The Star have had some cracking front pages in the last few years, bit disappointed they've gone for a cliche 'turn out the lights' gag.
It's a great gag in this context because it's a way of subtly having a dig at the Sun's reticence to go hard on this story.
Yes, didn't think of that! One of the flunkies in question is of course James Slack, now The Sun's deputy editor. So that headline is actually pretty withering.
This is the message which I sent to my Conservative MP, this evening.
'Dear ......., during the last two years, people in Britain have willingly gone along with all sorts of personal restrictions. Yet as we read in the news, drip fed, day by day, the staff at 10 Downing Street seemed to treat the whole thing as some sort of Ibiza beach party, all at public expense. The government's main preoccupation seems to have been to chuck enormously lucrative contracts to their mates. We are all sick and tired of the whole business, and of our laughingstock Prime Minister in particular. I think it is time that you started speaking out on behalf of your constituents. Enough is enough.
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."
You know there is a link between the "aliens" seen by UFO abductees and the "machine elves" seen by those who have ingested or been injected with DMT?
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.
Tonight's DM and Telegraph both trying to stave off the seemingly inevitable. Express on the other hand appears to have lost faith in Johnson.
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."
Glitzy has clearly never seen a meteor before then or doesn't know that it is a shooting star.
I wonder if the best strategy for a wannabe PM is simply to be unflinchingly loyal, combined with hard work, ability, success in your ministerial office and patience? So many wannabes seem to trip themselves up by their poorly concealed ambition and by being seen to be "on manoeuvres"
Heseltine's naked ambition; Portillo and the phone lines; Gove and his admission that he enjoys the Machiavellian plotting in "Game of Thrones"; Liz's with Fizz parties.
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
A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
I wonder if the best strategy for a wannabe PM is simply to be unflinchingly loyal, combined with hard work, ability, success in your ministerial office and patience? So many wannabes seem to trip themselves up by their poorly concealed ambition and by being seen to be "on manoeuvres"
Heseltine's naked ambition; Portillo and the phone lines; Gove and his admission that he enjoys the Machiavellian plotting in "Game of Thrones"; Liz's with Fizz parties.
What about BJ's supposed role model, WSC?
Who in May 1940 actually closed the Norway Debate on behalf of the (then) government. And marched though the division lobby (along with Brendan Bracken) in support of Chamberlain.
EDIT - Perhaps more relevant examples are Harold Macmillan and John Major. Would seem that Sunak is doing (modified) version of Mac, while Truss is taking a leaf from JM''s playbook.
"Boris is getting a lot of stick for this photo, which I think is unfair. Tony Blair did it to the same desk in the same office. It’s the PM’s desk in the PM’s office."
Ok, someone needs to talk me through why 1.55 on Boris to be gone this year isn't an absolutely stonking value bet. What is the counter narrative?
He passes the VONC, and there cannot be another this year. He has a brass neck.
Not true. The 1922 set those rules. They can be changed at a whim. Moreover. Was mentioned earlier. 65 associations can call for a special conference. So he isn't bullet proof. Mind. I think he'll last longer than consensus on here. There's no telling how far he'll go if he's determined to hang on. He genuinely doesn't seem to get what the fuss is about.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Twenty letters is barely more than two days ago. They have merely doubled the amount of madmen and extinct MPs to two apiece, while finding an extra three who have forgotten all about it.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
Can't claim it was a few work mates who had spent all day together anyway so where's the harm in having a drink after hours at the desk.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
No, but while I'm skeptical generally of drip feeding a story out being a good thing, in this case it has really caught the attention of the public and so anything that extends it, even if not anything particularly fresh or interesting, will probably work on this occasion in furthering the impression that it was a 24/7 party house.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
Can't claim it was a few work mates who had spent all day together anyway so where's the harm in having a drink after hours at the desk.
This is for a party, rather than the weekly wine-o-clock. I thought it had already been revealed that either that party or another one (hard to keep up) had invitees who weren't core team.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
No, but while I'm skeptical generally of drip feeding a story out being a good thing, in this case it has really caught the attention of the public and so anything that extends it, even if not anything particularly fresh or interesting, will probably work on this occasion in furthering the impression that it was a 24/7 party house.
