff). I'm sure you could add some other MAOI (many are available) to DMT and get more or less the same effect as ayahusasca, although I must admit I haven't tried that.
Just idly flicked open a copy of Gimson's Prime Ministers, which I was gifted for Christmas, and immediately struck by some of its opening quotes from past PMs.
Attlee:There is one thing about politics that I think cannot be disputed: if a man stays in them long enough, they nearly always reveal him for what he is, and he tends to get not only what he deserves, but to find in his fate the reflection of his own strength and weakness
And one Sunak is probably saying right now:
Never forget...the garden belongs to Number 10, and has nothing to do with Number 11.*
*That one was Archibald Primrose who, of course, we all know was Prime Minister after Gladstone.
As David Cameron observed, Dom Cummings is a psychopath, what kind of idiot employs a known psychopath?
David Cameron?
You remember, he's the one who managed to burn down his own foreign policy, and thus his Government and career, in a wholly avoidable accident. How soon we forget.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
Yes, although they will still be facing the headwinds of inflation, tax increases, Brexit and the Covid enquiry.
And they will be carrying the reeks of lobbying corruption, and 'one-rule-for-us' neither of which will entirely dissipate, even if Johnson goes.
But if you want top jobs, like top jobs in football management, you expect to come in in a crisis, back yourself in your honeymoon period to help get the basics right and from there turn it round. Build something great.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
That’s the key point for HY and his friends.
If Johnson goes quickly, and someone very different comes in with a big reset, they have some chance of ringfencing the damage to BJ’s personality.
If they let him limp on for months and gather round him and tie themselves to his string of less and less credible excuses, they’ll go down with him.
But @HYUFD won’t know who he wants to replace Johnson until they have replaced Johnson. Then they will get his 100% support, but not before.
Just idly flicked open a copy of Gimson's Prime Ministers, which I was gifted for Christmas, and immediately struck by some of its opening quotes from past PMs.
Attlee:There is one thing about politics that I think cannot be disputed: if a man stays in them long enough, they nearly always reveal him for what he is, and he tends to get not only what he deserves, but to find in his fate the reflection of his own strength and weakness
And one Sunak is probably saying right now:
Never forget...the garden belongs to Number 10, and has nothing to do with Number 11.*
*That one was Archibald Primrose who, of course, we all know was Prime Minister after Gladstone.
We know why Big Dom wasn't sacked immediately now....
When that story broke I said he should be sacked that night. I could not understand why Johnson was so reluctant to ditch him, as politically it would be the easiest and most effective action to take. Well I blooming well know the reason(s) now.
Lying isn't the problem here. People complain that all politicians are liars, and lying is part of Johnsons style, somehow he turns it in to a positive. The problem is with the egregious lockdown breaches on the part of the people making the rules, whilst everyone else was following the rules and suffering for it. This is what will ultimately ruin Johnson, it isn't just business as usual.
I beg to differ - both are a problem. Of course breaking the rules you make should be enough to bring you down.
But the lying is a huge problem. Not the odd lie - the constant, mendacious lying that Boris does, treating people as utterly stupid and hoping that we can't see through the lies. It's the lying that most people I know object to the most, It's not either/or.
Lying is part of politics. It is part of life, if you think about it. One example is pretending you don't know about something that you actually do know about, we all do that, at times.
People see parliament as a farce. Government Ministers are engaged in a rhetorical game of stretching the truth to extreme levels, without getting to the point where they 'mislead' parliament.
Johnson just has a way of lying where he makes little pretence to be telling the truth. People find that refreshing.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
That’s the key point for HY and his friends.
If Johnson goes quickly, and someone very different comes in with a big reset, they have some chance of ringfencing the damage to BJ’s personality.
If they let him limp on for months and gather round him and tie themselves to his string of less and less credible excuses, they’ll go down with him.
In terms of their longer term political future, the last thing the Conservative Party needs at this stage is for Johnson just to be allowed to soldier on and be left to meekly announce after the local elections that he's decided that his time is up.
