This is what Boris Johnson wrote to 7 year old Josephine who cancelled her birthday party:
"Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing.
Together we can beat this. In the meantime let's all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands. #BeLikeJosephine #StayHomeSaveLives"
This is the kind of thing which really cuts through.
And Ruth Davidson rubbing the knife in:
"By coincidence, my partner shares a birthday with the Prime Minister (19th June). We marked it in 2020 by inviting one other household to sit outside, socially distanced, in our garden. It didn't occur to us - literally couldn't conceive - that we would act outside the rules."
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
Legally working in No 10 was essential work, meetings were allowed there and you cannot prove work was not discussed after the meeting either
I do think you're splitting hairs. However, as time moves on, many people who were not especially traumatised by lockdown coinciding with a family tragedy have come to regard the details of the rules with a shoulder-shrug (resdpecially those who weren't too precise about following them themselves), so I doubt if a short birthday event will have shifted many views. Critics need to be careful to focus on the most outrageous events - the party before the Duke's funeral still shocks most people - and avoid the impression that they'll bring up anything 'cos they hate Boris.
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
@Leon will be along soon to lambast your comment for evidencing the downfall of western society.
This is what Boris Johnson wrote to 7 year old Josephine who cancelled her birthday party:
"Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing.
Together we can beat this. In the meantime let's all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands. #BeLikeJosephine #StayHomeSaveLives"
This is the kind of thing which really cuts through.
And Ruth Davidson rubbing the knife in:
"By coincidence, my partner shares a birthday with the Prime Minister (19th June). We marked it in 2020 by inviting one other household to sit outside, socially distanced, in our garden. It didn't occur to us - literally couldn't conceive - that we would act outside the rules."
I know the Scottish tories really have it in for him at the moment but it's really interesting to see people like Grant Shapps distancing himself from the PM this morning.
Do they know Johnson's time is up?
That was my take, having just listened to it. He's weary with the excuses, surely knows the game is up, and is approaching the point where he can't be bothered to try and defend it all.
That might be significant because Shapps is supposed to be the numbers man on Operation Save Big Dog so perhaps his spreadsheets are telling him Boris is a lost cause.
The new RedfieldWilton poll still has Boris preferred to Sunak as PM amongst 2019 Tory voters 48% to 36%. Yes, 2019 Labour, LD and SNP voters prefer Sunak to Boris as PM but how many of them would switch to the Tories if Sunak became PM?
I suspect Tory MPs are about in the same range as 2019 Tory voters on Boris and for now Boris narrowly wins a VONC
To win a vonc, Boris first has to face one, and then it is not a question of winning but of winning by a large enough margin, as Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May found out.
If the current rules were in place in 1990 then Thatcher's 54% of MPs would have kept her in place. There would have been no second round and Thatcher, not Major, would likely have led the Conservatives at the 1992 general election.
May survived for six months after the December 2018 VONC she won until the May 2019 local and European elections which were admittedly disastrous for the Tories. If Boris wins a VONC now he therefore at least survives until the local elections in May
You miss the point. Winning is not enough. The Prime Minister – any prime minister – needs to win decisively, not by a slim margin that lets them limp on for a few more months.
Thatcher's 54% would have likely kept her in place until the election.
May's over 60% was only not enough due to the disastrous local and European elections the following year, the local elections are more significant than Boris' margin of victory
This is what Boris Johnson wrote to 7 year old Josephine who cancelled her birthday party:
"Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing.
Together we can beat this. In the meantime let's all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands. #BeLikeJosephine #StayHomeSaveLives"
This is the kind of thing which really cuts through.
And Ruth Davidson rubbing the knife in:
"By coincidence, my partner shares a birthday with the Prime Minister (19th June). We marked it in 2020 by inviting one other household to sit outside, socially distanced, in our garden. It didn't occur to us - literally couldn't conceive - that we would act outside the rules."
Sunak now favourite to be PM on 1 January 2023 (Smarkets).
That seems nuts, but I can't quite see where the value is. He's layable at 3.8, Johnson backable at 3.7, neither of which scream value. Maybe in value in the other options...
Legally working in No 10 was essential work, meetings were allowed there and you cannot prove work was not discussed after the meeting either
I do think you're splitting hairs. However, as time moves on, many people who were not especially traumatised by lockdown coinciding with a family tragedy have come to regard the details of the rules with a shoulder-shrug (resdpecially those who weren't too precise about following them themselves), so I doubt if a short birthday event will have shifted many views. Critics need to be careful to focus on the most outrageous events - the party before the Duke's funeral still shocks most people - and avoid the impression that they'll bring up anything 'cos they hate Boris.
Though Boris was not even at the event before the Duke's funeral but at Chequers
One thing that we should have picked up on over the weekend and clearly didn't
davidallengreen @davidallengreen The weakness of this Prime Minister means he has had to set up a parallel whipping operation (and not the Whips Office)
His only cabinet support is from those who would not get such a job under any other Prime Minister
This is an extraordinary situation and is not sustainable
The thing is that this whole thing is really fucking stupid. Like how dumb and/or arrogant do you have to be to think this stuff wouldn’t leak and look bad?
How hard could it have been to simply have some humility and to hold back on these “events” until everyone was allowed to do them?
Just ridiculous.
It's an arrogant born to rule mentality that sets in when they are children and is completely hardwired by the time they are adults.
Just looked at my diary for 2020. I always start on my birthday, so the entry's easy to find and in 2020 that entry reads: 'it’s probably the strangest birthday I’ve had since 1945, when I had either measles or chicken pox and had to stay in bed!' That was just before VE Day!
Mrs C cooked a festive steak meal, though just for the two of us, and we had a bottle of wine from the case given to me the previous Christmas. Entry also notes that family and friends sent me texts and emails.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
“The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you’re older Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death”
Adults really SHOULD get over it
Morning. Feeling grey and Calvinist are we?