How shite were those parties that folk thought they were at work?
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
No, but while I'm skeptical generally of drip feeding a story out being a good thing, in this case it has really caught the attention of the public and so anything that extends it, even if not anything particularly fresh or interesting, will probably work on this occasion in furthering the impression that it was a 24/7 party house.
How shite were those parties that folk thought they were at work. ?
Well we saw the photos of the Christmas quiz, that looked proper shit.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
Can't claim it was a few work mates who had spent all day together anyway so where's the harm in having a drink after hours at the desk.
This is for a party, rather than the weekly wine-o-clock. I thought it had already been revealed that either that party or another one (hard to keep up) had invitees who weren't core team.
Who can keep up?
This is the one nagging issue that makes me sometimes doubt my prediction that Big Peppa Dog is done: it seems everyone but the Albanian cleaner was on the lash every night in Whitehall after work all through lockdowns.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
No, but while I'm skeptical generally of drip feeding a story out being a good thing, in this case it has really caught the attention of the public and so anything that extends it, even if not anything particularly fresh or interesting, will probably work on this occasion in furthering the impression that it was a 24/7 party house.
How shite were those parties that folk thought they were at work?
Depends what their normal expectations of work were, though.
OK, here is a question. Who was the last PM actively removed by a vote of no confidence within their own party? (Not the Commons.)
Thatcher was two votes short of winning a leadership election outright. Wilson quit of his own volition, as did Macmillan and Eden. Chamberlain remained leader of the party after quitting as PM.
I keep coming up with Ramsay Macdonald, who was immediately reappointed and skews the result. In which case we would possibly be looking at Gladstone?
I appreciate this might just be me but why does the uncouth fucker always have to put his feet on the desk?
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
Beverages in shot...
What a general pig sty the place is.
Indeed. Shambolic office - shambolic administration. What a fucking joke.
People will say we get the government we deserve but no, this country deserves much better than this bunch of inept chancers.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if those offices always look like that.
I can tell you they wouldn't if I were PM.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
The Friday drinks thing was going on during her administration, too.
Well tbf I'd have no objection to Friday (or any other day) drinks, provided they weren't breaking covid guidelines (and especially if I had set those guidelines).
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
Can't claim it was a few work mates who had spent all day together anyway so where's the harm in having a drink after hours at the desk.
None! We did wine-time Fridays every week. Several boxes of supplies procured and supplied to colleagues.
At home. Via Zoom. Because we weren't twunts like Number 10
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
Yes, mine and we married in 1964 but my spaced out semi consciousness really alarmed her
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Wow. I am glad you fully recovered.
All those months of insisting you were never going to vote for a dodgy character like Douglas Home, and then suddenly your memory was wiped clean.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
So in the space of a couple of days you've gone from "Boris is still popular" to "Labour won't win a landslide".
Its over, isn't it?
At this point I think we're moving from hope to expectation.
Johnson made a dreadful mistake not quitting immediately after the North Shropshire defeat. He might have avoided the worst of the reputational damage he has now suffered.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
Yes, mine and we married in 1964 but my spaced out semi consciousness really alarmed her
Yes I know. My limp attempt at a joke. Glad you recovered ok.
Breaking: Newsnight says the guest invite list at the latest party to be revealed (17 Dec 2020, London on Tier 3) includes government staff who didn’t work at no. 10. Whether they actually attended is not clear.
Unless it is a minister, I don't really think it adds anything to the story. I thought it had already been reported that other gathering had included staff who weren't part of the core team that were supposed to be in the office.
Can't claim it was a few work mates who had spent all day together anyway so where's the harm in having a drink after hours at the desk.
Yes, this is about moving from hypocrisy to out and out lying
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
Yes, mine and we married in 1964 but my spaced out semi consciousness really alarmed her
OK, here is a question. Who was the last PM actively removed by a vote of no confidence within their own party? (Not the Commons.)
