My birthday is the day after Boris' and parties definitely weren't allowed in June 2020
FPT.
Look at the rules, it was against the rules.
Otherwise the rest of the country could have set up their own limited companies, hire their mates, and use 'work' events to hold parties, that too would have been against the law.
To use another principle, they had to be wholly, exclusively, and necessarily for work reasons.
My youngest's birthday falls in the middle of June, so I was fairly aware of what was permissible in June 2020 for birthday parties.
He wanted his mates round, he couldn't.
The thing I don't understand is that for many of us (most?) we stuck to the rules because we were scared. Without the rules there would be disaster - either personal or across society.
A group of people on TV every evening at 5pm scared us. I can't quite recall who, but one of them had blonde messy hair and a crumpled suit.
When we first revealed Downing Street parties in November last year, one source told me there had been “many social gatherings” in No 10 while the public faced restrictions. I’m not sure I quite realised how many they were meaning... https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1485703716602892292
My birthday is the day after Boris' and parties definitely weren't allowed in June 2020
FPT.
Look at the rules, it was against the rules.
Otherwise the rest of the country could have set up their own limited companies, hire their mates, and use 'work' events to hold parties, that too would have been against the law.
To use another principle, they had to be wholly, exclusively, and necessarily for work reasons.
My youngest's birthday falls in the middle of June, so I was fairly aware of what was permissible in June 2020 for birthday parties.
He wanted his mates round, he couldn't.
The thing I don't understand is that for many of us (most?) we stuck to the rules because we were scared. Without the rules there would be disaster - either personal or across society.
A group of people on TV every evening at 5pm scared us. I can't quite recall who, but one of them had blonde messy hair and a crumpled suit.
Was all that a fecking great lie as well?
Of course it was. The deliberate scaremongering from the government and the scientists was a total disgrace.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
It would be quite something if she takes Cummings down as well
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
The reason Cummings has had to do this is because the press have been crap, complicit and corrupt. Should've been headline news in June 2020.
I still think the likelihood of him going this year is overstated. The value is in betting for him to remain until the end of the year. PM's don't change very often. There is no obvious successor who can hold together the electoral coalition. Neither BoJo nor Carrie will want to go.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
Yes, but... Look, I'm glad Cummings is no longer in Government and I think whoever employed him must be a fool!
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
It would be quite something if she takes Cummings down as well
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
I pointed out earlier that our decorator was working in Morrisons at the time earning £50 a day less than he does decorating.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
His caution makes a lot of sense to me. This investigation is run by a Civil servant and isn't a police investigation or a public Inquiry. It is hardly an impartial quest for "truth".
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
So, on the day when a government minister resigns, over the loss of several billion of emergency funds to fraud, all the Lobby hacks care about is that the PM’s wife bought him a cake on his birthday.
We get the media we deserve, as has been shown clearly during the past two years.
Not even a lying weasel with form could claim he was inviting people for a "work event" with a birthday cake sitting in plain view...
The tears must be streaming down the faces of Boris's supporters after this whopper of a gaff
A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly mowing down a knife attacker to stop a frenzied attack on a woman who died from stab wounds on a street in west London.
Could be an interesting trial if it gets that far.
I doubt it will get to trial, and if it did get to trial, I think it is highly unlikely that the jury would convict.
Not as bad as the European markets including London. But, then, they are not facing the largest war since Gulf War 1 on their doorstep with millions of refugees fleeing into western Europe. are they?
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
His caution makes a lot of sense to me. This investigation is run by a Civil servant and isn't a police investigation or a public Inquiry. It is hardly an impartial quest for "truth".
Yes, I wonder whether the standards select committee can bring him in for questions after the report. He's under oath for that.
My birthday is the day after Boris' and parties definitely weren't allowed in June 2020
I am not sure about family gatherings and the number of families that could gather but as far as I remember I could meet my family in the garden
Your decorator, and your work colleagues weren't allowed in your Cabinet Room.
Were painters and decorators even allowed in punters houses then? We had the Miele man in to repair the washing machine and the pre-set rules from Miele were we weren't allowed in the same room as him.