Quite the opposite. I am eating dal and devilled fish, on my balcony restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean. I am two beers into lunch after an excellent and satisfying morning of work, sunbathing and swimming. A soft Ceylonese breeze blows over the rustling palms (and, to be fair, the massive skyscraper being built next door)
I am blissfully content. This is literally my ideal.
Every day I wake up expecting to feel a bit grumpy (as I generally do in London in the winter). Here I wake up, look out the window, see the sun is blazing down, and I smile. True story
I can see why Arthur C Clarke retired here. The weather
The thing is that this whole thing is really fucking stupid. Like how dumb and/or arrogant do you have to be to think this stuff wouldn’t leak and look bad?
How hard could it have been to simply have some humility and to hold back on these “events” until everyone was allowed to do them?
Just ridiculous.
It's an arrogant born to rule mentality that sets in when they are children and is completely hardwired by the time they are adults.
Well, not all of us who attended public schools have turned out that bad, but Cameron, JRM, Johnson et al are certainly doing their best to create a pretty good impression of the worst.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
Almost all the stag nights I've been on have been brilliant. Costumes have pretty much never featured. Drinking to excess and conversation with like-minded individuals (usually including my best friends, usually also including new and interesting people), and the odd fun activity thrown in - pitch and putt, go-karting, clay pigeon shooting, a quiz. The odd bit of light lairiness but nothing worthy of inclusion in a sitcom. Basically just a really good night out, stretched over a long weekend.
Legally working in No 10 was essential work, meetings were allowed there and you cannot prove work was not discussed after the meeting either
I do think you're splitting hairs. However, as time moves on, many people who were not especially traumatised by lockdown coinciding with a family tragedy have come to regard the details of the rules with a shoulder-shrug (resdpecially those who weren't too precise about following them themselves), so I doubt if a short birthday event will have shifted many views. Critics need to be careful to focus on the most outrageous events - the party before the Duke's funeral still shocks most people - and avoid the impression that they'll bring up anything 'cos they hate Boris.
Though Boris was not even at the event before the Duke's funeral but at Chequers
Yes. Commuting. As the rest of us had been instructed not to do.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
More tragic than a sad old white male bragging on a political site about how he likes sleeping around with teenagers?
You are oddly obsessed with my sex life. Even more than I am. Which is impressive
My point is, a la the expenses scandal, that it is a grey area. As I'm pretty sure we will find out with the Gray report. Every MP who submitted a "dodgy" expenses report had first had it cleared by the department dealing with expenses (some MPs of course actually broke the law).
No.10 is unique among all the "but my granny" stories because it is both a workplace and a home and the place from where the country is run.
That's not to say that public opinion nevertheless will not condemn him including at the ballot box because as you say the actions, though perhaps within the letter of the law, were nevertheless egregious enough to warrant public opinion censure.
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
Surely we are now at the point that further evidence of further parties hits the law of diminishing returns. Rather than building up a tsunami of outrage it generates ennui.
We know that Boris and his team at No 10 did not think that the rules applied to them. We know that the PM was both involved and aware of what was going on and at least tolerated it because he thought it did more harm than good. We know that he repeatedly lied both to the country and to Parliament about his knowledge and his involvement.
And yet he is still there. The 53 letters have not arrived. Calls to resign have been ignored and spurned. Wait for Gray, we are told but what can she possibly tell us that we do not already know?
Last night we saw a modest bounceback in the polls for the government. Still pretty awful but a reduced deficit. It was only 1 poll and we need more but has Boris got through this? It's starting to look that way to me.
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
“The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you’re older Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death”
Adults really SHOULD get over it
Morning. Feeling grey and Calvinist are we?
Quite the opposite. I am eating dal and devilled fish, on my balcony restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean. I am two beers into lunch after an excellent and satisfying morning of work, sunbathing and swimming. A soft Ceylonese breeze blows over the rustling palms (and, to be fair, the massive skyscraper being built next door)
I am blissfully content. This is literally my ideal.
Every day I wake up expecting to feel a bit grumpy (as I generally do in London in the winter). Here I wake up, look out the window, see the sun is blazing down, and I smile. True story
I can see why Arthur C Clarke retired here. The weather
Went to Sri Lanka on a cricket-watching trip quite a few years ago. Indeed, a very pleasant place to be.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Legally working in No 10 was essential work, meetings were allowed there and you cannot prove work was not discussed after the meeting either
I do think you're splitting hairs. However, as time moves on, many people who were not especially traumatised by lockdown coinciding with a family tragedy have come to regard the details of the rules with a shoulder-shrug (resdpecially those who weren't too precise about following them themselves), so I doubt if a short birthday event will have shifted many views. Critics need to be careful to focus on the most outrageous events - the party before the Duke's funeral still shocks most people - and avoid the impression that they'll bring up anything 'cos they hate Boris.
Though Boris was not even at the event before the Duke's funeral but at Chequers
Yes. Commuting. As the rest of us had been instructed not to do.
No, you could still commute to and from your work to home if your work at your workplace was essential
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
The best stag dos - or the tolerable ones - are really brief and insanely indulgent. A 3 star Michelin restaurant then a brothel, then everyone went home
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Medical workers, doctors and nurses , did do morale boosting Tik Tok dances at work and good on them.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses, who were so dedicated and so concerned about spreading Covid they slept in hospital accomodation for months without seeing their family members for weeks on end, thus missing birthday parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they caught Covid on the job and died, thus missing a life time of parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they brought Boris Johnson from the brink, so he could party.
So yes, why shouldn't NHS staff cheer themselves up with Tik Tok dances, Teams and Zoom parties? Boris Johnson didn't need Tik Tok dances or Zoom because he was indulging in the real thing, and often by the look of it.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Just because 1 set of people broke the rules that doesn't give another set of people the right to break the rules.
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
I do, Labour, LD and SNP voters want to get Boris out, most 2019 Tory voters however still prefer Boris as PM not only over Starmer but over Sunak too as yesterday's RedfieldWilton showed
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
The best stag dos - or the tolerable ones - are really brief and insanely indulgent. A 3 star Michelin restaurant then a brothel, then everyone went home
That was my favourite
Stag “weekends” are an abomination
How foul....