Thatcher was two votes short of winning a leadership election outright. Wilson quit of his own volition, as did Macmillan and Eden. Chamberlain remained leader of the party after quitting as PM.
I keep coming up with Ramsay Macdonald, who was immediately reappointed and skews the result. In which case we would possibly be looking at Gladstone?
Either way it would be pretty seismic.
Sir Robert Peel? Not sure if there was a formal Tory vote, but (as per wiki) "his decision to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws led to his resignation as Prime Minister in 1846."
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
So in the space of a couple of days you've gone from "Boris is still popular" to "Labour won't win a landslide".
Its over, isn't it?
At this point I think we're moving from hope to expectation.
Johnson made a dreadful mistake not quitting immediately after the North Shropshire defeat. He might have avoided the worst of the reputational damage he has now suffered.
Quitting after one bad by-election loss would not have done his reputation any favours. It was a bad period but it was not inevitable it get worse and leaders have to show some fight.
His method of fighting has been unedifying and so far ineffective however.
I appreciate this might just be me but why does the uncouth fucker always have to put his feet on the desk?
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
Beverages in shot...
What a general pig sty the place is.
Indeed. Shambolic office - shambolic administration. What a fucking joke.
People will say we get the government we deserve but no, this country deserves much better than this bunch of inept chancers.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if those offices always look like that.
I can tell you they wouldn't if I were PM.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
The Friday drinks thing was going on during her administration, too.
Well tbf I'd have no objection to Friday (or any other day) drinks, provided they weren't breaking covid guidelines (and especially if I had set those guidelines).
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
We have to stop this. Now.
This is what they want. The dwindling band of Johnson's team. They want this morphed into a discussion about drinking across Whitehall.
This is about parties DURING LOCKDOWN. When it was illegal and students who did the same were fined £10k.
Not parties in general. Not after work drinks at the desk in 2018. Not leaving-does that ended in vomit next to the child's swing in the garden under May. But parties when the rest of us where being fined for leaving our houses more than once a day for exercise. When two girls were arrested for walking in the Peak District.
Look, I don't care who is PM, just don't have an early election and so make the work of those poor bastards at the Boundary Commission pointless again.
We used to have a hospital pub, quite busy early evening, but those days ended a decade or two ago.
The pub closest to the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was simply called Doctors
In 1963 I woke up in the early hours of the morning in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being violently sick
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Did you ever find out whose engagement ring she was wearing?
Yes, mine and we married in 1964 but my spaced out semi consciousness really alarmed her
You were semi conscious on your wedding day too?
Some say I still have not recovered !!!!!!!!!!
Nice to see my pathetic pun set the rest of you up for a few crackers. Particularly liked the full back one.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
So in the space of a couple of days you've gone from "Boris is still popular" to "Labour won't win a landslide".
Its over, isn't it?
At this point I think we're moving from hope to expectation.
Johnson made a dreadful mistake not quitting immediately after the North Shropshire defeat. He might have avoided the worst of the reputational damage he has now suffered.
Quitting after one bad by-election loss would not have done his reputation any favours. It was a bad period but it was not inevitable it get worse and leaders have to show some fight.
His method of fighting has been unedifying and so far ineffective however.
An unnecessary by-election caused by his bungling and selfishness in a seat they've held for 116 years? Nope. That was a terminal mistake.
Neil Henderson @hendopolis · 20m THE GUARDIAN: Tory grassroots fury grows as No10 apologises to the Queen #TomorrowsPapersToday
Wow, that apology must have been really shit.
The problem is twofold: (1) this is, way, way past sorry and (2) even if it was, the issue is not just the action, it's the repeated lies.
I showed his apology at PMQs to my A-level politics students, many of them Tories (contrary to stereotypes of da yoof).
They were all just sitting, gobsmacked, at how bad and unconvincing it was.
Children learn very early that being forced to apologise for something, even when you did indeed do it, does not convince anyone because being told to do it makes it a pointless exercise. So they know it is just someone else, a teacher for example, trying to tick a box so things can move on.