I was referring to the allegation of a party in the flat that evening which Downing Street has denied saying it was held in the garden under the rule of 6
There are so many events with alcohol. How can anyone seriously defend the man in charge
If I had been caught out with as many indiscretions at work, as Johnson has, I would have cleared my desk and left the building many allegations ago. He's been busted on so many party occasions now.
A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly mowing down a knife attacker to stop a frenzied attack on a woman who died from stab wounds on a street in west London.
Could be an interesting trial if it gets that far.
I doubt it will get to trial, and if it did get to trial, I think it is highly unlikely that the jury would convict.
Not wanting to make light of what is a terrible story, but I wonder if they reversed over the attacker, just to be sure.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
His caution makes a lot of sense to me. This investigation is run by a Civil servant and isn't a police investigation or a public Inquiry. It is hardly an impartial quest for "truth".
There would be nothing stopping Cummings informing Ms Gray that he will be taping the interview and publishing a transcript of it on his blog on the day the report is published. She could either agree to those terms or choose not to interview him, but that way Cummings could be sure that his words would be accurately represented.
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not as bad as the European markets including London. But, then, they are not facing the largest war since Gulf War 1 on their doorstep with millions of refugees fleeing into western Europe. are they?
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not by June surely?
I think so, residential construction came back after lockdown ended iirc, commercial construction didn't stop and was classed as essential.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
We already have quite a big naval contract, FWIW. The EU announcement is welcome, as is any expression of European support for Ukraine at this point. It makes war a fraction less likely.
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
You are probably right but it shouldn't. £4.3bn of losses is really serious, unlike a bloody birthday cake.
The minister responsible for the fraud checks seems to have valid to do anything, and blamed others as he resigned from the despatch box.
It's going to be very hard to pin things on others unless he was a minister with no staff working for him and even then he must have had some budget. Heck he could have phoned up all the banks and asked for the details himself if he was vaguely competent.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
(News to me.) However I was really asking how you fix the unfair and unjust power of the press in these things. Cummings simply gets to air whatever he likes. The press hounding someone whether he's a PM of anyone else seems uncomfortable to me. That they should take a drip-feed from a somewhat discredited source and make it national news for week - really uncomfortable.
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not by June surely?
Yep even in June, building work was taking place but only live and death repairs were being done in existing properties.
A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly mowing down a knife attacker to stop a frenzied attack on a woman who died from stab wounds on a street in west London.
Could be an interesting trial if it gets that far.
I doubt it will get to trial, and if it did get to trial, I think it is highly unlikely that the jury would convict.
That sounds truly extraordinary but in some situations people are arrested so that the relevant evidence can be secured. It doesn't mean that there will be a charge. Here, unless he knew the parties concerned, it is hard to imagine a clearer example of self defence for a third party.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
We already have quite a big naval contract, FWIW. The EU announcement is welcome, as is any expression of European support for Ukraine at this point. It makes war a fraction less likely.
Yes, agreed, though there's still nothing on consequences for Russia in the event of them invading. Let's hope they come up with something.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
(News to me.) However I was really asking how you fix the unfair and unjust power of the press in these things. Cummings simply gets to air whatever he likes. The press hounding someone whether he's a PM of anyone else seems uncomfortable to me. That they should take a drip-feed from a somewhat discredited source and make it national news for week - really uncomfortable.
The source may be discredited but everything that has so far been posted has turned out to be true.
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
If it is Dishy Rishi dropping all these leaks to the media, he better have never accidentally gone anywhere near any social gathering during that time, otherwise I imagine his political career will be going the same way.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
I’ll take a random guess that everything that happened in Downing St, that’s now being reported with such overblown and hyperbolic language, was considered at the time to be perfectly normal behaviour in the newsrooms of Fleet St.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
(News to me.) However I was really asking how you fix the unfair and unjust power of the press in these things. Cummings simply gets to air whatever he likes. The press hounding someone whether he's a PM of anyone else seems uncomfortable to me. That they should take a drip-feed from a somewhat discredited source and make it national news for week - really uncomfortable.
The source may be discredited but everything that has so far been posted has turned out to be true.