Thatcher's demise was anything but a quiet exit. The Conservative Party managed to rescue itself by the brutal and decisive way she was dragged out of the door, kicking and screaming as she went.
It's an interesting political dynamic though. If one of Johnson's main rivals at this point was the first to act decisively to call on him to go, he or she would get a great deal of political credit for Johnson's demise in terms of wider public opinion. The question is how much their being seen to wield the knife would harm their chances with the Tory members that will determine Johnson's successor as PM, and that's the immediate prize at stake.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
Yes, although they will still be facing the headwinds of inflation, tax increases, Brexit and the Covid enquiry.
And they will be carrying the reeks of lobbying corruption, and 'one-rule-for-us' neither of which will entirely dissipate, even if Johnson goes.
But if you want top jobs, like top jobs in football management, you expect to come in in a crisis, back yourself in your honeymoon period to help get the basics right and from there turn it round. Build something great.
You’ve got to relish the challenge!
You can tell I’m a York City fan.
My Dad played for the Minstermen in the 60s. Never got out of the reserves mind you.
We know why Big Dom wasn't sacked immediately now....
When that story broke I said he should be sacked that night. I could not understand why Johnson was so reluctant to ditch him, as politically it would be the easiest and most effective action to take. Well I blooming well know the reason(s) now.
Well also, presuming Big Dom was the only rule breaker (I know, I know), you sack him, he does some sob story about scared for his children, had had nutters at his home threatening him etc, and in a years time bring him back.
I think how it went down was Big Dom, went f##k no I am not resigning, you lot are on the piss every week, screw the media, tell to f##k off.
He's wobbling. But shifting someone who doesn't want shifting requires political courage and boldness. These are not skills that are encouraged, hence why it is shameless chances who display it more often.
A former minister says: "Johnson is toast...if you were the Chief Whip looking at him you'd say he's not fit to do any other jobs in government, you wouldn't make him a junior minister, he doesn't work hard enough."
Another former minister tells the BBC: "The inbox is horrendous and is not getting better...it's not just the usual suspects - there are long term members saying they feel utter disgust for the prime minister."
One Midlands Red Wall MP says: "The inbox is bad, really bad... there is a recognition now amongst colleagues that this may not be survivable even if Sue Gray clears him. This is self-inflicted and trust is seeping away."
Another Red Waller MP and big Boris Johnson fan says: "The inbox is now comparable with Barnard Castle...if this was anyone else he'd already be done. If he survives I still don't know if that's a good thing? Is it just a slow march to death?"
Difficult to see how he lasts another week at this rate. If it was a professional bout the ref would have stepped in at about lunchtime today
HOWEVER, Boris is a pretty shameless chap - as we have seen - and that is to his advantage here. He won't be mortified into leaving. And eventually even Dom Cummings must run out of new revelations and new ways of knifing his old Boss. Can there be much more? We now know they held parties eight times a day, often with nude effigies of the Queen, it cannot get significantly worse
So if he can survive another month maybe he can survive two years. Possibly taking down the entire Tory party alongside him
Secondly - am I the only PBer who does (when well) work in an office where late night drinking is encouraged and normal then? I can assure you it's very common in tech startups.
I have been doing my own early night drinking if this seems incoherent, but:
I'd still like an answer to this from anyone? Is it really percieved as that odd to drink at work? If so I'm very sad as you can look at e.g. old episodes of the bill from before I reached the age of majority where they had whisky in the inspector's draw and everyone would share it. Is that really such a bad thing these days?
We have an unlimited drinks budget during office socials (at least every month). We don't hold them at exclusive west end clubs but bill can still get to over £1000 per head and I assure everyone we're not unusual. But if it sounds it to you that we are, and you like the sound of lots of booze and are either a decent full stack or devops person... we are recruiting (and for home workers too).
