We are now 18 months into Brexit and after huge disruption to my business I can finally get a real picture, in financial terms, of just what a bad move Brexit it has been for my company and every other importer. https://twitter.com/DanielLambert29/status/1532991072158220288
My conclusion is very simple. Not matter how many FTAs the U.K. gets, the one with our nearest neighbours is the most important. You can’t argue against geography, and the Global Covid reboot clearly shows this. We live in a just in time world, Brexit is the exact opposite.
What an utter scruff our Prime Minister, he's worse than Steptoe Corbyn.
That tie isn't aligned properly with the shirt.
He'd also be better off with a double breasted waistcoat.
Morning suits are meant to make the man look so elegant and classy (which is why I regularly wear them) but he doesn't look at all good in one.
He doesn't have a good body for clothes, with his short neck, and hunched obesity, but even so! His lack of sartorial effort on such a day shows real contempt for others and the occasion. Carrie looked presentable though, and clearly looks after herself well.
being a natural scruff myself , I do have sympathy for him . It is not contempt for an occasion but a genuine inability to dress to the high standards of formal dress. Just like some people cannot drive or draw or do math , some people genuinely cannot dress or look smart
Yes, except Boris is rich and powerful and could access the best stylists and tailors. He could also look in the mirror and straighten his tie. Look at the transformation of Jeremy Corbyn. But this is not being naturally scruffy; he works at it. Boris's ill-fitting, stained clothes are a deliberate choice, as is messing up his hair.
The trouble with an affectation like that (and scruffy Boris is an affectation) is that, after a while, the affectation becomes the person.
On topic, the dignified way of walking would be for a tame doctor to tell him he had to retire for the sake of his health. Utterly dishonest, of course, but that's totes on-brand.
He won't walk. He will be dragged out, fighting to hold the doorframe as he goes with no dignity at all.
I think he survives the VONC for the reason that each faction is uncertain of their chances and suspicious of their rivals. Johnson has nibbled them all, so that he can hold on.
I think he would walk if the cabinet all ganged up on him. I don't think that's at all likely though.
Him being booed yesterday was an irrelevance. After all what sort of half-wit goes to a Jubilee event and boos anyone.
The sort of half-wit that previously voted for Johnson.
I used to love it back in the day when it was a real place with a properly edgy vibe. Then gentrification took over. The lambretta seats went, and in came all sorts of trendy eateries and shops selling fancy things at exorbitant prices.
Two of my young guests yesterday announced that they're leaving London next month for a provincial city. Now that they can predominantly work from home they no longer find London an attractive proposition. They'd rather be in a city where you can easily walk or cycle from one part to the other in a matter of minutes.
Which ‘provincial city?’
Brizzle
I was being coy in case they read this!!!!
Hmmm. They may find it a bit bigger than they expect, speaking as somebody who used to live there.
But it is a lovely city.
Good on you, Bristolian.
One of them grew up there and spent the first 20 years of their life in it so knows it very well. A return to their roots. I think it's fairly easy to get around in minutes on foot or bike as long as you don't mind the steep climb up to Clifton etc.
The regeneration around the harbour is superb. Brilliant food to be had as well these days.
Well, I was in Downend and Frenchay, so rather out on a limb and that may have coloured my views.
But as you say there is a great deal to enjoy there.
If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham. What it lacks in beauty it makes up in energy. It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2. For salaried jobs in many industries, it is pretty much at London wages. And the property prices.... very affordable, as in you can actually buy a nice house/flat in a nice area for the money that you earn in a professional job. You can have the 15 minute lifestyle if that is what you want. Makes me wonder about all the criticism of house prices. There is no problem at all in large parts of the country. It really is concentrated in the south east, and for many people, the best answer is simply to move. My own assessment of London before quitting it 10 years ago was that it is fine if you either have serious wealth or are building up a career in your twenties. But there is no point sticking around beyond that.
I lived in Birmingham in the 1980s. Let’s just say it’s improved somewhat since then. Not sure if it’s still the same now, but back then it felt like a collection of smaller towns that had come together - Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville, Balsall Heath, etc - rather than a single entity that had grown outwards. All those places and many others had very different personalities. And that’s before you moved into the Black Country, which will never, ever, be Brum.