I appreciate this might just be me but why does the uncouth fucker always have to put his feet on the desk?
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
Beverages in shot...
What a general pig sty the place is.
Indeed. Shambolic office - shambolic administration. What a fucking joke.
People will say we get the government we deserve but no, this country deserves much better than this bunch of inept chancers.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if those offices always look like that.
I can tell you they wouldn't if I were PM.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
The Friday drinks thing was going on during her administration, too.
Well tbf I'd have no objection to Friday (or any other day) drinks, provided they weren't breaking covid guidelines (and especially if I had set those guidelines).
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
We have to stop this. Now.
This is what they want. The dwindling band of Johnson's team. They want this morphed into a discussion about drinking across Whitehall.
This is about parties DURING LOCKDOWN. When it was illegal and students who did the same were fined £10k.
Not parties in general. Not after work drinks at the desk in 2018. Not leaving-does that ended in vomit next to the child's swing in the garden under May. But parties when the rest of us where being fined for leaving our houses more than once a day for exercise. When two girls were arrested for walking in the Peak District.
Don't let them do this.
If this is declared legal everybody fined under these laws has a legitimate ground to appeal.
Alistair Burt on Newsnight is convinced that public outrage means that Boris days are numbered. But what is the mechanism for this? The public only get a say at elections. The only people who can remove Boris are himself or the Tory MPs. Boris won't remove Boris. So will the Tory MPs? Only if they feel it improves their own collective individual positions overall.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
So in the space of a couple of days you've gone from "Boris is still popular" to "Labour won't win a landslide".
Its over, isn't it?
At this point I think we're moving from hope to expectation.
Johnson made a dreadful mistake not quitting immediately after the North Shropshire defeat. He might have avoided the worst of the reputational damage he has now suffered.
Quitting after one bad by-election loss would not have done his reputation any favours. It was a bad period but it was not inevitable it get worse and leaders have to show some fight.
His method of fighting has been unedifying and so far ineffective however.
An unnecessary by-election caused by his bungling and selfishness in a seat they've held for 116 years? Nope. That was a terminal mistake.
Every day he hangs on after he looks sillier.
It was wounding, but not incapable of recovery. Particularly as while it was his fault, at least some of it cold be put down to Paterson's arrogance (there need not have been a by-election at all, even with Boris u-turning on him), at least he could play it that way.
< A friend of mine briefly worked at Westminster when Blair and Brown shared an office, she says she went in once and it was like they were competing to be the politician most confidently putting his feet on the desk. To a ludicrous extent
In her opinion, Blair won
Do you think Boris Johnson is finished?
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Even on tonight's poll, after the boundary changes it would still only be a Labour majority of 20.
Every so often the political Twittersphere and PB go into feverish speculation about “letters going in”.
How often have enough been received to trouble Sir Graham? Once.
Boris
Is
Going
Nowhere.
We’re stuck with him until 2024.
Ah, but he's on his final FINAL last chance, no more indulgence this time we REALLY mean it if you so much as then by heck we'll really think about having a stern word you see if we don't
I appreciate this might just be me but why does the uncouth fucker always have to put his feet on the desk?
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
Beverages in shot...
What a general pig sty the place is.
Indeed. Shambolic office - shambolic administration. What a fucking joke.
People will say we get the government we deserve but no, this country deserves much better than this bunch of inept chancers.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if those offices always look like that.
I can tell you they wouldn't if I were PM.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
The Friday drinks thing was going on during her administration, too.
Well tbf I'd have no objection to Friday (or any other day) drinks, provided they weren't breaking covid guidelines (and especially if I had set those guidelines).
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
We have to stop this. Now.
This is what they want. The dwindling band of Johnson's team. They want this morphed into a discussion about drinking across Whitehall.
This is about parties DURING LOCKDOWN. When it was illegal and students who did the same were fined £10k.
Not parties in general. Not after work drinks at the desk in 2018. Not leaving-does that ended in vomit next to the child's swing in the garden under May. But parties when the rest of us where being fined for leaving our houses more than once a day for exercise. When two girls were arrested for walking in the Peak District.