Just idly flicked open a copy of Gimson's Prime Ministers, which I was gifted for Christmas, and immediately struck by some of its opening quotes from past PMs.
Attlee:There is one thing about politics that I think cannot be disputed: if a man stays in them long enough, they nearly always reveal him for what he is, and he tends to get not only what he deserves, but to find in his fate the reflection of his own strength and weakness
And one Sunak is probably saying right now:
Never forget...the garden belongs to Number 10, and has nothing to do with Number 11.*
*That one was Archibald Primrose who, of course, we all know was Prime Minister after Gladstone.
The Earl of Rosebery, please.
I ain't no aristocrat, and good old Archie Primrose is too good a name to hide behind a title.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
Yes, although they will still be facing the headwinds of inflation, tax increases, Brexit and the Covid enquiry.
And they will be carrying the reeks of lobbying corruption, and 'one-rule-for-us' neither of which will entirely dissipate, even if Johnson goes.
But if you want top jobs, like top jobs in football management, you expect to come in in a crisis, back yourself in your honeymoon period to help get the basics right and from there turn it round. Build something great.
Just idly flicked open a copy of Gimson's Prime Ministers, which I was gifted for Christmas, and immediately struck by some of its opening quotes from past PMs.
Attlee:There is one thing about politics that I think cannot be disputed: if a man stays in them long enough, they nearly always reveal him for what he is, and he tends to get not only what he deserves, but to find in his fate the reflection of his own strength and weakness
And one Sunak is probably saying right now:
Never forget...the garden belongs to Number 10, and has nothing to do with Number 11.*
*That one was Archibald Primrose who, of course, we all know was Prime Minister after Gladstone.
The Earl of Rosebery, please.
I ain't no aristocrat, and good old Archie Primrose is too good a name to hide behind a title.
We know why Big Dom wasn't sacked immediately now....
When that story broke I said he should be sacked that night. I could not understand why Johnson was so reluctant to ditch him, as politically it would be the easiest and most effective action to take. Well I blooming well know the reason(s) now.
We also have a fair idea as to why Covid ran riot through Downing Street that same month.
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
This is all about the Big Dog. The Conservative Party can bounce back very quickly.
That’s the key point for HY and his friends.
If Johnson goes quickly, and someone very different comes in with a big reset, they have some chance of ringfencing the damage to BJ’s personality.
If they let him limp on for months and gather round him and tie themselves to his string of less and less credible excuses, they’ll go down with him.
In terms of their longer term political future, the last thing the Conservative Party needs at this stage is for Johnson just to be allowed to soldier on and be left to meekly announce after the local elections that he's decided that his time is up.
Thatcher's demise was anything but a quiet exit. The Conservative Party managed to rescue itself by the brutal and decisive way she was dragged out of the door, kicking and screaming as she went.
It's an interesting political dynamic though. If one of Johnson's main rivals at this point was the first to act decisively to call on him to go, he or she would get a great deal of political credit for Johnson's demise in terms of wider public opinion. The question is how much their being seen to wield the knife would harm their chances with the Tory members that will determine Johnson's successor as PM, and that's the immediate prize at stake.
Everyone knew that Boris had a leading part in bringing down Mrs M
Well also, presuming Big Dom was the only rule breaker (I know, I know), you sack him, he does some sob story about scared for his children, had had nutters at his home threatening him etc, and in a years time bring him back.
I think how it went down was Big Dom, went f##k no I am not resigning, you lot are on the piss every week, screw the media, tell to f##k off.
With respect to #5, reckon this is more a hope (by the BoJoians) than a fact?
Also wondering, is a Tory MP (or more than one) going around and gathering letters from honourable friends, so as to bring delivery them in a nice bundle to the head of the 1922 Committee, at the strategic moment?
One thing I recall from diaries of Michael Spicer: that there was a certain amount of skullduggery re: MPs delivering their letters back when IDS was LOTO. With some fearful of being outed in some way, for example by being seen at Spicer's office.