Let's explore the context of your comment in the context of darkage's earlier: "If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham..... It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2."
Well it's not going to be 45 minutes from any of Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville or Balsall Heath. All are, together with most of the rest of Birmingham and the Black Country, heavily integrated into the rail hub that is Birmingham New Street. There are some tweaks planned, but they're not going to alter the situation for most. So for rail travellers the choice will still be: - Either arrive at Birmingham New Street and allow at least 30 mins to get out of the station and make a stress filled dash across to Curzon Street to catch HS2. - Or just walk across the concourse to the neighbouring platform at New Street to get on a West Coast main line service that takes about 35 minutes longer to get there than HS2. Just a 5 minute difference.
If you're coming from Wolverhampton or Sandwell the choice is even simpler, you don't even need to get off the WCML service while it stops at New Street.
So in contrast to what are no doubt fantastical passenger number figures built into the HS2 business case, I just can't see HS2 being a draw to rail travellers from Birmingham and the Black Country to London. The vast majority will continue to use the WCML (or the Chiltern Line which is far cheaper than the WCML and will be even cheaper still than HS2.)
Curzon Street will be more convenient to business people travelling from London for the occasional meeting in Birmingham City Centre (although whether there are going to be many meetings going forward might be questioned given the with the widespread adoption of Zoom etc.) But that amounts to an added benefit to businesses and their employees based in London. Hardly levelling up is it?
“The PM would have to have a skin as thick as a rhino — and his advisers must be as thick as porridge — not to realise what’s going on.” PM's allies turn on Tory Euro-plotters. Sections of jubilee crowd turn on the PM https://www.ft.com/content/3e59b029-8790-4f67-8aca-2977b309464f
So they won't realise?
They've already admitted to being really thick as their partygate defence, so its not even an insult!
I used to love it back in the day when it was a real place with a properly edgy vibe. Then gentrification took over. The lambretta seats went, and in came all sorts of trendy eateries and shops selling fancy things at exorbitant prices.
Two of my young guests yesterday announced that they're leaving London next month for a provincial city. Now that they can predominantly work from home they no longer find London an attractive proposition. They'd rather be in a city where you can easily walk or cycle from one part to the other in a matter of minutes.
Which ‘provincial city?’
Brizzle
I was being coy in case they read this!!!!
Hmmm. They may find it a bit bigger than they expect, speaking as somebody who used to live there.
But it is a lovely city.
Good on you, Bristolian.
One of them grew up there and spent the first 20 years of their life in it so knows it very well. A return to their roots. I think it's fairly easy to get around in minutes on foot or bike as long as you don't mind the steep climb up to Clifton etc.
The regeneration around the harbour is superb. Brilliant food to be had as well these days.
Well, I was in Downend and Frenchay, so rather out on a limb and that may have coloured my views.
But as you say there is a great deal to enjoy there.
If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham. What it lacks in beauty it makes up in energy. It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2. For salaried jobs in many industries, it is pretty much at London wages. And the property prices.... very affordable, as in you can actually buy a nice house/flat in a nice area for the money that you earn in a professional job. You can have the 15 minute lifestyle if that is what you want. Makes me wonder about all the criticism of house prices. There is no problem at all in large parts of the country. It really is concentrated in the south east, and for many people, the best answer is simply to move. My own assessment of London before quitting it 10 years ago was that it is fine if you either have serious wealth or are building up a career in your twenties. But there is no point sticking around beyond that.
I lived in Birmingham in the 1980s. Let’s just say it’s improved somewhat since then. Not sure if it’s still the same now, but back then it felt like a collection of smaller towns that had come together - Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville, Balsall Heath, etc - rather than a single entity that had grown outwards. All those places and many others had very different personalities. And that’s before you moved into the Black Country, which will never, ever, be Brum.
Let's explore the context of your comment in the context of darkage's earlier: "If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham..... It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2."
Well it's not going to be 45 minutes from any of Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville or Balsall Heath. All are, together with most of the rest of Birmingham and the Black Country, heavily integrated into the rail hub that is Birmingham New Street. There are some tweaks planned, but they're not going to alter the situation for most. So for rail travellers the choice will still be: - Either arrive at Birmingham New Street and allow at least 30 mins to get out of the station and make a stress filled dash across to Curzon Street to catch HS2. - Or just walk across the concourse to the neighbouring platform at New Street to get on a West Coast main line service that takes about 35 minutes longer to get there than HS2. Just a 5 minute difference.