Don't let them do this.
Indeed. The drinking is irrelevant. I’m probably not alone in thinking “um, well drinking and parties are pretty common in my industry, so what?”
It’s that they crafted draconian rules that were a major imposition on the lives of others, fined those who breached them, but broke them themselves. That’s it. Not the effing wine fridge.
Here's a wacky thought which just occurred to me. Maybe the Paterson thing was actually because Owen threatened to reveal all this unless he was exonerated? Makes sense then. Makes no fucking sense otherwise.
Every so often the political Twittersphere and PB go into feverish speculation about “letters going in”.
How often have enough been received to trouble Sir Graham? Once.
Boris
Is
Going
Nowhere.
We’re stuck with him until 2024.
Ah, but he's on his final FINAL last chance, no more indulgence this time we REALLY mean it if you so much as then by heck we'll really think about having a stern word you see if we don't
I appreciate this might just be me but why does the uncouth fucker always have to put his feet on the desk?
"Boris Johnson puts his feet up in a photograph taken at 10 Downing Street on December 23 2020"
Beverages in shot...
What a general pig sty the place is.
Indeed. Shambolic office - shambolic administration. What a fucking joke.
People will say we get the government we deserve but no, this country deserves much better than this bunch of inept chancers.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if those offices always look like that.
I can tell you they wouldn't if I were PM.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
The Friday drinks thing was going on during her administration, too.
Well tbf I'd have no objection to Friday (or any other day) drinks, provided they weren't breaking covid guidelines (and especially if I had set those guidelines).
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
We have to stop this. Now.
This is what they want. The dwindling band of Johnson's team. They want this morphed into a discussion about drinking across Whitehall.
This is about parties DURING LOCKDOWN. When it was illegal and students who did the same were fined £10k.
Not parties in general. Not after work drinks at the desk in 2018. Not leaving-does that ended in vomit next to the child's swing in the garden under May. But parties when the rest of us where being fined for leaving our houses more than once a day for exercise. When two girls were arrested for walking in the Peak District.
Don't let them do this.
Indeed. The drinking is irrelevant. I’m probably not alone in thinking “um, well drinking and parties are pretty common in my industry, so what?”
It’s that they crafted draconian rules that were a major imposition on the lives of others, fined those who breached them, but broke them themselves. That’s it. Not the effing wine fridge.
Guardians Sonia Sodham just told Newsnight this same point. Don't let them morph this.
Comments
'Dear ......., during the last two years, people in Britain have willingly gone along with all sorts of personal restrictions. Yet as we read in the news, drip fed, day by day, the staff at 10 Downing Street seemed to treat the whole thing as some sort of Ibiza beach party, all at public expense. The government's main preoccupation seems to have been to chuck enormously lucrative contracts to their mates. We are all sick and tired of the whole business, and of our laughingstock Prime Minister in particular. I think it is time that you started speaking out on behalf of your constituents. Enough is enough.
https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1482116292035362820
Heseltine's naked ambition; Portillo and the phone lines; Gove and his admission that he enjoys the Machiavellian plotting in "Game of Thrones"; Liz's with Fizz parties.
Were we not in some kind of WFH, no social events lockdown Dec 2020?
In her opinion, Blair won
There's a big dog...turd ...all over the furniture.
I'd be surprised if they did when TM was PM.
People take their lead from the top. Remember the state of Johnson's car a few years ago?
Who in May 1940 actually closed the Norway Debate on behalf of the (then) government. And marched though the division lobby (along with Brendan Bracken) in support of Chamberlain.
EDIT - Perhaps more relevant examples are Harold Macmillan and John Major. Would seem that Sunak is doing (modified) version of Mac, while Truss is taking a leaf from JM''s playbook.
"Boris is getting a lot of stick for this photo, which I think is unfair. Tony Blair did it to the same desk in the same office. It’s the PM’s desk in the PM’s office."
https://twitter.com/DavidVidecette/status/1343148204590833664?s=20
Moreover. Was mentioned earlier. 65 associations can call for a special conference.