Secondly - am I the only PBer who does (when well) work in an office where late night drinking is encouraged and normal then? I can assure you it's very common in tech startups.
I have been doing my own early night drinking if this seems incoherent, but:
I'd still like an answer to this from anyone? Is it really percieved as that odd to drink at work? If so I'm very sad as you can look at e.g. old episodes of the bill from before I reached the age of majority where they had whisky in the inspector's draw and everyone would share it. Is that really such a bad thing these days?
We have an unlimited drinks budget during office socials (at least every month). We don't hold them at exclusive west end clubs but bill can still get to over £1000 per head and I assure everyone we're not unusual. But if it sounds it to you that we are, and you like the sound of lots of booze and are either a decent full stack or devops person... we are recruiting (and for home workers too).
Never in my experience. Even when I was in sales we would decamp to the pub next door rather than drinking in the workplace.
She's a proper Sherlock Holmes, isn't she? I wonder whether the fact they didn't think to mention wheeling in a suitcase full of cheap plonk and dancing the night away on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral might have been a tiny clue to Sue that possibly she wasn't dealing with a wholly honest operation?
You do wonder why they didn't after, say party no 3, just ask for another 500 parties to be taken into consideration. How long do they want to drag this out for?
I understand this might be an unpopular thought, but I half wonder if Cummings should be given some credit for not leaking all this back when he left office.
Had he leaked it, and seeing the outrage at the moment, one would assume the lockdowns wouldn't have held or been as effective. Interesting how things play out really.
Anecdata alert, out with parents in-law their view was the Queen+party thing was the really shocking development, interestingly they didn't know Boris wasn't there. Discussion about last time they had to vote for Boris as they couldn't vote for 'the other one'.
People on the Mail now claiming that THE GREAT TOOTING UFO LIZARD MISSILE has also been seen in Oxford and in Horsham, and elsewhere - today
The UK has lots of commercial airports shocker.
All you’re proving is how easily people persuade themselves they have seen something unusual.
Lead story on tonight’s BBC London news - highest level of air pollution in London FOR YEARS. Whatever it was, she won’t have seen it clearly.
The QM2 is sailing past my window now, but I can barely see it, despite all the lights as they serve second sitting.
Do you somehow think I am unaware of this?!
What interests me is how a story with such little substance - to be frank - can develop a narrative of its own volition. We are a story-telling species, and we love UFOs
The three most recent comments:
"Peregrinne, hungerford, United Kingdom, less than a minute ago
There were two lights and contrails hanging vertically high in the sky at just after sun rise over here this morning. We all saw them. They did not move like a normal plane."
"Glitzy, Addlestone, United Kingdom, 2 minutes ago
I too saw this as well and had to pull the car over to watch it. For a moment I thought it was a meteor or something. Very strange indeed."
"K8driver, Midlands, United Kingdom, about a minute ago
The aircraft explanation does seem feasible until you compare the dimensions and form of what would have to be a vapour trail with the object at the head of that trail.... an odd dark smudge with no obvious aircraft shape and no evidence of wings or source points for a trail of that density.... so most likely a daytime sighting of re-entering space junk debris. The pattern of movement ... from the brief video content shown... does not indicate, on the face of it, UAP type behaviour, or any of the 5 observables.. apart from no obvious lift producing surfaces etc."
Ok, where's Mohammed Saeed al-Hyufd got to? We need an explanation, now.
Still not as low even on that poll as May's Tories in Spring 2019 or Major's Tories in 1995 who were both sub 25%
Give up and surrender
It is over for Boris and soon
Thanks to Cummings it is probably also over for the Tories for the next decade.