Depressing to think how low the stakes are for Johnson. He will be back at The Telegraph within weeks of leaving Downing St. Covid, Cummings, Brexit — these are all just fruity anecdotes he will dine out on until he dies. This entire crisis will be a footnote in his memoirs. https://twitter.com/jamiedmaxwell/status/1485709636216963082
Ukraine - My own thoughts right now, are of the sizable community (or rather communities) of Ukrainian Americans in the Rust Belt towns of western Pennsylvania, my own birthplace and early stomping grounds.
Go to these places, drive around a bit, and won't be long before you notice the large Ukrainian Orthodox and Ruthenian Catholic churches dotting the gritty landscape. Built by great-grandparents of current parishioners, who immigrated mostly from western Ukraine just after 1900, recruited to provide unskilled labor for huge steel mills, built mainly along the banks of the Ohio and Monongahela rivers.
Also thinking of the MANY Ukrainian Canadians who are a major presence in the Prairie Provinces. Whose forebearers (sometimes the brothers & sisters of those who went to western PA) were also recruited circa 1900. Only in their case by Ottawa & CPRR, to break the sod, plow the land, sow the grain and helped make the Canadian Prairies into one of the great wheat belts and bread baskets of the New World, just as their homeland was for the Old World.
I like the Sandpit pattern of defending bad behaviour. Focus on the innocuous details and pretend that's the whole story.
"I see they've arrested some guy who went into the Texas Book Depository and opened a window on the sixth floor. Is this all they've got on him?"
"Vincenzo Peruggia was jailed. And for what? For having a look around the Louvre while it was officially closed? And after two years they decide this is is worthy of jailing him for a YEAR? Weak."
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
Well, if the Ukraine want fighter planes, then there's pretty much only two and a half options: the Saab Gripen, the Dassault Rafale. I prefer the Saab, as it's much much better value. Indeed, the Saab is a positive bargain at only about $50m/piece.
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
You are probably right but it shouldn't. £4.3bn of losses is really serious, unlike a bloody birthday cake.
Presumably the line will be due to the “urgency of getting funds out” that mistakes were made.
Though I think the constant drip feeding of party stories means story back to Johnson
I think that that excuse is actually fair enough. If you helicopter money into an economy some is going to end up in undesirable places. But it doesn't excuse feeble attempts to recover it afterwards.
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not by June surely?
I think so, residential construction came back after lockdown ended iirc, commercial construction didn't stop and was classed as essential.
But most of lockdown had ended by June.
We still had hospitality locked down but construction was told they could go back to work on 10 May 2020 I think.
Not as bad as the European markets including London. But, then, they are not facing the largest war since Gulf War 1 on their doorstep with millions of refugees fleeing into western Europe. are they?
But the UK is obsessed about parties
I know. It would be truly, completely absurd if the PM was not such a f****** liar.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
Well, if the Ukraine want fighter planes, then there's pretty much only two and a half options: the Saab Gripen, the Dassault Rafale. I prefer the Saab, as it's much much better value. Indeed, the Saab is a positive bargain at only about $50m/piece.
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
How long does it take to train pilots to fly (and fight effectively with) a completely new model of aircraft though? AIUI the Ukrainian air force currently mostly flies MiGs and Sukhois.
Depressing to think how low the stakes are for Johnson. He will be back at The Telegraph within weeks of leaving Downing St. Covid, Cummings, Brexit — these are all just fruity anecdotes he will dine out on until he dies. This entire crisis will be a footnote in his memoirs. https://twitter.com/jamiedmaxwell/status/1485709636216963082
Yes and no.
In financial terms, he'll surely be better off.
But his lifetime's dream, held since childhood, will have led to a wreckage, and his reputation as anything other than an amuse bouche along with it. That isn't nothing. There'll be an emptiness about his spending the rest of his life dancing for dollars that will haunt him until the end.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
The reason Cummings has had to do this is because the press have been crap, complicit and corrupt. Should've been headline news in June 2020.
Oh come off it! Cummings has had this information since then. He was probably at some or all of these parties. He too probably broke the law. He's not some great crusader after truth or exemplar of morality. He could have spoken up. He could have resigned after Barnard Castle. He's up to it to his neck.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
Yes, but... Look, I'm glad Cummings is no longer in Government and I think whoever employed him must be a fool!
