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.
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.
Regarding the Operation Big Dog team, wonder how many at the top tier are there to talk Boris into throwing in the towel?
Could Linton Crosby see himself as being to Johnson, what Henry Kissinger was to Nixon?
Kissinger wasn't being paid by Nixon to give advise and do polling.
Crosby is being paid by Tory donors, not BoJo who famously don't have a pot to piss in.
Nixon's donors did pay for his polling, burgling, etc. with difference that Tricky Dick had tight control over the finances AND was a respected world leader (even by the likes of me, who hated his guts back then) - neither of which apply in Johnson's case.
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.
Well, it might, but only if Johnson is a really stupid, stuck up, self righteous and unselfaware prick who thinks he can do whatever the fuck he likes.
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.
Nah. The explanation that they just ceased on his case to gut the system just in case something came up later is simplest. They'd have done to let him take a fall, then try to gut the system.
From the video it could easily be a plane flying across, obliquely.
If you are the mentioned-in-passing second witness, that’s dodgy reporting!
lol. The Daily Mail doing dodgy reporting??? Never!
The way the chemtrail curves does suggest a plane, but then the absence of wings is odd, but that can be explained by the distance and the low sunlight, and maybe pollution haze
FFS IT'S A PLANE WHY IS THE MAIL PRINTING THIS SENSATIONALIST CRAP
Because it's the Mail. The Daily Fail.......
To be fair, it was sold to them by a very persuasive chancer.
Personally awaiting disclosure that PM & Co habitually begin their "working" days with whiskey for breakfast.
It's the lowness of the stakes which is so breathtaking. Throwing it all away not for supermodel and cocaine parties but for a glass of warmish (till they got the fridge) chardonnay with Liz from accounts.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Personally awaiting disclosure that PM & Co habitually begin their "working" days with whiskey for breakfast.
It's the lowness of the stakes which is so breathtaking. Throwing it all away not for supermodel and cocaine parties but for a glass of warmish (till they got the fridge) chardonnay with Liz from accounts.
It's Accuri & Symonds all over again. If you're going to have embarrassing affairs that make you broke, you might as well hit up the supermodel directory.
Anyone else remember Notts police fining 2 people on a socially distanced walk because they drove into Notts to a trail, from their home less than a mile away?
Will Hutton @williamnhutton · 1h For a Tory PM to apologise to the Queen for misconduct in No 10 is a huge deal for every Tory constituency association in the land. Walk inside and the Queen’s portrait is always prominent. It defines Toryism. The shame is acute. Today he lost his grass roots.
Will Hutton @williamnhutton · 1h For a Tory PM to apologise to the Queen for misconduct in No 10 is a huge deal for every Tory constituency association in the land. Walk inside and the Queen’s portrait is always prominent. It defines Toryism. The shame is acute. Today he lost his grass roots.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Anyone else remember Notts police fining 2 people on a socially distanced walk because they drove into Notts to walk, from their home less than a mile away?
It was Derbyshire on a freezing cold day, and two girls with a coffee - or a picnic as the cops deemed it.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Yes. Mea Culpa as I said some days ago. While I’m glad he beat Corbyn, the current shit show is appalling and I am ashamed.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
Those figures were for November though. The lost festive period to omicron will take months of clawing back. Then we hit the tax and fuel price rises in April.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Yes. Mea Culpa as I said some days ago. While I’m glad he beat Corbyn, the current shit show is appalling and I am ashamed.
Perhaps you'll have an opportunity in the coming weeks to pick someone better. I suspect if there's a contest you'll be picking between someone better and someone else better.
The former chairman and chief executive of supermarket chain Sainsbury's, Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, has died aged 94, the company has announced.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
He is unfit to be PM. He is a moral vacuum. His actions over Brexit were motivated and calculated to secure his ultimate goal of becoming PM. With a lot of duplicity, luck and media backing, (despite the fact that the media knew his true character), he achieved his aims and then won a comfortable majority in parliament at the subsequent GE. He has used that majority to exclude anyone who is not an admirer of his, or a Yes man/woman, from ministerial office. As a result we have a cabinet largely bereft of talent.
His character was known before he became PM. For the "talking heads" to now say he is NOW "not fit for office" and needs to go because he has "lost public confidence" is a bit rich. He's never been fit for office but somehow our media and electoral system enabled him to achieve public confidence and gain an almost "unassailable" position.