Don't expect even Sunak to suddenly be able to turn it round. Boris may well be the last Conservative leader to win a general election majority for the next 10 to 15 years
Difficult to see how he lasts another week at this rate. If it was a professional bout the ref would have stepped in at about lunchtime today
HOWEVER, Boris is a pretty shameless chap - as we have seen - and that is to his advantage here. He won't be mortified into leaving. And eventually even Dom Cummings must run out of new revelations and new ways of knifing his old Boss. Can there be much more? We now know they held parties eight times a day, often with nude effigies of the Queen, it cannot get significantly worse
So if he can survive another month maybe he can survive two years. Possibly taking down the entire Tory party alongside him
He wont be facing PMQs on Wed. It is over imho.
When Tory MPs return from the wall of burning hell fire that is their association weekend meetings they will know what is to be done.
Re: polling posted above by OGH, reminds me of when WA Gov Mike Lowry was on the ropes in 1995, due to accusations of sexual harassment. Just before he announced he was NOT running for a second term, his "should Mike Lowry be re-elected" number was down to just 19%
I note that Boris Johnson is only 5 percentage-points above that mark, not factoring margin of error whatever it is for this poll.
Secondly - am I the only PBer who does (when well) work in an office where late night drinking is encouraged and normal then? I can assure you it's very common in tech startups.
I have been doing my own early night drinking if this seems incoherent, but:
I'd still like an answer to this from anyone? Is it really percieved as that odd to drink at work? If so I'm very sad as you can look at e.g. old episodes of the bill from before I reached the age of majority where they had whisky in the inspector's draw and everyone would share it. Is that really such a bad thing these days?
We have an unlimited drinks budget during office socials (at least every month). We don't hold them at exclusive west end clubs but bill can still get to over £1000 per head and I assure everyone we're not unusual. But if it sounds it to you that we are, and you like the sound of lots of booze and are either a decent full stack or devops person... we are recruiting (and for home workers too).
Never in my experience. Even when I was in sales we would decamp to the pub next door rather than drinking in the workplace.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
Thoughts and prayers with Rees-Mogg tonight. Fucking twat.
Losing his seat on UNS in the latest poll.
Not after the boundary changes which move some LD and Labour wards nearer Bath in his seat to Frome.
After boundary changes Electoral Calculus predicts a majority for Rees Mogg even now of 11% in his slightly more rural seat of Keynsham and North East Somerset
If Labour and the Lib Dems can’t arrange tactical voting to unseat JRM, they need their arses kicked.
They will need their arses kicked then because Labour will struggle to win from 2nd place unless it is a massive landslide whereas the LDs can win from 3rd, but Labour won't give them a free run because they will hope to win possibly letting JRM hold on.
Thinking now. If you're Sue Gray how do you play this? You're clearly being set up. A whitewash is what you're paid to come up with. But. No bugger in their right mind is going to believe it outside the Tory Party. You're going to be hounded and ridiculed if you produce that. She didn't sign up for that. However. You simply can't say the Big Dog is a bone idle, mendacious arse who shouldn't be running the fags and lotto kiosk at ASDA. So. Why not announce now? Sheer weight of new evidence means I am unable to report for many months. Interviews, witnesses have right to be heard, etc., etc. Puts the ball back in MP's court.
Thinking now. If you're Sue Gray how do you play this? You're clearly being set up. A whitewash is what you're paid to come up with. But. No bugger in their right mind is going to believe it outside the Tory Party. You're going to be hounded and ridiculed if you produce that. She didn't sign up for that. However. You simply can't say the Big Dog is a bone idle, mendacious arse who shouldn't be running the fags and lotto kiosk at ASDA. So. Why not announce now? Sheer weight of new evidence means I am unable to report for many months. Interviews, witnesses have right to be heard, etc., etc. Puts the ball back in MP's court.
Among first things next PM will do, regardless of party or anything else, is tear down that fucking Turkish whorehouse wallpaper and haul it to the dump where it belongs.
Comments
Johnson could be the shortest serving PM since Sir Alec Douglas-Home.