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
He can refuse. But then he should shut up and not undermine it by deliberately withholding information and promising to release more information after the event.
Ms Gray has been given a hospital pass. But that is no reason for him to behave as badly as his former boss. And if he does then he should be just as severely criticised. Instead of which the press and others are dancing to his tune.
It is deeply unedifying though to be expected from someone who lied about his own behaviour and played his part in breaking trust that April with his breach of lockdown rules.
It is entertaining to watch. But also infuriating because - once again - voters are being treated as a mere audience to the personal Boris-Dom-Carrie drama. I am sick of it and them and the governance of our country being held hostage by these deeply unappealing childish selfish twits.
Ukraine - My own thoughts right now, are of the sizable community (or rather communities) of Ukrainian Americans in the Rust Belt towns of western Pennsylvania, my own birthplace and early stomping grounds.
Go to these places, drive around a bit, and won't be long before you notice the large Ukrainian Orthodox and Ruthenian Catholic churches dotting the gritty landscape. Built by great-grandparents of current parishioners, who immigrated mostly from western Ukraine just after 1900, recruited to provide unskilled labor for huge steel mills, built mainly along the banks of the Ohio and Monongahela rivers.
Also thinking of the MANY Ukrainian Canadians who are a major presence in the Prairie Provinces. Whose forebearers (sometimes the brothers & sisters of those who went to western PA) were also recruited circa 1900. Only in their case by Ottawa & CPRR, to break the sod, plow the land, sow the grain and helped make the Canadian Prairies into one of the great wheat belts and bread baskets of the New World, just as their homeland was for the Old World.
My daughter in law and family living in Vancouver are Ukrainian Canadians
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
You are probably right but it shouldn't. £4.3bn of losses is really serious, unlike a bloody birthday cake.
It is reckless in the extreme to have given that sort of money out to fraudsters.No ifs no excuses . Sunak needs to resign himself'. All in the hands of gangs and organised crime ,great
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
Well, if the Ukraine want fighter planes, then there's pretty much only two and a half options: the Saab Gripen, the Dassault Rafale. I prefer the Saab, as it's much much better value. Indeed, the Saab is a positive bargain at only about $50m/piece.
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
Are fighter planes really that useful anymore?
In recent years we seem to have used ours as very expensive launching platforms for various missiles, where they've launched those missiles at fairly considerable distances (unless I've badly misunderstood something I read once). You could achieve the same with ground-based missiles, drones, etc. And then if you want to protect yourself from air assets on the other side, again you might be better off with ground-to-air missiles.
Not as bad as the European markets including London. But, then, they are not facing the largest war since Gulf War 1 on their doorstep with millions of refugees fleeing into western Europe. are they?
But the UK is obsessed about parties
That is as stupid as saying the Huhne case was just about speeding. You may not mind being governed by a liar, but there are valid objections to it
Oh FFS. I suppose he can genuinely say that he did not know about this party because it was a surprise. And, in the real world you have 30 people working in the cabinet room for an hour or two and then his wife brings in a cake. I am struggling to see the risk here. But the drip, drip, drip is just making him look ridiculous.
Yes it is ridiculous. But the man we must assume is behind it is refusing to be interviewed and is playing his own games with the investigation and with us.
And this is making me really annoyed. The investigation is not there to dance to the tune of Cummings or anyone else. It's not there so he can have his vendettas against the PM or his wife or anyone else. It's not there to be held hostage to his vanity and sense of self-entitlement.
I'd be half inclined to call a halt to it and say that, in order to be fair to all concerned, she's referring the evidence collected to the police so that they can take it further as they have powers to obtain evidence and interviews she does not have.
Where there is sufficient evidence for disciplinary proceedings short of criminal action she will assist the relevant HR departments in the normal way.
Armchair expertise. in the real world, Gray has no power to compel witnesses; there is no protocol which says that oral evidence is to be preferred to written; as far as we know (and we have only heard from Cummings) she has come to an agreement with him that his evidence should be written; should that not be the case, she will no doubt say so in her report.