I blame the media as much as Boris for the mess we are in.
On my twitter feed, in between shelf loads of jokes and news items about ILLEGAL parties during lockdown by No 10, I am now getting an advert to join the police to help fight crime.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports. Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
Makes you curious as to why the rest of Britain chose not to then?
On my twitter feed, in between shelf loads of jokes and news items about ILLEGAL parties during lockdown by No 10, I am now getting an advert to join the police to help fight crime.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Yes. Mea Culpa as I said some days ago. While I’m glad he beat Corbyn, the current shit show is appalling and I am ashamed.
Perhaps you'll have an opportunity in the coming weeks to pick someone better. I suspect if there's a contest you'll be picking between someone better and someone else better.
We will see. I’m sure the PB Labour and Lib Dem posters will have their view on whom we should choose, although I suspect you’d like us to choose JRM who might be sub-optimal.
Anyone else remember Notts police fining 2 people on a socially distanced walk because they drove into Notts to walk, from their home less than a mile away?
It was Derbyshire on a freezing cold day, and two girls with a coffee - or a picnic as the cops deemed it.
Yep.
The difference between the police attitude in say Derbys and the current Met is damning.
Nothing to see here says Cressida Dick because it happened last year.
He is unfit to be PM. He is a moral vacuum. His actions over Brexit were motivated and calculated to secure his ultimate goal of becoming PM. With a lot of duplicity, luck and media backing, (despite the fact that the media knew his true character), he achieved his aims and then won a comfortable majority in parliament at the subsequent GE. He has used that majority to exclude anyone who is not an admirer of his, or a Yes man/woman, from ministerial office. As a result we have a cabinet largely bereft of talent.
His character was known before he became PM. For the "talking heads" to now say he is NOW "not fit for office" and needs to go because he has "lost public confidence" is a bit rich. He's never been fit for office but somehow our media and electoral system enabled him to achieve public confidence and gain an almost "unassailable" position.
I blame the media as much as Boris for the mess we are in.
It is not the media's job to ensure we get good leaders. It is the job of Tory (and Labour) MPs, both have failed spectacularly with Johnson and Corbyn.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Yes. Mea Culpa as I said some days ago. While I’m glad he beat Corbyn, the current shit show is appalling and I am ashamed.
Perhaps you'll have an opportunity in the coming weeks to pick someone better. I suspect if there's a contest you'll be picking between someone better and someone else better.
We will see. I’m sure the PB Labour and Lib Dem posters will have their view on whom we should choose, although I suspect you’d like us to choose JRM who might be sub-optimal.
Strangely enough the JRM for leader has only come from the resident Boris loyalist. Though greeted with much joy at the prospect admittedly.
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
And had it not been for Brexit Cummings would now be an obscure footnote. Yet another Tory PM destroyed by European policy.
You could argue that had it not been for Cummings, Brexit might now be an obscure footnote.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
You haven’t been paying attention have you? It doesn’t matter that NI businesses are benefiting from the protocol. It matters even less that NI businesses are happy about that. The only thing that matters is that the protocol threatens the purity of the One True Brexit. All competing considerations will be destroyed.
On my twitter feed, in between shelf loads of jokes and news items about ILLEGAL parties during lockdown by No 10, I am now getting an advert to join the police to help fight crime.
You could not make it up.
To be fair, they pretty clearly need the help.
Perhaps - and here is a tip - they could actually look into some crime. They might find some, erm, law breakers.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
Three things I expect of a Conservative PM: 1) Basic competence. 2) Conservative policies. 3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
We did try to warn you
Yes but there was Corbyn who I was more worried about. I don’t fear New Labour re-emerging because they are the Ying to our Yang. A decent opposition is necessary to keep governments honest.
Yes, but you voted for him to become leader in the first place
Yes. Mea Culpa as I said some days ago. While I’m glad he beat Corbyn, the current shit show is appalling and I am ashamed.
Perhaps you'll have an opportunity in the coming weeks to pick someone better. I suspect if there's a contest you'll be picking between someone better and someone else better.
We will see. I’m sure the PB Labour and Lib Dem posters will have their view on whom we should choose, although I suspect you’d like us to choose JRM who might be sub-optimal.
No, I wouldn't prefer JRM by any means. I think that would be bad for both party and country. Someone sober, competent and in touch with how people feel. Of the main contenders, I'm most impressed by Hunt. But it's not my choice, not til election time.