No, the best stag do's are leisurely. Did a magnificent one which involved sailing, stopping at various locations for some fine dining.
Sitting back on deck, with a fine breeze, discussing the champagne and the meaning of life, interrupted only by the call to tack...
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Just because 1 set of people broke the rules that doesn't give another set of people the right to break the rules.
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
I do, Labour, LD and SNP voters want to get Boris out, most 2019 Tory voters however still prefer Boris as PM not only over Starmer but over Sunak too as yesterday's RedfieldWilton showed
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
Telegraph claimed the other day that this will totally bugger up the smart meter network. Seemed far fetched to me.
I mean surely they haven't been that stupid have they?
It's not really stupidity. You have to go with something, and you go with what you have at the time. Sadly, smart meters are probably designed to last multiple decades, whilst the network technology shift beneath them.
How would you have implemented smart meters?
Not just that: railway signalling (GSM-R) is based on 2G as well, although ISTR much is on its own network. They're moving to 5G for the replacement, but that is not due to enter trials for a couple of years. By the time it's rolled out, 5G will be old news. Many other bits of infrastructure (critical and not) rely on 2G.
It's a significant issue. How do you implement modern technology on networks which rapidly evolve?
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
The best stag dos - or the tolerable ones - are really brief and insanely indulgent. A 3 star Michelin restaurant then a brothel, then everyone went home
That was my favourite
Stag “weekends” are an abomination
How foul....
No, the best stag do's are leisurely. Did a magnificent one which involved sailing, stopping at various locations for some fine dining.
Sitting back on deck, with a fine breeze, discussing the champagne and the meaning of life, interrupted only by the call to tack...
But that’s what I do every day, basically.
Maybe that’s why I dislike Stag Dos. They are generally an inferior version of my normal daily life, interrupted by boring anonymous bankers I have no desire to converse with
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the short-term, but also potentially more dangerous in the slightly longer-term.
One thing that we should have picked up on over the weekend and clearly didn't
davidallengreen @davidallengreen The weakness of this Prime Minister means he has had to set up a parallel whipping operation (and not the Whips Office)
His only cabinet support is from those who would not get such a job under any other Prime Minister
This is an extraordinary situation and is not sustainable
One thing I would much enjoy under a new PM is the certainty that JRM would be shown the door and back into irreverence. At least I really really hope he would,
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
The only appropriate response to this is that now well-established social media favourite - "LOL ! "
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Just because 1 set of people broke the rules that doesn't give another set of people the right to break the rules.
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
I do, Labour, LD and SNP voters want to get Boris out, most 2019 Tory voters however still prefer Boris as PM not only over Starmer but over Sunak too as yesterday's RedfieldWilton showed
What has a poll got to do with No 10 holding a meeting for 30 people (with cake) when the rules said no meetings of more than 2 people.
That's 2 attempts to change the conversation and it's not going to work as you are too obvious.
Everything as only the views of 2019 Tory voters and Tory MPs matter as to whether Boris stays PM until the next general election given the Tory majority of 80
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
Actually I forgot the stag trip for my best friend, which was enjoyable. 6 of us staying at my place in France and spending the days going round the Burgundy and Beaujolais countryside tasting and sourcing the wine for the wedding.
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
Telegraph claimed the other day that this will totally bugger up the smart meter network. Seemed far fetched to me.
I mean surely they haven't been that stupid have they?
It's not really stupidity. You have to go with something, and you go with what you have at the time. Sadly, smart meters are probably designed to last multiple decades, whilst the network technology shift beneath them.
How would you have implemented smart meters?
Not just that: railway signalling (GSM-R) is based on 2G as well, although ISTR much is on its own network. They're moving to 5G for the replacement, but that is not due to enter trials for a couple of years. By the time it's rolled out, 5G will be old news. Many other bits of infrastructure (critical and not) rely on 2G.
It's a significant issue. How do you implement modern technology on networks which rapidly evolve?
The issue is more how do you minimise bandwidth usage and costs.
using a mobile network isn't a great idea because they will have different priorities so you end up grabbing some bandwidth and then trying to maximise it's usage - and that is equally difficult but for different reasons as it may constrain future enhancements.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Medical workers, doctors and nurses , did do morale boosting Tik Tok dances at work and good on them.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses, who were so dedicated and so concerned about spreading Covid they slept in hospital accomodation for months without seeing their family members for weeks on end, thus missing birthday parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they caught Covid on the job and died, thus missing a life time of parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they brought Boris Johnson from the brink, so he could party.
So yes, why shouldn't NHS staff cheer themselves up with Tik Tok dances, Teams and Zoom parties? Boris Johnson didn't need Tik Tok dances or Zoom because he was indulging in the real thing, and often by the look of it.
The Tik Tok dances were absurd by the end. Embarrassing. Stop the fucking dancing, it can’t be that bad if you can work out a full 3 minute routine for 20 dancing parademics. Grow up
However, this does not exonerate the government. Boris has to go, morally. Enough. The question is whether he *has* to go, politically
Surely we are now at the point that further evidence of further parties hits the law of diminishing returns. Rather than building up a tsunami of outrage it generates ennui.
We know that Boris and his team at No 10 did not think that the rules applied to them. We know that the PM was both involved and aware of what was going on and at least tolerated it because he thought it did more harm than good. We know that he repeatedly lied both to the country and to Parliament about his knowledge and his involvement.
And yet he is still there. The 53 letters have not arrived. Calls to resign have been ignored and spurned. Wait for Gray, we are told but what can she possibly tell us that we do not already know?
Last night we saw a modest bounceback in the polls for the government. Still pretty awful but a reduced deficit. It was only 1 poll and we need more but has Boris got through this? It's starting to look that way to me.