Attlee:There is one thing about politics that I think cannot be disputed: if a man stays in them long enough, they nearly always reveal him for what he is, and he tends to get not only what he deserves, but to find in his fate the reflection of his own strength and weakness
And one Sunak is probably saying right now:
Never forget...the garden belongs to Number 10, and has nothing to do with Number 11.*
*That one was Archibald Primrose who, of course, we all know was Prime Minister after Gladstone.
1/ Much of the team that secured 2019 Tory leader win have reformed
2/ Lynton Crosby is back. Talked to PM this week, per two sources
3/ Massive calls to Tory MPs drive. Going beyond midnight, per source
4/ Cautious optimism Gray report won’t be damning on what PM knew
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482105991789518848
You’ve got to relish the challenge!
You can tell I’m a York City fan.
6/ Boris spirits are quite upbeat, per a source by his side this week
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482106649246638085
People see parliament as a farce. Government Ministers are engaged in a rhetorical game of stretching the truth to extreme levels, without getting to the point where they 'mislead' parliament.
Johnson just has a way of lying where he makes little pretence to be telling the truth. People find that refreshing.
Thatcher's demise was anything but a quiet exit. The Conservative Party managed to rescue itself by the brutal and decisive way she was dragged out of the door, kicking and screaming as she went.
It's an interesting political dynamic though. If one of Johnson's main rivals at this point was the first to act decisively to call on him to go, he or she would get a great deal of political credit for Johnson's demise in terms of wider public opinion. The question is how much their being seen to wield the knife would harm their chances with the Tory members that will determine Johnson's successor as PM, and that's the immediate prize at stake.
Many people won't believe it, and even if they believe it it still weakens him considerably.
I think how it went down was Big Dom, went f##k no I am not resigning, you lot are on the piss every week, screw the media, tell to f##k off.
A former minister says: "Johnson is toast...if you were the Chief Whip looking at him you'd say he's not fit to do any other jobs in government, you wouldn't make him a junior minister, he doesn't work hard enough."
Another former minister tells the BBC: "The inbox is horrendous and is not getting better...it's not just the usual suspects - there are long term members saying they feel utter disgust for the prime minister."
One Midlands Red Wall MP says: "The inbox is bad, really bad... there is a recognition now amongst colleagues that this may not be survivable even if Sue Gray clears him. This is self-inflicted and trust is seeping away."
Another Red Waller MP and big Boris Johnson fan says: "The inbox is now comparable with Barnard Castle...if this was anyone else he'd already be done. If he survives I still don't know if that's a good thing? Is it just a slow march to death?"
https://twitter.com/ionewells/status/1482107901317685253
HOWEVER, Boris is a pretty shameless chap - as we have seen - and that is to his advantage here. He won't be mortified into leaving. And eventually even Dom Cummings must run out of new revelations and new ways of knifing his old Boss. Can there be much more? We now know they held parties eight times a day, often with nude effigies of the Queen, it cannot get significantly worse
So if he can survive another month maybe he can survive two years. Possibly taking down the entire Tory party alongside him
8/ Truss held drinks with some Tory MPs in her parli office on Monday
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482108414536921090
https://twitter.com/hzeffman/status/1482108208873361408
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1482107224369606661
I'd still like an answer to this from anyone? Is it really percieved as that odd to drink at work? If so I'm very sad as you can look at e.g. old episodes of the bill from before I reached the age of majority where they had whisky in the inspector's draw and everyone would share it. Is that really such a bad thing these days?
We have an unlimited drinks budget during office socials (at least every month). We don't hold them at exclusive west end clubs but bill can still get to over £1000 per head and I assure everyone we're not unusual. But if it sounds it to you that we are, and you like the sound of lots of booze and are either a decent full stack or devops person... we are recruiting (and for home workers too).
10/ Truss will be on other side of the world late next week… when Gray report may drop… in Australia
[[ her team deny any leadership drive, pledge loyalty to PM ]]
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482109643585433605
Please no.