As she can only take statements (not have exams in chief/cross exams by Counsel) the written vs oral distinction is absolutely irrelevant here.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
(News to me.) However I was really asking how you fix the unfair and unjust power of the press in these things. Cummings simply gets to air whatever he likes. The press hounding someone whether he's a PM of anyone else seems uncomfortable to me. That they should take a drip-feed from a somewhat discredited source and make it national news for week - really uncomfortable.
The source may be discredited but everything that has so far been posted has turned out to be true.
Presumably because he was present at some of these parties and so also breaking the law.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
The reason Cummings has had to do this is because the press have been crap, complicit and corrupt. Should've been headline news in June 2020.
Oh come off it! Cummings has had this information since then. He was probably at some or all of these parties. He too probably broke the law. He's not some great crusader after truth or exemplar of morality. He could have spoken up. He could have resigned after Barnard Castle. He's up to it to his neck.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
Yes, but... Look, I'm glad Cummings is no longer in Government and I think whoever employed him must be a fool!
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
It is entertaining to watch. But also infuriating because - once again - voters are being treated as a mere audience to the personal Boris-Dom-Carrie drama. I am sick of it and them and the governance of our country being held hostage by these deeply unappealing childish selfish twits.
Agreed.
Whatever the Brexiteers might like to think, the seeds of all this were sown back in 2015. The combination of Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson was always going to lead to trouble. Throw Carrie into the mix and it was a whole heap worse.
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not by June surely?
I think so, residential construction came back after lockdown ended iirc, commercial construction didn't stop and was classed as essential.
But most of lockdown had ended by June.
We still had hospitality locked down but construction was told they could go back to work on 10 May 2020 I think.
So not June.
I think it was the final unlockdown step for residential construction on June 23rd, but it may not be an issue (at least technically) because the Number 11 flat is in a government building and those were covered by the essential work exemption for construction to continue.
Not as bad as the European markets including London. But, then, they are not facing the largest war since Gulf War 1 on their doorstep with millions of refugees fleeing into western Europe. are they?
But the UK is obsessed about parties
Why do you think that is? It is because of the way the Conservative Party is trying to protect itself from the consequences of its choice for Party Leader. Of course the UK is obsessed about Parties.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
Well, if the Ukraine want fighter planes, then there's pretty much only two and a half options: the Saab Gripen, the Dassault Rafale. I prefer the Saab, as it's much much better value. Indeed, the Saab is a positive bargain at only about $50m/piece.
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
May be a useful political message in having US built fighters in the air over the Ukraine. Makes it clear whose side the US should be on.
There is something just brilliant that during the height of the pandemic she was trailing round after him with colour swatches for the cushion on the whicker sex swing.
Everyone I know who worked in construction/home decoration was unable to work?
Well that's bullshit about construction not being able to work, they were explicitly essential workers from day dot, and a lot of the media got very angry about it at the time.
Residential construction had to stop. I'm not sure what the Number 11 flat is classed as though.
Not by June surely?
I think so, residential construction came back after lockdown ended iirc, commercial construction didn't stop and was classed as essential.
No - our builders and suppliers started work again in May.
West Midlands L47% C29% G10 East Midlands C45% L39% Eastern L44% C34% LD14% NE L53% C31% R11% NW L53% C29% Yorkshire & Humber L48% C31% LD12%
Tories level with Labour in Wales though with RedfieldWilton, 39% each, Tories also up to 29% in Scotland. Tories also still ahead in South East and South West
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
The reason Cummings has had to do this is because the press have been crap, complicit and corrupt. Should've been headline news in June 2020.
Oh come off it! Cummings has had this information since then. He was probably at some or all of these parties. He too probably broke the law. He's not some great crusader after truth or exemplar of morality. He could have spoken up. He could have resigned after Barnard Castle. He's up to it to his neck.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
Yes, but... Look, I'm glad Cummings is no longer in Government and I think whoever employed him must be a fool!
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
He can refuse. But then he should shut up and not undermine it by deliberately withholding information and promising to release more information after the event.