The problem for Conservative MPs is that Boris doesn't think he did anything wrong and so isn't going to make changes either to his own activities or to how Downing Street operates.
Which means that there is going to be a constant stream of scandals and political fuckups as long as Boris is there.
If you're a Conservative MP do you want that as the backdrop for the next two years ?
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
If Gray is delayed for that reason I will march on Downing Street.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Just because 1 set of people broke the rules that doesn't give another set of people the right to break the rules.
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
I do, Labour, LD and SNP voters want to get Boris out, most 2019 Tory voters however still prefer Boris as PM not only over Starmer but over Sunak too as yesterday's RedfieldWilton showed
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
a) I very much doubt that is true
b) He should have known what was going on and stopped it
c) So what anyway. The rest of them shouldn't have been doing it either. Was nobody in charge?
If every business and every family did the same there would have been no lockdown at all. It would have been life as normal wouldn't it.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
But couldn't stop the non-stop parties in his garden
When I am unDictator of Britain, anyone holding party in my garden (which I can't go to) will have a Bill of Attainder against them before you can say Earl of Strafford 3 times.....
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
Just because 1 set of people broke the rules that doesn't give another set of people the right to break the rules.
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
I do, Labour, LD and SNP voters want to get Boris out, most 2019 Tory voters however still prefer Boris as PM not only over Starmer but over Sunak too as yesterday's RedfieldWilton showed
What has a poll got to do with No 10 holding a meeting for 30 people (with cake) when the rules said no meetings of more than 2 people.
That's 2 attempts to change the conversation and it's not going to work as you are too obvious.
Everything as only the views of 2019 Tory voters and Tory MPs matter as to whether Boris stays PM until the next general election given the Tory majority of 80
The only person talking about polling is use - if a Tory MP is happy to live with Boris as their leader they will have explaining to do at the next election.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
So the Met Police wait until a few days before the report is due to say they’ll investigate! Looks like Cressida is desperate to pay back no 10 for keeping her in post . This would be an outrageous move given they’ve had weeks to do this .
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Surely we are now at the point that further evidence of further parties hits the law of diminishing returns. Rather than building up a tsunami of outrage it generates ennui.
We know that Boris and his team at No 10 did not think that the rules applied to them. We know that the PM was both involved and aware of what was going on and at least tolerated it because he thought it did more harm than good. We know that he repeatedly lied both to the country and to Parliament about his knowledge and his involvement.
And yet he is still there. The 53 letters have not arrived. Calls to resign have been ignored and spurned. Wait for Gray, we are told but what can she possibly tell us that we do not already know?
Last night we saw a modest bounceback in the polls for the government. Still pretty awful but a reduced deficit. It was only 1 poll and we need more but has Boris got through this? It's starting to look that way to me.
The problem for Conservative MPs is that Boris doesn't think he did anything wrong and so isn't going to make changes either to his own activities or to how Downing Street operates.
Which means that there is going to be a constant stream of scandals and political fuckups as long as Boris is there.
If you're a Conservative MP do you want that as the backdrop for the next two years ?
I can only infer that the majority have looked at the alternatives and decided that they are better off where they are. They may be wrong of course but if that were not the case the story would have moved on already.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Dick is so much in Johnson's pocket, and his situation is now so desperate, I think that might actually be the plan. 6 months of lame duckery.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Personally I now regard birthdays as an achievement!
As I was born on the 29th February I only get one every four years anyway !!!!!!
In the 'off' years, do you celebrate on Feb 28th or March 1st? Personally I would do so on March 1st, as I increasing avoid celebrations in anticipation of an event. Particularly personal ones.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
But you know what... it's a tactic which a desperate person might use.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
Certainly is interesting timing from Dame Cressida. She'll say that it's because allegations have stepped up a notch, naturally, but it could be incredibly handy for the govt.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
But couldn't stop the non-stop parties in his garden
When I am unDictator of Britain, anyone holding party in my garden (which I can't go to) will have a Bill of Attainder against them before you can say Earl of Strafford 3 times.....
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
I depends what you do. A pointless drinking fest with stupid costumes which everyone really hates, but can't say that, or something interesting to those involved.
Actually I forgot the stag trip for my best friend, which was enjoyable. 6 of us staying at my place in France and spending the days going round the Burgundy and Beaujolais countryside tasting and sourcing the wine for the wedding.
That’s civilised and no doubt fun and reflects the best stag do’s I’ve been on but for pure evil you can’t beat hen parties.
You get a group of drunken women walk into the restaurant or bar with some of them wearing weird sashes like the worst Miss World competition ever. They have loads of helium balloons that get in everyone’s way but then they have giant inflatable cocks and cock shaped straws which are “hilarious” - especially when you look over at the French family enjoying their lunch on their weekend away trying to explain to their kids that this was the country that used to beat them in wars a lot.
Then if you have the misfortune to bump into a hen do in a bar or club later they have developed a Borisovian shield against the laws applying to them and decide that it’s quite alright to get gropey or try and grab you for a snog. If I wanted to be with an ugly drunk girl I would give Katy Price a call thanks…..
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
So the Met Police wait until a few days before the report is due to say they’ll investigate! Looks like Cressida is desperate to pay back no 10 for keeping her in post . This would be an outrageous move given they’ve had weeks to do this .
But, but but Sue Gray's report uncovered evidence that has to be investigated.
And we must do that immediately as otherwise time will be lost.
Sorry but I don't buy it. If Sue Gray has identified the people who attended you can just fine them the appropriate amounts (for each party they attended) and leave things there.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Are you saying that the reason the Met won't investigate the parties is because they turned up late to the parties. I wondered why I didn't see any coppers bopping in the pictures.
I might be a miserable grinch but what is this fucking obsession with grown adults having to celebrate every birthday?
I get it for children and I get it for special birthdays such as 50 but I am amazed how so many people I know in their 30’s and 40’s have to make such a fuss to the point where they have to have a whole weekend devoted to lunches or dinners.