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?
Say MPs pull the trigger now or after the local elections, what happens?
- Circular firing circle where all the leadership contenders leak each other's lockdown activities (see @rottenborough's point) - Unpredictable outcome, the members are clearly as mad as a box of frogs and could easily pick someone even worse (JRM?) - Not clear anybody else can hold Boris's coalition together, if you think the polling is bad now wait until Farage comes back. - New PM shows up in mid-term, they might get a bounce but it's too early for a snap election. They're lumbered with the lingering virus issues, and there's more Brexit-related gunge to wade through that they won't have time to avoid.
If I'm a Tory MP concerned about nothing except my own job (which is all of them since Boris kicked the other ones out of the party in 2019), I think I leave him there for now and hope the lockdown party thing blows over. If he's doing better in 2023 then cool, if not flip the switch then. If the new person is popular they can call an election right away, if not they have enough time to try something new but not enough time to get really unpopular.
Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306 · 2h Ignorant nonsense from Cohen. FACT: Police do NOT 'scan' bags of those with a no10 pass, u cd walk a grenade or cocaine in if you wanted. Trying to shift blame to police who guard the building is stupid & offensive. Blame lies with the Shopping cart & some staff, NOT No10 guards/custodians
On my twitter feed, in between shelf loads of jokes and news items about ILLEGAL parties during lockdown by No 10, I am now getting an advert to join the police to help fight crime.
You could not make it up.
Not sure you really want to join the forces of order BUT if you do, then perhaps you can demonstrate your zeal, by raiding that notorious den of criminal infamy, No. 10 Downing Street.
Worst disorderly house in whole City of Westminster - judging by the wallpaper alone.
On my twitter feed, in between shelf loads of jokes and news items about ILLEGAL parties during lockdown by No 10, I am now getting an advert to join the police to help fight crime.
You could not make it up.
To be fair, they pretty clearly need the help.
Perhaps - and here is a tip - they could actually look into some crime. They might find some, erm, law breakers.
I wouldn't be giving out that gold for free. Tell No.10 that you're a close acquaintance of some Tory MPs and you could charge several grand a day to deliver that to the Met
Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306 · 2h Ignorant nonsense from Cohen. FACT: Police do NOT 'scan' bags of those with a no10 pass, u cd walk a grenade or cocaine in if you wanted. Trying to shift blame to police who guard the building is stupid & offensive. Blame lies with the Shopping cart & some staff, NOT No10 guards/custodians
Blimey, not just random capitalisation but the use of "fact" too. I am not sure anyone has ever lost an argument on the internet when they have taken those measures.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
Those figures were for November though. The lost festive period to omicron will take months of clawing back. Then we hit the tax and fuel price rises in April.
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.
SSI. I also have a view on how failed PM wannabes should behave, They should also stay loyally on the back benches (or seek quick re-election by a by-election, if required) as their time may yet come around sooner than they think. in recent years this could apply to David Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, George Osborne, maybe others?
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
As referenced by Dixie, what is mechanism for Conservative associations to have a role in potentially upending Fearless Leader?
Believe one has already voted no confidence in Boris Johnson?
I ask this based on the grounds that dissing the Queen is what American's used to call the Third Rail = political death.
IANAE. 65 (ie 10%) of associations is enough to call a special convention for a motion of No Confidence. The leader wouldn't have to quit if lost. But the mere threat of one played a role in May quitting. Boris is more shameless however...
@ydoethur ought to enjoy the latest example of politicians legislating what should be taught in schools…
https://twitter.com/ProfMMurray/status/1482001933628067840 Is this real? Are we actually living in a TL where the legislature of Virginia is proposing to reform education by teaching its students that the Lincoln-Douglas debates featured Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports. Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
Makes you curious as to why the rest of Britain chose not to then?
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports. Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
Makes you curious as to why the rest of Britain chose not to then?
Yes, prior to Brexit the whole of the UK shared 'the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets'. Now we're supposed to celebrate that that luxury is now reserved for one small enclave. Bonza...
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306 · 2h Ignorant nonsense from Cohen. FACT: Police do NOT 'scan' bags of those with a no10 pass, u cd walk a grenade or cocaine in if you wanted. Trying to shift blame to police who guard the building is stupid & offensive. Blame lies with the Shopping cart & some staff, NOT No10 guards/custodians
Wait. They don't scan you if you have a pass. Why in holy hell not???