Ms Gray has been given a hospital pass. But that is no reason for him to behave as badly as his former boss. And if he does then he should be just as severely criticised. Instead of which the press and others are dancing to his tune.
It is deeply unedifying though to be expected from someone who lied about his own behaviour and played his part in breaking trust that April with his breach of lockdown rules.
It is entertaining to watch. But also infuriating because - once again - voters are being treated as a mere audience to the personal Boris-Dom-Carrie drama. I am sick of it and them and the governance of our country being held hostage by these deeply unappealing childish selfish twits.
I don't think Cummings would have actually been invited to the parties. That might be why he's so cross.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
(News to me.) However I was really asking how you fix the unfair and unjust power of the press in these things. Cummings simply gets to air whatever he likes. The press hounding someone whether he's a PM of anyone else seems uncomfortable to me. That they should take a drip-feed from a somewhat discredited source and make it national news for week - really uncomfortable.
The source may be discredited but everything that has so far been posted has turned out to be true.
Presumably because he was present at some of these parties and so also breaking the law.
Perhaps Cummings also didn't realise they were parties. Does he have any history of visual impairment that could explain this?
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1485568283818569728 The EU stands by Ukraine. We are firm in our resolve. I am announcing a new financial assistance package, made of emergency loans and grants, to support Ukraine in the medium and long-term.
Which the French are hoping they'll use to buy some of those Rafale fighter planes.
And I'm sure the UK will sell them stuff. I wonder how long it will take the French to realise that cheap EU money will get used to buy UK and US gear?
Well, if the Ukraine want fighter planes, then there's pretty much only two and a half options: the Saab Gripen, the Dassault Rafale. I prefer the Saab, as it's much much better value. Indeed, the Saab is a positive bargain at only about $50m/piece.
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
May be a useful political message in having US built fighters in the air over the Ukraine. Makes it clear whose side the US should be on.
So, on the day when a government minister resigns, over the loss of several billion of emergency funds to fraud, all the Lobby hacks care about is that the PM’s wife bought him a cake on his birthday.
We get the media we deserve, as has been shown clearly during the past two years.
Not even a lying weasel with form could claim he was inviting people for a "work event" with a birthday cake sitting in plain view...
The tears must be streaming down the faces of Boris's supporters after this whopper of a gaff
Except that the facts as reported are that the PMs wife bought him the cake as a surprise. No-one was invited, and the cake was given to those who were in the offfice anyway.
Meanwhile, over £4bn of recovery funds given to businesses is unaccounted for…
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
You are probably right but it shouldn't. £4.3bn of losses is really serious, unlike a bloody birthday cake.
Presumably the line will be due to the “urgency of getting funds out” that mistakes were made.
Though I think the constant drip feeding of party stories means story back to Johnson
I think that that excuse is actually fair enough. If you helicopter money into an economy some is going to end up in undesirable places. But it doesn't excuse feeble attempts to recover it afterwards.
Also the deaths consequent on EOTHO remain a vulnerability.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
What are your thoughts on the role of the press in this? (My view: We can get past crap PMs, we can get past vindictive loudmouths, but if the press choose to make siren calls on any of their behalves then it becomes harder.)
Given that there’s at least one national who has a deputy editor who was at one of the parties, and stayed silent, not great..
in the newsrooms of Fleet St.
I don't think there are any of those left these days.
Carrie Johnson surprised Boris with a birthday cake briefly, a few colleagues gathered and sent best wishes and then back to work.
Sounds like most office birthdays and No 10 was still legally a workplace at the time.
Hardly a big party. Non story
Homeless man gets job. It includes a pad in SWI. He gets trendy designer to redecorate.Rich patron picks up the bill. Job also provides 27 room country mansion for week- ends. He marries ambitious girlfriend. They have a child . He holds illegal drinks party for ambitious girlfriend's birthday. He gets fired. He's kicked out of trendy pad and locks to country house changed. His wife ditches him for someone younger richer and more attractive. He applies for asylum in France. Rejected
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
If it is Dishy Rishi dropping all these leaks to the media, he better have never accidentally gone anywhere near any social gathering during that time, otherwise I imagine his political career will be going the same way.