So he isn't bullet proof.
Mind. I think he'll last longer than consensus on here.
There's no telling how far he'll go if he's determined to hang on. He genuinely doesn't seem to get what the fuss is about.
Oh happy days.
I had earlier been playing football near Murrayfield and suffered serious concussion in a collision with the full back and collapsed a few minutes later
An ambulance was called and as it took me to ERI, I said to my then fiancee (now my wife) whose engagement ring are you wearing before lapsing into unconsciousness again
It took me 6 months to regain my full memory and is a reason why I believe all footballers need to be checked in all suspected head collisions
It was not a pleasant experience at all
Should the Conservatives get rid of him now in the hope a replacement can reverse their fortune or do we just struggle on as Major did from 1995-97 and wait for the denouement of a Labour landslide?
Twenty letters is barely more than two days ago. They have merely doubled the amount of madmen and extinct MPs to two apiece, while finding an extra three who have forgotten all about it.
I shall try to let it go.
Could Linton Crosby see himself as being to Johnson, what Henry Kissinger was to Nixon?
Not 1997 levels
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&CON=27&LAB=41&LIB=11&Reform=2&Green=2&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=18.3&SCOTLAB=20.2&SCOTLIB=6.6&SCOTReform=0.9&SCOTGreen=3&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=48&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
(I make a point of answering all, "Am I the only one who ...?" questions in the affirmative).
:-)
This is the one nagging issue that makes me sometimes doubt my prediction that Big Peppa Dog is done: it seems everyone but the Albanian cleaner was on the lash every night in Whitehall after work all through lockdowns.
Its over, isn't it?
So I’m told.
2. See 1.
Thatcher was two votes short of winning a leadership election outright. Wilson quit of his own volition, as did Macmillan and Eden. Chamberlain remained leader of the party after quitting as PM.
I keep coming up with Ramsay Macdonald, who was immediately reappointed and skews the result. In which case we would possibly be looking at Gladstone?
Either way it would be pretty seismic.
I'd not have them in the working office though.
Garden - yes; a rest/recreation room or area - yes; a nearby pub - best (although not practical for No 10, I get that).
Let's not have people trying to run the country from a wine-sodden den.
At home. Via Zoom. Because we weren't twunts like Number 10
All those months of insisting you were never going to vote for a dodgy character like Douglas Home, and then suddenly your memory was wiped clean.
Neil Henderson
@hendopolis
·
20m
THE GUARDIAN: Tory grassroots fury grows as No10 apologises to the Queen #TomorrowsPapersToday
Johnson made a dreadful mistake not quitting immediately after the North Shropshire defeat. He might have avoided the worst of the reputational damage he has now suffered.
How often have enough been received to trouble Sir Graham? Once.
Boris
Is
Going
Nowhere.
We’re stuck with him until 2024.
I will make a point of saying I told you so, but in a really caring and non triumphalist way, when I collect on my 4/1 Boris to go this year bet.
His method of fighting has been unedifying and so far ineffective however.
This is what they want. The dwindling band of Johnson's team. They want this morphed into a discussion about drinking across Whitehall.
This is about parties DURING LOCKDOWN. When it was illegal and students who did the same were fined £10k.
Not parties in general. Not after work drinks at the desk in 2018. Not leaving-does that ended in vomit next to the child's swing in the garden under May. But parties when the rest of us where being fined for leaving our houses more than once a day for exercise. When two girls were arrested for walking in the Peak District.
Don't let them do this.
I showed his apology at PMQs to my A-level politics students, many of them Tories (contrary to stereotypes of da yoof).
They were all just sitting, gobsmacked, at how bad and unconvincing it was.
Every day he hangs on after he looks sillier.
That in itself would be both costly and damaging.
ETA and you can still get lab maj 5/1
It’s that they crafted draconian rules that were a major imposition on the lives of others, fined those who breached them, but broke them themselves. That’s it. Not the effing wine fridge.
Maybe the Paterson thing was actually because Owen threatened to reveal all this unless he was exonerated?
Makes sense then. Makes no fucking sense otherwise.