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
From the video it could easily be a plane flying across, obliquely.
If you are the mentioned-in-passing second witness, that’s dodgy reporting!
lol. The Daily Mail doing dodgy reporting??? Never!
The way the chemtrail curves does suggest a plane, but then the absence of wings is odd, but that can be explained by the distance and the low sunlight, and maybe pollution haze
FFS IT'S A PLANE WHY IS THE MAIL PRINTING THIS SENSATIONALIST CRAP
Because it's the Mail. The Daily Fail.......
To be fair, it was sold to them by a very persuasive chancer.
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.
SSI. I also have a view on how failed PM wannabes should behave, They should also stay loyally on the back benches (or seek quick re-election by a by-election, if required) as their time may yet come around sooner than they think. in recent years this could apply to David Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, George Osborne, maybe others?
To be fair Ed Balls did stay as long as he could. He did not resign but was turfed out by the electors of Morely and Outwood in favour of Andrea Jenkyns in 2015. I actually think that was a considerable loss to Parliament.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
But it is booming precisely because it is outside the Brexit framework...
The thing about accepting that it’s OK for national leaders to lie…
https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1482051797141368833 This is important: The purpose of a lot of Russian disinformation/lies is NOT to fool anyone but to act with impunity in violating the rules without purporting to change the rules. Under international law, wars of aggression are illegal. If one means to launch one... ...one has to either (a) confront a problem under international rules and norms (b) or simply lie about what happened. Putin's innovation is that he has realized that it matters not at all if the lie is credible or even plausible. As long as you say it, it works.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
But it is booming precisely because it is outside the Brexit framework...
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
But it is booming precisely because it is outside the Brexit framework...
He is unfit to be PM. He is a moral vacuum. His actions over Brexit were motivated and calculated to secure his ultimate goal of becoming PM. With a lot of duplicity, luck and media backing, (despite the fact that the media knew his true character), he achieved his aims and then won a comfortable majority in parliament at the subsequent GE. He has used that majority to exclude anyone who is not an admirer of his, or a Yes man/woman, from ministerial office. As a result we have a cabinet largely bereft of talent.
His character was known before he became PM. For the "talking heads" to now say he is NOW "not fit for office" and needs to go because he has "lost public confidence" is a bit rich. He's never been fit for office but somehow our media and electoral system enabled him to achieve public confidence and gain an almost "unassailable" position.
I blame the media as much as Boris for the mess we are in.
It is not the media's job to ensure we get good leaders. It is the job of Tory (and Labour) MPs, both have failed spectacularly with Johnson and Corbyn.
I agree that the MPs should choose better leaders. But as you imply, recently they haven't.
The rules, dynamics and vested interests that influence leadership elections, (which are not aligned with identifying the most talented candidates, nor candidates that the public generally would prefer), have resulted in terrible, recent electoral choices - which I feel have have been significantly influenced, in some cases, by the media.
I don't hold the media culpable over Corbyn. But I do over Johnson.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
Sunak at least pays lip service to a smaller state and lower taxes, and might even one day aim for that, our enormous debt permitting
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
"Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor)"
Interesting. Have you heard this on the grapevine? Seems unlikely to me.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports. Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
Makes you curious as to why the rest of Britain chose not to then?
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.
SSI. I also have a view on how failed PM wannabes should behave, They should also stay loyally on the back benches (or seek quick re-election by a by-election, if required) as their time may yet come around sooner than they think. in recent years this could apply to David Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, George Osborne, maybe others?
Am doubtful there IS a way back for most, or rather almost all failed PM wannabes. Very hard even for former PMs who get turfed out. Baldwin did it, and Wilson too; but neither had lost the leadership of their party.
Churchill is, I think, sui generis in this as in other ways.
Too early to tell re: Burnham? Could be that, in the 3rd millennium, being OUT of Parliament might be a better strategy than being in? Of course, to be Labour leader let alone Prime Minister he'd need to get into the House of Commons. Heck, in theory he could even do that AFTER the fact, though of course THAT would be a feat in itself.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
As might collapsing the protocol and imposing a hard border with the Republic.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
Sunak at least pays lip service to a smaller state and lower taxes, and might even one day aim for that, our enormous debt permitting
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
It shouldn't be too much to ask to find a leader with some charisma who will actually implement Conservative policies, rather than - Brexit aside - governing from the soft left.