Not a fan of Rishi, but there really was a difference between people between any kind of normal ethics, sense of social responsibility, professional background etc on one hand, and the PM on the other. I think he'd have been pretty uncomfortable about being put in that kind of situation accidentally even once, and have made sure it didn't happen again. It seems that Boris probably did believe that the rules were silly and everyone would ignore them, but he was an outlier.
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Team Rishi just hit back with the birthday party. That's going to get the headlines.
You are probably right but it shouldn't. £4.3bn of losses is really serious, unlike a bloody birthday cake.
It is reckless in the extreme to have given that sort of money out to fraudsters.No ifs no excuses . Sunak needs to resign himself'. All in the hands of gangs and organised crime ,great
It needed to be done fast. I am in admiration how fast they did it. But they need to chase down the fraudsters as best as they can. £4.3bn is too high a loss rate.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
The reason Cummings has had to do this is because the press have been crap, complicit and corrupt. Should've been headline news in June 2020.
Oh come off it! Cummings has had this information since then. He was probably at some or all of these parties. He too probably broke the law. He's not some great crusader after truth or exemplar of morality. He could have spoken up. He could have resigned after Barnard Castle. He's up to it to his neck.
Whatever the fate of Boris in all this I find myself quite uncomfortable with Cummings being able to pursue a personal agenda facilitated by the press. Not at all sure what one can do about that, but the media certainly should be considering whether they're acting wisely in giving him the platform.
I've nothing against Cummings - he seems a bit mad, but certainly has interesting ideas. He gets one vote - so do I.
Cummings is not co-operating properly with the investigation by refusing to be interviewed. It is contemptuous on his part and self-entitled and wrong.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The PM owes voters an explanation. But advisors, civil servants and those with relevant evidence also owe us an obligation to co-operate fully with the investigation. That includes Cummings as well. His refusal to do so should be a bigger issue than it is. He is playing us for fools in the same way as his former boss.
Yes, but... Look, I'm glad Cummings is no longer in Government and I think whoever employed him must be a fool!
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
He can refuse. But then he should shut up and not undermine it by deliberately withholding information and promising to release more information after the event.
Ms Gray has been given a hospital pass. But that is no reason for him to behave as badly as his former boss. And if he does then he should be just as severely criticised. Instead of which the press and others are dancing to his tune.
It is deeply unedifying though to be expected from someone who lied about his own behaviour and played his part in breaking trust that April with his breach of lockdown rules.
It is entertaining to watch. But also infuriating because - once again - voters are being treated as a mere audience to the personal Boris-Dom-Carrie drama. I am sick of it and them and the governance of our country being held hostage by these deeply unappealing childish selfish twits.
You're right, I framed that wrong.
"The only reason Cummings gets to have his fun is because the press..."
Comments
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/01/boris-johnson-party-pressure/621325/
Which is perhaps in some ways a defensible personal philosophy.
But not acceptable in a PM.
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1485703716602892292
Chris Bryant
@RhonddaBryant
·
1h
Just sometimes I am shocked AND surprised. Let me guess, he didn’t know it was his birthday?
However, the inquiry is deliberately a limited internal civil service/government affair. Cummings has zero legal or contractual requirement to co-operate. (Moral, yes...) If the Government was really interested in determining what happened, they would have set up an inquiry with more power. But it's the Government who is also playing politics by setting up an inquiry like this, so maybe Cummings playing politics is... well, not good, but no worse...?
Anyone else have Carrie in the Cabinet Room with the birthday cake?
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1485703216654340106
Oh... yes, there is other stuff going on in the world...
West Midlands L47% C29% G10
East Midlands C45% L39%
Eastern L44% C34% LD14%
NE L53% C31% R11%
NW L53% C29%
Yorkshire & Humber L48% C31% LD12%
Also Government: Let's allow a massive scandal about lockdown which means Newsnight and News at 10 has its biggest audience for years.
Her report will therefore be in the light of these allegations
Minster resigning, indifference to fraud and "schoolboy errors". Very definitely not the image Rishi wants to give. Interesting timing.
Gold’s lookin sweet.
This the same guy
https://twitter.com/labourmuslims/status/1485584600843829250?s=21
Elec bill overestimated by 7x.