Carrie bringing a cake into the office is just another example of this vapid nonsense about adults’ birthdays. Half the time it also seems to be more about the person throwing the celebration than the actual birthday boy or girl - “look what I’ve done, aren’t I marvellous, isn’t it the best cake, didn’t I do well”…..
PS it’s not my birthday today and I didn’t get any presents but really people, get over the birthday hype!
Birthday sex, that's why adults love to celebrate every birthday.
So I am told.
Haha! Sort of like Valentines night - things you should be doing all the time with your partner ruined by being diarised……
But the adults obsession with birthdays is ridiculous - cake, cards, presents, dinner with family or close friends - great - but I don’t give a crap if it’s a work colleague’s birthday and really don’t feel the need to have a cake and “picnic food” in the boardroom…..
It’s like the rise of stag and hen parties where now every poor bugger has to stump up a few grand to travel to Ibiza to drink Prosecco a few weeks before the wedding as well as attending the “home” stag/hen on top.
I get Boris is a man-child but….. I bet he wore a stupid pointy party hat.
Stag dos are the worst. Forced jollity like New Year’s Eve, but way more expensive
Closely followed by Valentine’s Day. One of the most tragic sights in the universe is a restaurant full of silent couples who have been married/partnered for years and have nothing to say to each other
Aaaargh
The only stag do I've enjoyed was one where I knew hardly any of the other guests beforehand. It was a good way to break the ice with people, particularly the groom (my now brother in law), who were about to become more regular features in my social circle. I think that's probably the only redeeming feature. Otherwise they are pants.
My stag do was great, and I put that down to having a female best man - she understood that it was pointless getting me so drunk that I couldn't remember the night.
@Leon will be along soon to lambast your comment for evidencing the downfall of western society.
It is a total beta move. You might as well stay home and play whist with your mum.
I wouldn't go to one now but I went to some brilliant ones when I was younger. I remember one in Llanduno (I was stationed at RAF Valley at the time) where we shaved the groom's pubes off and then spray painted his cock and balls. I recall the paint was Ford Nimbus Grey. He didn't get it all off before his wedding night.
When the same guy married again about 10 years later we put my motorbike lock round his neck on his stag night. I swallowed the key so he had to dig through my shit the next day to get it. (I can't claim creative credit for this, I saw it on the Dirty Sanchez TV show and was inspired.)
I've been to a few other much wilder ones in the Navy that I cannot detail as the usual pearl clutchers will get worked up.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
So the Met Police wait until a few days before the report is due to say they’ll investigate! Looks like Cressida is desperate to pay back no 10 for keeping her in post . This would be an outrageous move given they’ve had weeks to do this .
It really does not look very good. At all. The reek of corruption is heady
One thing that we should have picked up on over the weekend and clearly didn't
davidallengreen @davidallengreen The weakness of this Prime Minister means he has had to set up a parallel whipping operation (and not the Whips Office)
His only cabinet support is from those who would not get such a job under any other Prime Minister
This is an extraordinary situation and is not sustainable
One thing I would much enjoy under a new PM is the certainty that JRM would be shown the door and back into irreverence. At least I really really hope he would,
Yes, the clear out vs the survivors will be an interesting piece of theatre to watch, and one worthy of discussing odds.
Gone for good: - JRM - Patel - Dorries
Gone temporarily
- Kwarteng - Raab - Eustice - Braverman
Hanging on in there - Javid - Zahawi - Truss if she doesn't win PM - Sunak if he doesn't win PM - Ben Wallace - Sharma - Shapps - Gove?
Making a return - One of the CRG, probably Harper - A couple of young red wallers - who else? depends on who wins
Others I don't know well enough to read how they're seen
Mr. Oracle, not handy for the Government. Handy for Boris Johnson.
The Met's decision looks extremely convenient for him. The imminent report is set aside for months on end. The Commissioner who owes her improbable occupational survival spends some time investigating he whom secured her ongoing career.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
I think you're near. Something both vast and unchanging, and continually changing. If you're on the shore, added to that, this phenomenon is continually visiting you and departing you.
Certainly is interesting timing from Dame Cressida. She'll say that it's because allegations have stepped up a notch, naturally, but it could be incredibly handy for the govt.
It's a fecking disgrace. Done nothing for weeks and now just as Gray is typing the last few sentences, Dick of the Yard decides to wake up and plod along down to Westminster to have a little root around.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
Good. So you accept that he broke the law. Repeatedly.
A PM who repeatedly breaks the law should resign, yes?
"Vodafone to switch off UK 3G network by end of 2023 Change will force hundreds of thousands of older people and those in rural areas to upgrade mobiles
Vodafone, which has about 18 million UK mobile customers, is to turn off the almost two-decade-old network as usage dwindles to focus on using the freed up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks. However, the company, which is to phase out 3G along the same timeline as EE-owner BT, admits that there are hundreds of thousands of customers who have stuck with their 3G-only phones, particularly older owners who have not been enticed to join the smartphone revolution."
Not just phones either, there will thousands of 2010-era cars and other equipment with 3G modems attached, replacement or upgrade of which will not be as straightforward as upgrading a mobile phone.
That's 2G innit? That isn't getting closed down for around a decade.
Nope, it could equally well be 3G there was a time when the 3G chips were cheaper so hardware was designed to use the 3G rather than 2G network while remain compatible.
Telegraph claimed the other day that this will totally bugger up the smart meter network. Seemed far fetched to me.
I mean surely they haven't been that stupid have they?
It's not really stupidity. You have to go with something, and you go with what you have at the time. Sadly, smart meters are probably designed to last multiple decades, whilst the network technology shift beneath them.
How would you have implemented smart meters?
Not just that: railway signalling (GSM-R) is based on 2G as well, although ISTR much is on its own network. They're moving to 5G for the replacement, but that is not due to enter trials for a couple of years. By the time it's rolled out, 5G will be old news. Many other bits of infrastructure (critical and not) rely on 2G.
It's a significant issue. How do you implement modern technology on networks which rapidly evolve?