"The US, France, Denmark and Sweden are among the other rich countries to have recovered all the lost ground during the pandemic while Germany, Italy and Spain have yet to pass the pandemic milestone"
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.
SSI. I also have a view on how failed PM wannabes should behave, They should also stay loyally on the back benches (or seek quick re-election by a by-election, if required) as their time may yet come around sooner than they think. in recent years this could apply to David Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, George Osborne, maybe others?
To be fair Ed Balls did stay as long as he could. He did not resign but was turfed out by the electors of Morely and Outwood in favour of Andrea Jenkyns in 2015. I actually think that was a considerable loss to Parliament.
Not necessarily to the country, though. One of my memories from when I worked in government is hearing a very distinguished economist coming out of a meeting with him shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Ed Balls is an absolutely terrible economist". And he was by no means the only person I heard saying something similar.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports. Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
Makes you curious as to why the rest of Britain chose not to then?
Possible repurcussion - huge pressure on Sturgeon to go for the referendum asap. "Lightweight" comments, and you'll never get a better opportunity as the Tories collapse and UK politics are highly fluid.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
Sunak at least pays lip service to a smaller state and lower taxes, and might even one day aim for that, our enormous debt permitting
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
It shouldn't be too much to ask to find a leader with some charisma who will actually implement Conservative policies, rather than - Brexit aside - governing from the soft left.
The Redwall will not vote for more austerity either.
The Cameron Remain seats from 2015 now Labour or LD will not vote for anything but a softer Brexit which also loses the Redwall and sees Leavers go RefUK.
I see no path to a Tory majority even with Sunak, unless on a populist low tax, high spend, keep our current Brexit deal and no more restrictions on the vaccinated ticket which might scrape home a la Major 1992 but even then unlikely
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
Sunak at least pays lip service to a smaller state and lower taxes, and might even one day aim for that, our enormous debt permitting
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
Without endorsing your analysis re: Labour and Starmer, the precedents of Eden> Macmillan and Thatcher > Major seems to bolster view that it's not (yet) game over for the Tories.
By pure coincidence, I was getting mildly suitcased (hand luggaged?) in Doctors this evening.
This is great. I love new euphemisms. Is a swift half a quick carrier bag? Go on. But I'm not having more than a backpack, mind. All this and Big Dog too. Been a good day.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
All the more reason for them to dump Johnson and get someone in their who won't waste it all.
And here's another dog that didn't bark
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
That was never the problem. As far as the DUP are concerned this is the problem they were trying to avoid. They don't want an NI doing more trade with the EU and the Republic, because they see that as a threat to its place in the UK.
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
But they are myopic fools. Of course
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
A strong NI economy would mean the NHS there wouldn't be reliant on subsidy from London. It would necessarily be an economy that was integrating with Dublin and the Republic.
It would point to political unity making common sense and in mutual interest.
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
Have they really blown it though? I mean, can anyone think of a general election that was ever lost by trivial bullshit like this, even in some indirect "loss of trust" kind of way?
Maybe I'm missing the depth of anger on the ground and something to do with The Queen but these things happen in mid-term, I don't see why they can't just take the local election L and carry on.
The relative success of the UK economy in bouncing back so swiftly from such an incredible slump in GDP is surely a reason to plump for Sunak? As the Boris replacement?
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Issue is that ~70% of voters will see the Sunak tax on their payslip every month from April.
I still reckon he's their best option. If they want rid of the Bozza. Sunak seems competent and he has done stuff
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
Agree with ditching Johnson, best case he loses next election.
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
Sunak at least pays lip service to a smaller state and lower taxes, and might even one day aim for that, our enormous debt permitting
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
Without endorsing your analysis re: Labour and Starmer, the precedents of Eden> Macmillan and Thatcher > Major seems to bolster view that it's not (yet) game over for the Tories.
Eden to Macmillan was only 6 years into a Tory government, Major scraped home in 1992 after a major policy change from Thatcher on the poll tax. There would be no major change from Boris policy wise from any alternative.
Comments
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.
Nixon's donors did pay for his polling, burgling, etc. with difference that Tricky Dick had tight control over the finances AND was a respected world leader (even by the likes of me, who hated his guts back then) - neither of which apply in Johnson's case.
Ah...it still makes sense, actually.
1) Basic competence.
2) Conservative policies.
3) Don’t disrespect Her Majesty the Queen.
