Has he had a proper public booing before? Part of me thinks he must have, but I'm not sure when.
For someone who gives the impression of needing to be liked (in a way that, George Osbourne, say, didn't), it must hurt.
Boris was always going to get a damn good shoeing, because....HM the Queen alone on the night before Phillip's funeral. Regardless of whether Boris was present at the partying, he oversaw the culture. Said at the time it came out it was the sort of thing you don't get over - especially when those most aggrieved would be largely Conservative ladies of a certain age.
I also suspect a lot of people think Boris was personally at that party. His apology sort of made it sound like he was and rarely is it made clear he wasn't.
His problem is now that a significant section of the electorate still wouldn't believe him if the Dalai Lama produced a picture of them in orbit together that evening at the International Space Station...
So, you say he was skiving and not socially distancing...
Her Majesty will not attend the Epsom Derby tomorrow but is expected to watch it on television at Windsor Castle. The Princess Royal is expected to attend, representing her mother 🐎 #PlatinumJubilee
Her Majesty will not attend the Epsom Derby tomorrow but is expected to watch it on television at Windsor Castle. The Princess Royal is expected to attend, representing her mother 🐎 #PlatinumJubilee
Bloody WFH....
Must be well knackered if she is passing up the Derby
My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.
I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working
There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.
Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards
As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto
“Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”
None of which alters the fact that the polling shows that a growing plurality believe leaving was a mistake.
Nah not really. Well, depending on what timescale you look at. In the last 4 years it has stayed pretty static at around 50% thinking it was wrong to leave and 40% thinking it was right. It moves up and down by a few % points and in the middle of the pandemic there were a couple of polls that showed a very small lead for 'right to leave'. But overall the numbers have not really changed for the last 4 years.
So a 'growing plurality' is not really an accurate description.
I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.
Care to elaborate?
EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.
I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.
I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).
Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.
I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo
OK an ex Lib Dem, but still
Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy
I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
"strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.
On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"
What's her legal options for answering?
Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
I’m sure you are sincere. So am I. I’ve spent too much of my life (about ten minutes) thinking about this ludicrous “trial” and now I can’t be arsed to spend a minute more
Ca suffit. I am off to Tbilisi’s biggest Carrefour to buy some olive oil and hopefully some decent tonic. Ah, the exotic excitement!
I recommend gin with the tonic, rather than olive oil.
Comments
So a 'growing plurality' is not really an accurate description.