Very much so. I’m dealing with a project at work, which involves upgrading a distributed network of 3G modems that work as part of an industrial control system.
The modems replaced ISDN lines four or five years ago, and we are debating whether to upgrade the 3G to 4G, or revert back to phone lines, which are more secure and not tied to frequent upgrade cycles.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
For most of human history, being near water was essential for survival. So it is very likely just genetic survival instincts imo.
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
Oh FFS. Tell the sodding Met that as they are already late to the party they can delay a launch of investigation until end of the week when Gray has reported and MPs have debated.
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Dick is so much in Johnson's pocket, and his situation is now so desperate, I think that might actually be the plan. 6 months of lame duckery.
If Dick had stayed in Johnson’s pocket then maybe Boris would have had an easier life……
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
So the Met Police wait until a few days before the report is due to say they’ll investigate! Looks like Cressida is desperate to pay back no 10 for keeping her in post . This would be an outrageous move given they’ve had weeks to do this .
It really does not look very good. At all. The reek of corruption is heady
Does that theory not require a degree of competence or insight on the part of the preening Ms Dick? That seems unlikely to me.
Surely we are now at the point that further evidence of further parties hits the law of diminishing returns. Rather than building up a tsunami of outrage it generates ennui.
We know that Boris and his team at No 10 did not think that the rules applied to them. We know that the PM was both involved and aware of what was going on and at least tolerated it because he thought it did more harm than good. We know that he repeatedly lied both to the country and to Parliament about his knowledge and his involvement.
And yet he is still there. The 53 letters have not arrived. Calls to resign have been ignored and spurned. Wait for Gray, we are told but what can she possibly tell us that we do not already know?
Last night we saw a modest bounceback in the polls for the government. Still pretty awful but a reduced deficit. It was only 1 poll and we need more but has Boris got through this? It's starting to look that way to me.
The problem for Conservative MPs is that Boris doesn't think he did anything wrong and so isn't going to make changes either to his own activities or to how Downing Street operates.
Which means that there is going to be a constant stream of scandals and political fuckups as long as Boris is there.
If you're a Conservative MP do you want that as the backdrop for the next two years ?
Why on earth not. Boris hasn't changed for the past 30 years and the Cons MPs (even most of us on PB) knew this. Boris is Boris. Saying they must get rid of him now would be as absurd as buying a dog and being upset when it barks.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
And Russian soldiers are not threatening an invasion of Ukraine. They all just decided to go on holiday to the border regions at the same time for a spot of bird watching.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
NO ONE IS SOOTHED IF YOU SHOUT YOUR HEAD OFF ALL THE TIME.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
For most of human history, being near water was essential for survival. So it is very likely just genetic survival instincts imo.
The Sea is salt water - it provides food but not drinkable water, yet as Leon points out we head towards it for comfort.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
NO ONE IS SOOTHED IF YOU SHOUT YOUR HEAD OFF ALL THE TIME.
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
But couldn't stop the non-stop parties in his garden
When I am unDictator of Britain, anyone holding party in my garden (which I can't go to) will have a Bill of Attainder against them before you can say Earl of Strafford 3 times.....
If it's a decent party, we might not be able to.
Anyone working in government unable to say "Earl of Strafford" 3 times in succession, during working hours, will be on the list of Bills of Attainder....
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
Though I suspect if you were watching the sea in Southend or Blackpool in January rather than the warm Indian Ocean in the sun it may not be quite as soothing
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
And Russian soldiers are not threatening an invasion of Ukraine. They all just decided to go on holiday to the border regions at the same time for a spot of bird watching.
Well we know Russians like visiting cathedrals, so why not bird watching too!
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
NO ONE IS SOOTHED IF YOU SHOUT YOUR HEAD OFF ALL THE TIME.
The soothingness of the sea is a function of the fact that SeanT is floating behind the boat somewhere in your wake, in the vague middle distance. The cries are getting fainter.
Personally I now regard birthdays as an achievement!
As I was born on the 29th February I only get one every four years anyway !!!!!!
In the 'off' years, do you celebrate on Feb 28th or March 1st? Personally I would do so on March 1st, as I increasing avoid celebrations in anticipation of an event. Particularly personal ones.
As a child I had two as my mother always said I was born the first day after the 29th, ie 1st March but my father insisted I was born in February, ie 28th
I remember being in Cape Town hiring a car on the 1st March 2011 and my driving licence was 50 years old that day
2024 is my 20th birthday and 60th wedding anniversary, also a GE probably
“The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you’re older Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death”
Adults really SHOULD get over it
Morning. Feeling grey and Calvinist are we?
Quite the opposite. I am eating dal and devilled fish, on my balcony restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean. I am two beers into lunch after an excellent and satisfying morning of work, sunbathing and swimming. A soft Ceylonese breeze blows over the rustling palms (and, to be fair, the massive skyscraper being built next door)
I am blissfully content. This is literally my ideal.
Every day I wake up expecting to feel a bit grumpy (as I generally do in London in the winter). Here I wake up, look out the window, see the sun is blazing down, and I smile. True story
I can see why Arthur C Clarke retired here. The weather
Went to Sri Lanka on a cricket-watching trip quite a few years ago. Indeed, a very pleasant place to be.
Sri Lanka is my favourite place. My wife's family are from there and I'm hoping that we get to spend a lot more time there when we retire - I have visions of a hamock on a verandah, the sound of birds in the trees, a warm breeze with the aroma of something deliciously spicy cooking for lunch...
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
For most of human history, being near water was essential for survival. So it is very likely just genetic survival instincts imo.
I am sure the sense of freedom and escape is crucial in the way the sea subconsciously lifts us. It’s hard to feel stuck if you are right next to the sea. And even tho the water is salt, if you are by the sea you just have to walk down the shore and eventually - unless you are in terrible desert country - you will find a freshwater river greeting the sea
This is all encoded in our language. The fundamentality of the sea. The English word for “soul” comes from the Old English/Germanic “saiwalo” - meaning: “of the sea”
From the sea our souls have come, and to the sea our souls return
The rules were in place to protect us all. But they were set aside in Downing Street in order to keep morale high at the centre of government. They took a risk for us but gratitude has no place in politics so we condemn the hypocrisy. It's an old story.