A straw poll of party members I know confirms that we are all furious now.
4) Don't host and encourage piss-ups when you've made them illegal and folk can't see their dying parents?
@williamnhutton
·
1h
For a Tory PM to apologise to the Queen for misconduct in No 10 is a huge deal for every Tory constituency association in the land. Walk inside and the Queen’s portrait is always prominent. It defines Toryism. The shame is acute. Today he lost his grass roots.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59991870
Quite the irony here. Right now, the UK government actually has a pretty good story to tell. Vaccine success, booster success, and now economic success. We were meant to be the great laggard of western economies, but actually we are doing pretty well. Of big western nations only the UK, France and America have entirely recovered their Covid losses, Italy Spain and even Germany have not
And now it seems Omicron is definitely receding and Britain avoided many of the further restrictions seen elsewhere.
The UK government could be sitting on its 5-10% poll lead, still, with every prospect of re-election
Yet somehow they have utterly blown it by having a series of ridiculous, shoddy, juvenile, illegal parties with cheap Co-op wine.
Tragicomic
Not really. Just sad at NOT seeing the w-word in a PB thread!
The lost festive period to omicron will take months of clawing back.
Then we hit the tax and fuel price rises in April.
I suspect if there's a contest you'll be picking between someone better and someone else better.
"Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
"Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/14/northern-ireland-manufacturers-say-brexit-protocol-least-of-worries-survey
As I have long predicted on here, Northern Ireland is going to boom post-Brexit, as it is in the ultimate sweet spot: inside both the UK and EU Single Markets (and Ulsterfolk get Freedom of Movement AND UK passports). Talk of the death of the Union is wildly premature.
He is unfit to be PM. He is a moral vacuum. His actions over Brexit were motivated and calculated to secure his ultimate goal of becoming PM. With a lot of duplicity, luck and media backing, (despite the fact that the media knew his true character), he achieved his aims and then won a comfortable majority in parliament at the subsequent GE. He has used that majority to exclude anyone who is not an admirer of his, or a Yes man/woman, from ministerial office. As a result we have a cabinet largely bereft of talent.
His character was known before he became PM. For the "talking heads" to now say he is NOW "not fit for office" and needs to go because he has "lost public confidence" is a bit rich. He's never been fit for office but somehow our media and electoral system enabled him to achieve public confidence and gain an almost "unassailable" position.
I blame the media as much as Boris for the mess we are in.
You could not make it up.
The difference between the police attitude in say Derbys and the current Met is damning.
Nothing to see here says Cressida Dick because it happened last year.
Believe one has already voted no confidence in Boris Johnson?
I ask this based on the grounds that dissing the Queen is what American's used to call the Third Rail = political death.
He actually has something he can point to and say: Look, I did that
None of the others do
He may be 2 foot 6 and a trillionaire but he is possibly the Tories' best bet. And his ethnicity makes him somewhat harder for the Left to attack (that should not be the case, but it is)
Though greeted with much joy at the prospect admittedly.
Someone sober, competent and in touch with how people feel. Of the main contenders, I'm most impressed by Hunt.
But it's not my choice, not til election time.
@paulmasonnews
·
5m
I know it's only a poll but the Greens + Labour are actually... 20 points ahead
- Circular firing circle where all the leadership contenders leak each other's lockdown activities (see @rottenborough's point)
- Unpredictable outcome, the members are clearly as mad as a box of frogs and could easily pick someone even worse (JRM?)
- Not clear anybody else can hold Boris's coalition together, if you think the polling is bad now wait until Farage comes back.
- New PM shows up in mid-term, they might get a bounce but it's too early for a snap election. They're lumbered with the lingering virus issues, and there's more Brexit-related gunge to wade through that they won't have time to avoid.
If I'm a Tory MP concerned about nothing except my own job (which is all of them since Boris kicked the other ones out of the party in 2019), I think I leave him there for now and hope the lockdown party thing blows over. If he's doing better in 2023 then cool, if not flip the switch then. If the new person is popular they can call an election right away, if not they have enough time to try something new but not enough time to get really unpopular.
Dominic Cummings
@Dominic2306
·
2h
Ignorant nonsense from Cohen. FACT: Police do NOT 'scan' bags of those with a no10 pass, u cd walk a grenade or cocaine in if you wanted. Trying to shift blame to police who guard the building is stupid & offensive. Blame lies with the Shopping cart & some staff, NOT No10 guards/custodians
Worst disorderly house in whole City of Westminster - judging by the wallpaper alone.