12/ Gray report still expected late next week at earliest but could slip
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482110604584308736
All you’re proving is how easily people persuade themselves they have seen something unusual.
Lead story on tonight’s BBC London news - highest level of air pollution in London FOR YEARS. Whatever it was, she won’t have seen it clearly.
The QM2 is sailing past my window now, but I can barely see it, despite all the lights as they serve second sitting.
* Sue Gray ‘blindsided’ by revelations of No 10 drinks on eve of Prince Philip’s funeral; she’s concerned staff are concealing information
* Official photographer took pictures of leaving party; they were shared on WhatsApp and show staff drinking in background https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1482107224369606661
Also wondering, is a Tory MP (or more than one) going around and gathering letters from honourable friends, so as to bring delivery them in a nice bundle to the head of the 1922 Committee, at the strategic moment?
One thing I recall from diaries of Michael Spicer: that there was a certain amount of skullduggery re: MPs delivering their letters back when IDS was LOTO. With some fearful of being outed in some way, for example by being seen at Spicer's office.
BBC News
I hope she likes the wallpaper.
14/ We may not see Boris speak in public before PMQs on Wednesday
15/ There will be sackings after Gray - as per… anybody you talk to
https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1482111479881023493
I understand this might be an unpopular thought, but I half wonder if Cummings should be given some credit for not leaking all this back when he left office.
Had he leaked it, and seeing the outrage at the moment, one would assume the lockdowns wouldn't have held or been as effective. Interesting how things play out really.
Anecdata alert, out with parents in-law their view was the Queen+party thing was the really shocking development, interestingly they didn't know Boris wasn't there. Discussion about last time they had to vote for Boris as they couldn't vote for 'the other one'.
MrB
* Johnson being urged by Cabinet ministers to clear out No 10. They say he is being ill-served. Three Cabinet ministers said Rosenfield needs to go
* https://twitter.com/Steven_Swinford/status/1482111750325555200
Perhaps he should put a call into David Miliband for advice?
What interests me is how a story with such little substance - to be frank - can develop a narrative of its own volition. We are a story-telling species, and we love UFOs
The three most recent comments:
"Peregrinne, hungerford, United Kingdom, less than a minute ago
There were two lights and contrails hanging vertically high in the sky at just after sun rise over here this morning. We all saw them. They did not move like a normal plane."
"Glitzy, Addlestone, United Kingdom, 2 minutes ago
I too saw this as well and had to pull the car over to watch it. For a moment I thought it was a meteor or something. Very strange indeed."
"K8driver, Midlands, United Kingdom, about a minute ago
The aircraft explanation does seem feasible until you compare the dimensions and form of what would have to be a vapour trail with the object at the head of that trail.... an odd dark smudge with no obvious aircraft shape and no evidence of wings or source points for a trail of that density.... so most likely a daytime sighting of re-entering space junk debris. The pattern of movement ... from the brief video content shown... does not indicate, on the face of it, UAP type behaviour, or any of the 5 observables.. apart from no obvious lift producing surfaces etc."
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
When Tory MPs return from the wall of burning hell fire that is their association weekend meetings they will know what is to be done.
What a general pig sty the place is.
The story of his entire fucking life.
If they fall for it again, they deserve to lose for a generation
Blair was notorious for it - seriously
I note that Boris Johnson is only 5 percentage-points above that mark, not factoring margin of error whatever it is for this poll.
It's not like he uses them to work on like ordinary people.
You're clearly being set up. A whitewash is what you're paid to come up with.
But. No bugger in their right mind is going to believe it outside the Tory Party.
You're going to be hounded and ridiculed if you produce that. She didn't sign up for that.
However. You simply can't say the Big Dog is a bone idle, mendacious arse who shouldn't be running the fags and lotto kiosk at ASDA.
So. Why not announce now? Sheer weight of new evidence means I am unable to report for many months. Interviews, witnesses have right to be heard, etc., etc.
Puts the ball back in MP's court.
It's called a P45