Meanwhile top judoka Putin looks to exploit loss of balance in his opponents. Sees cake hysteria in Britain and abject protection of business interests in Germany, and wonders whether now is the moment before the great thaw in the border lands.
What utter bollocks, if not satire.
Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical professionals on the front line during the pandemic, more so than the staff in Downing Street weren't allowed to have morale boosting parties.
Bugger, beat me to it. And it wasn't just medical staff, there were care workers and even simple bus driver had a higher risk as was noted at the time from the stats due to increased exposure with the public just carring out their duties
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
NHS staff were doing dances on Tik Tok in hospitals in April 2020 and rightly no one stopped them as they deserved some stress relief, even if those dances may not have strictly been essential work
There are so many levels where that is not the same thing that I hope you aren't comparing what those frontline NHS staff were doing to the Downing St parties?
Boris attended no Downing Street party.
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
Good. So you accept that he broke the law. Repeatedly.
A PM who repeatedly breaks the law should resign, yes?
No, he was at No 10 doing essential work with a few breaks in between
Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
Hmm. Could be helpful for Johnson in the very short-term, but also more dangerous.
So the Met Police wait until a few days before the report is due to say they’ll investigate! Looks like Cressida is desperate to pay back no 10 for keeping her in post . This would be an outrageous move given they’ve had weeks to do this .
But, but but Sue Gray's report uncovered evidence that has to be investigated.
And we must do that immediately as otherwise time will be lost.
Sorry but I don't buy it. If Sue Gray has identified the people who attended you can just fine them the appropriate amounts (for each party they attended) and leave things there.
Total time required about 3 hours max.
The police have their own (separate from no 10) cctv of the parties, their officers were witnesses to people arriving and leaving. If they wanted to do anything it would be done already.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
Though I suspect if you were watching the sea in Southend or Blackpool in January rather than the warm Indian Ocean in the sun it may not be quite as soothing
I could drive up to Shields today (mainly because we have a family flat with a sea view) and just seeing the sea is soothing. The only time it isn't is when there is a full on storm and then because we are far enough in land to not be at risk of flooding the storm waves are equally mesmerising for different reasons.
* Don't go that often because it's only 40 minutes home.
Comments
I know you're a loyalist, but do you really have to follow the PM in taking the piss ?
May's over 60% was only not enough due to the disastrous local and European elections the following year, the local elections are more significant than Boris' margin of victory
Clearly this was work.
davidallengreen
@davidallengreen
The weakness of this Prime Minister means he has had to set up a parallel whipping operation (and not the Whips Office)
His only cabinet support is from those who would not get such a job under any other Prime Minister
This is an extraordinary situation and is not sustainable
'it’s probably the strangest birthday I’ve had since 1945, when I had either measles or chicken pox and had to stay in bed!' That was just before VE Day!
Mrs C cooked a festive steak meal, though just for the two of us, and we had a bottle of wine from the case given to me the previous Christmas. Entry also notes that family and friends sent me texts and emails.
I am blissfully content. This is literally my ideal.
Every day I wake up expecting to feel a bit grumpy (as I generally do in London in the winter). Here I wake up, look out the window, see the sun is blazing down, and I smile. True story
I can see why Arthur C Clarke retired here. The weather
Costumes have pretty much never featured. Drinking to excess and conversation with like-minded individuals (usually including my best friends, usually also including new and interesting people), and the odd fun activity thrown in - pitch and putt, go-karting, clay pigeon shooting, a quiz. The odd bit of light lairiness but nothing worthy of inclusion in a sitcom.
Basically just a really good night out, stretched over a long weekend.
I guess one could argue the staff at Downing St were taking a big risk by constantly going to bloody parties.
My point is, a la the expenses scandal, that it is a grey area. As I'm pretty sure we will find out with the Gray report. Every MP who submitted a "dodgy" expenses report had first had it cleared by the department dealing with expenses (some MPs of course actually broke the law).
No.10 is unique among all the "but my granny" stories because it is both a workplace and a home and the place from where the country is run.
That's not to say that public opinion nevertheless will not condemn him including at the ballot box because as you say the actions, though perhaps within the letter of the law, were nevertheless egregious enough to warrant public opinion censure.
I mean surely they haven't been that stupid have they?
We know that Boris and his team at No 10 did not think that the rules applied to them. We know that the PM was both involved and aware of what was going on and at least tolerated it because he thought it did more harm than good. We know that he repeatedly lied both to the country and to Parliament about his knowledge and his involvement.
And yet he is still there. The 53 letters have not arrived. Calls to resign have been ignored and spurned. Wait for Gray, we are told but what can she possibly tell us that we do not already know?
Last night we saw a modest bounceback in the polls for the government. Still pretty awful but a reduced deficit. It was only 1 poll and we need more but has Boris got through this? It's starting to look that way to me.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/23/killjoys-want-nhs-staff-stop-morale-boosting-tiktok-dances-12597107/amp/
No doubt the BBC are having fun at last
That was my favourite
Stag “weekends” are an abomination
You really don't grasp the issue do you...
Talked to a few Ukrainian politicians today who were very grateful for new weapons coming into Ukraine. The UK got a special shout out.
https://twitter.com/mcfaul/status/1485816683373613056?s=21
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses, who were so dedicated and so concerned about spreading Covid they slept in hospital accomodation for months without seeing their family members for weeks on end, thus missing birthday parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they caught Covid on the job and died, thus missing a life time of parties.
There were medical workers, doctors and nurses who were so dedicated they brought Boris Johnson from the brink, so he could party.