He's a teetotal workaholic with a regular and happy family life (albeit super-rich). Right now that will seem really quite appealing to a lot of angry Tory voters
And he's more articulate than Starmer
I like Boris, still, I think he is a deeply flawed character yet he had great potential; but I accept this is terminal, he's fucked it all up by a combination of his complacency, arrogance and maybe some Long Covid mental fogging. Plus being a knackered new dad at too old an age
Anyway. The Tories should bite the nasty bullet, briskly dump him, and get a new leader. And Sunak is the optimum choice, of the contenders I can see
65 (ie 10%) of associations is enough to call a special convention for a motion of No Confidence.
The leader wouldn't have to quit if lost. But the mere threat of one played a role in May quitting.
Boris is more shameless however...
https://twitter.com/ProfMMurray/status/1482001933628067840
Is this real? Are we actually living in a TL where the legislature of Virginia is proposing to reform education by teaching its students that the Lincoln-Douglas debates featured Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?
They wanted a border on the island of Ireland to create division and make reunification look impossible.
That's why the better NI's economy does with the protocol the stronger the imperative for Unionists to blow the whole thing up becomes.
Northern Ireland booming within the Brexit framework CEMENTS its place in the Union. Why would you jeopardise a thriving and peaceful Ulster economy for some horribly risky, horribly controversial reunification which might easily return the island to awful violence?
They don't scan you if you have a pass.
Why in holy hell not???
I feel that Sunak's who they will go for, I've just been pretty unimpressed with his paint by numbers politics so far. From a betting perspective Halfon@1/100, Barclay at 1/66 (likely to run initially then become Sunak's chancellor), and Harper at 1/66 all seem like value to me.
https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1482051797141368833
This is important: The purpose of a lot of Russian disinformation/lies is NOT to fool anyone but to act with impunity in violating the rules without purporting to change the rules. Under international law, wars of aggression are illegal. If one means to launch one...
...one has to either (a) confront a problem under international rules and norms (b) or simply lie about what happened. Putin's innovation is that he has realized that it matters not at all if the lie is credible or even plausible. As long as you say it, it works.
The rules, dynamics and vested interests that influence leadership elections, (which are not aligned with identifying the most talented candidates, nor candidates that the public generally would prefer), have resulted in terrible, recent electoral choices - which I feel have have been significantly influenced, in some cases, by the media.
I don't hold the media culpable over Corbyn. But I do over Johnson.
Tories should not despair. Cummings' analysis of Starmer is correct. Starmer is a dead player. An inert public sector mannequin. Labour are riding high because the Tories have self-destructed, not from any genius politicking of their own
Labour have zero interesting policies and still no way of solving their Scottish problem. And the boundary review will aid the Tories even further. If the Tories can cure the Boris migraine they can still win another majority
Interesting. Have you heard this on the grapevine? Seems unlikely to me.
Churchill is, I think, sui generis in this as in other ways.
Too early to tell re: Burnham? Could be that, in the 3rd millennium, being OUT of Parliament might be a better strategy than being in? Of course, to be Labour leader let alone Prime Minister he'd need to get into the House of Commons. Heck, in theory he could even do that AFTER the fact, though of course THAT would be a feat in itself.
France got there several months earlier:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-08/france-s-economy-is-back-to-pre-covid-levels-and-growing
And as for Germany…
"The US, France, Denmark and Sweden are among the other rich countries to have recovered all the lost ground during the pandemic while Germany, Italy and Spain have yet to pass the pandemic milestone"
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/14/uk-economy-back-to-pre-pandemic-levels-in-november
Classic racist trope of Scot baddie, however.
And far from all of England too.
The Cameron Remain seats from 2015 now Labour or LD will not vote for anything but a softer Brexit which also loses the Redwall and sees Leavers go RefUK.
I see no path to a Tory majority even with Sunak, unless on a populist low tax, high spend, keep our current Brexit deal and no more restrictions on the vaccinated ticket which might scrape home a la Major 1992 but even then unlikely
All this and Big Dog too.
Been a good day.
It would point to political unity making common sense and in mutual interest.
Maybe I'm missing the depth of anger on the ground and something to do with The Queen but these things happen in mid-term, I don't see why they can't just take the local election L and carry on.
By 1997 Major was trounced by New Labour anyway