The tears must be streaming down the faces of Boris's supporters after this whopper of a gaff
"This can't go on any longer.
"Party after party, lie after lie"
"It is clear now the Sue Gray inquiry is not fit for purpose. The Met must investigate this to deliver justice for millions who sacrificed so much".
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1485707089641099268
SKS fans please explain why not.
If I had been caught out with as many indiscretions at work, as Johnson has, I would have cleared my desk and left the building many allegations ago. He's been busted on so many party occasions now.
I'm with David Davis and Leo Amery.
Though I think the constant drip feeding of party stories means story back to Johnson
The EU announcement is welcome, as is any expression of European support for Ukraine at this point. It makes war a fraction less likely.
It's going to be very hard to pin things on others unless he was a minister with no staff working for him and even then he must have had some budget. Heck he could have phoned up all the banks and asked for the details himself if he was vaguely competent.
A great day.
https://twitter.com/jamiedmaxwell/status/1485709636216963082
Go to these places, drive around a bit, and won't be long before you notice the large Ukrainian Orthodox and Ruthenian Catholic churches dotting the gritty landscape. Built by great-grandparents of current parishioners, who immigrated mostly from western Ukraine just after 1900, recruited to provide unskilled labor for huge steel mills, built mainly along the banks of the Ohio and Monongahela rivers.
Also thinking of the MANY Ukrainian Canadians who are a major presence in the Prairie Provinces. Whose forebearers (sometimes the brothers & sisters of those who went to western PA) were also recruited circa 1900. Only in their case by Ottawa & CPRR, to break the sod, plow the land, sow the grain and helped make the Canadian Prairies into one of the great wheat belts and bread baskets of the New World, just as their homeland was for the Old World.
"I see they've arrested some guy who went into the Texas Book Depository and opened a window on the sixth floor. Is this all they've got on him?"
"Vincenzo Peruggia was jailed. And for what? For having a look around the Louvre while it was officially closed? And after two years they decide this is is worthy of jailing him for a YEAR? Weak."
(The half option is buying used F-16s, and I understand the Singapore Airforce is looking for purchasers of some early block models. That might work well for the Ukranians.)
We still had hospitality locked down but construction was told they could go back to work on 10 May 2020 I think.
So not June.
In financial terms, he'll surely be better off.
But his lifetime's dream, held since childhood, will have led to a wreckage, and his reputation as anything other than an amuse bouche along with it. That isn't nothing. There'll be an emptiness about his spending the rest of his life dancing for dollars that will haunt him until the end.
Ms Gray has been given a hospital pass. But that is no reason for him to behave as badly as his former boss. And if he does then he should be just as severely criticised. Instead of which the press and others are dancing to his tune.
It is deeply unedifying though to be expected from someone who lied about his own behaviour and played his part in breaking trust that April with his breach of lockdown rules.
It is entertaining to watch. But also infuriating because - once again - voters are being treated as a mere audience to the personal Boris-Dom-Carrie drama. I am sick of it and them and the governance of our country being held hostage by these deeply unappealing childish selfish twits.
Martin F. Robbins
@mjrobbins
·
1h
They got the interior decorator from the other scandal to attend this scandal are you actually serious
In TV it's the sign of a desperate crossover trying to rescue one show by using the popularity of another one.
In recent years we seem to have used ours as very expensive launching platforms for various missiles, where they've launched those missiles at fairly considerable distances (unless I've badly misunderstood something I read once). You could achieve the same with ground-based missiles, drones, etc. And then if you want to protect yourself from air assets on the other side, again you might be better off with ground-to-air missiles.
As she can only take statements (not have exams in chief/cross exams by Counsel) the written vs oral distinction is absolutely irrelevant here.
Agreed.
Whatever the Brexiteers might like to think, the seeds of all this were sown back in 2015. The combination of Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson was always going to lead to trouble. Throw Carrie into the mix and it was a whole heap worse.
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-24-january-2022/
2nd edit : I was thinking of Romania
Meanwhile, over £4bn of recovery funds given to businesses is unaccounted for…
"The only reason Cummings gets to have his fun is because the press..."