So yes, why shouldn't NHS staff cheer themselves up with Tik Tok dances, Teams and Zoom parties? Boris Johnson didn't need Tik Tok dances or Zoom because he was indulging in the real thing, and often by the look of it.
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-24-january-2022/
https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/1485908017006665732
Guido Fawkes
@GuidoFawkes
According to Guido sources Downing Street has been advised that Cressida Dick intends to tell the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee this morning that the Metropolitan Police will now investigate #partygate.
No, the best stag do's are leisurely. Did a magnificent one which involved sailing, stopping at various locations for some fine dining.
Sitting back on deck, with a fine breeze, discussing the champagne and the meaning of life, interrupted only by the call to tack...
That's 2 attempts to change the conversation and it's not going to work as you are too obvious.
How would you have implemented smart meters?
Not just that: railway signalling (GSM-R) is based on 2G as well, although ISTR much is on its own network. They're moving to 5G for the replacement, but that is not due to enter trials for a couple of years. By the time it's rolled out, 5G will be old news. Many other bits of infrastructure (critical and not) rely on 2G.
It's a significant issue. How do you implement modern technology on networks which rapidly evolve?
Maybe that’s why I dislike Stag Dos. They are generally an inferior version of my normal daily life, interrupted by boring anonymous bankers I have no desire to converse with
He had one drink after work in the garden sitting down and got 1 cake bought to him at work by his wife then returned to work
using a mobile network isn't a great idea because they will have different priorities so you end up grabbing some bandwidth and then trying to maximise it's usage - and that is equally difficult but for different reasons as it may constrain future enhancements.
However, this does not exonerate the government. Boris has to go, morally. Enough. The question is whether he *has* to go, politically
Which means that there is going to be a constant stream of scandals and political fuckups as long as Boris is there.
If you're a Conservative MP do you want that as the backdrop for the next two years ?
Germany, on the other hand - well the mayor of the Ukranian capital wrote a column in a German newspaper, telling them to grow a spine. Oh, and Mr Klitchko used to be a heavyweight boxer!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/01/24/germany-has-betrayed-ukraine-says-vitali-klitschko/
b) He should have known what was going on and stopped it
c) So what anyway. The rest of them shouldn't have been doing it either. Was nobody in charge?
If every business and every family did the same there would have been no lockdown at all. It would have been life as normal wouldn't it.
When I am unDictator of Britain, anyone holding party in my garden (which I can't go to) will have a Bill of Attainder against them before you can say Earl of Strafford 3 times.....
https://twitter.com/VictimOfMaths/status/1485570730867765251?s=20
Otherwise, we are just going to hear the words: "this is now a live police investigation and you will understand why i can't comment further at this time" every hour for next six months.
Particularly personal ones.
That is the big question of the day. Because it is. You look at it, especially in warm sun, and something inside is calmed and stilled. is it the changing changelessness? The eternity-ness? Does it remind of us of the amniotic wash of the womb? The maternal heartbeat of the crumpling waves? Never ending and reassuring?
Or is it the ozone? Or the promise of other places? Escape? Or the idea of sushi?
*turns to look at sea*
*is soothed*
You get a group of drunken women walk into the restaurant or bar with some of them wearing weird sashes like the worst Miss World competition ever. They have loads of helium balloons that get in everyone’s way but then they have giant inflatable cocks and cock shaped straws which are “hilarious” - especially when you look over at the French family enjoying their lunch on their weekend away trying to explain to their kids that this was the country that used to beat them in wars a lot.
Then if you have the misfortune to bump into a hen do in a bar or club later they have developed a Borisovian shield against the laws applying to them and decide that it’s quite alright to get gropey or try and grab you for a snog. If I wanted to be with an ugly drunk girl I would give Katy Price a call thanks…..
And we must do that immediately as otherwise time will be lost.
Sorry but I don't buy it. If Sue Gray has identified the people who attended you can just fine them the appropriate amounts (for each party they attended) and leave things there.
Total time required about 3 hours max.
I wouldn't go to one now but I went to some brilliant ones when I was younger. I remember one in Llanduno (I was stationed at RAF Valley at the time) where we shaved the groom's pubes off and then spray painted his cock and balls. I recall the paint was Ford Nimbus Grey. He didn't get it all off before his wedding night.
When the same guy married again about 10 years later we put my motorbike lock round his neck on his stag night. I swallowed the key so he had to dig through my shit the next day to get it. (I can't claim creative credit for this, I saw it on the Dirty Sanchez TV show and was inspired.)
I've been to a few other much wilder ones in the Navy that I cannot detail as the usual pearl clutchers will get worked up.
Gone for good:
- JRM
- Patel
- Dorries
Gone temporarily
- Kwarteng
- Raab
- Eustice
- Braverman
Hanging on in there
- Javid
- Zahawi
- Truss if she doesn't win PM
- Sunak if he doesn't win PM
- Ben Wallace
- Sharma
- Shapps
- Gove?
Making a return
- One of the CRG, probably Harper
- A couple of young red wallers
- who else? depends on who wins
Others I don't know well enough to read how they're seen
The Met's decision looks extremely convenient for him. The imminent report is set aside for months on end. The Commissioner who owes her improbable occupational survival spends some time investigating he whom secured her ongoing career.
It looks alarmingly dubious.
A PM who repeatedly breaks the law should resign, yes?
The modems replaced ISDN lines four or five years ago, and we are debating whether to upgrade the 3G to 4G, or revert back to phone lines, which are more secure and not tied to frequent upgrade cycles.
'Tis a sharp remedy, but a sure cure......
Time for tea...
I remember being in Cape Town hiring a car on the 1st March 2011 and my driving licence was 50 years old that day
2024 is my 20th birthday and 60th wedding anniversary, also a GE probably
This is all encoded in our language. The fundamentality of the sea. The English word for “soul” comes from the Old English/Germanic “saiwalo” - meaning: “of the sea”
From the sea our souls have come, and to the sea our souls return
I have only had two beers. Wait til my third
* Don't go that often because it's only 40 minutes home.