If you're coming from Wolverhampton or Sandwell the choice is even simpler, you don't even need to get off the WCML service while it stops at New Street.
So in contrast to what are no doubt fantastical passenger number figures built into the HS2 business case, I just can't see HS2 being a draw to rail travellers from Birmingham and the Black Country to London. The vast majority will continue to use the WCML (or the Chiltern Line which is far cheaper than the WCML and will be even cheaper still than HS2.)
Curzon Street will be more convenient to business people travelling from London for the occasional meeting in Birmingham City Centre (although whether there are going to be many meetings going forward might be questioned given the with the widespread adoption of Zoom etc.) But that amounts to an added benefit to businesses and their employees based in London. Hardly levelling up is it?
It's a ten minute walk from New Street to Curzon Street...
Edit - also, you're making some false assumptions about the speed of the trains from New Street. When the Pendolinos are retired they will not be replaced with more titling trains, because HS2 will be carrying the fast traffic. So you can extend journey times to London on the WCML (which will in any case be needed for more pathways).
You will still be able to get to London from New Street, but it will take about 100 minutes. As against that, there will be more frequent and probably rather cheaper trains.
So your five minutes has become 45, but at lower cost and more regular intervals.
In the unlikely event of a successful VONC there could be some amusing options for Starmer. If the new leader us currently in the Cabinet they will recently have been desperately proving their loyalty, publicly at least, so come the first PMQs Starmer could probably truthfully point out not even the new leader thought they should be PM, so theres something they agree on.
I know Alistair Campbell thought it should have been on the news yesterday but I suspect the booing will be once politics resumes on Monday.
Why? It only takes one person booing for it to be heard in a crowd. It is not newsworthy at all
That's rubbish. One person booing in a crowd of 10,000 cheering is not going to be heard unless you are right alongside him. It was clearly not just one person booing - the large majority, I'd say.
In the unlikely event of a successful VONC there could be some amusing options for Starmer. If the new leader us currently in the Cabinet they will recently have been desperately proving their loyalty, publicly at least, so come the first PMQs Starmer could probably truthfully point out not even the new leader thought they should be PM, so theres something they agree on.
The retort? "Sadly for the Rt Hon gentlemen, there is now no vacancy for the foreseeable future...."
I used to love it back in the day when it was a real place with a properly edgy vibe. Then gentrification took over. The lambretta seats went, and in came all sorts of trendy eateries and shops selling fancy things at exorbitant prices.
Two of my young guests yesterday announced that they're leaving London next month for a provincial city. Now that they can predominantly work from home they no longer find London an attractive proposition. They'd rather be in a city where you can easily walk or cycle from one part to the other in a matter of minutes.
Which ‘provincial city?’
Brizzle
I was being coy in case they read this!!!!
Hmmm. They may find it a bit bigger than they expect, speaking as somebody who used to live there.
But it is a lovely city.
Good on you, Bristolian.
One of them grew up there and spent the first 20 years of their life in it so knows it very well. A return to their roots. I think it's fairly easy to get around in minutes on foot or bike as long as you don't mind the steep climb up to Clifton etc.
The regeneration around the harbour is superb. Brilliant food to be had as well these days.
Well, I was in Downend and Frenchay, so rather out on a limb and that may have coloured my views.
But as you say there is a great deal to enjoy there.
If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham. What it lacks in beauty it makes up in energy. It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2. For salaried jobs in many industries, it is pretty much at London wages. And the property prices.... very affordable, as in you can actually buy a nice house/flat in a nice area for the money that you earn in a professional job. You can have the 15 minute lifestyle if that is what you want. Makes me wonder about all the criticism of house prices. There is no problem at all in large parts of the country. It really is concentrated in the south east, and for many people, the best answer is simply to move. My own assessment of London before quitting it 10 years ago was that it is fine if you either have serious wealth or are building up a career in your twenties. But there is no point sticking around beyond that.
I lived in Birmingham in the 1980s. Let’s just say it’s improved somewhat since then. Not sure if it’s still the same now, but back then it felt like a collection of smaller towns that had come together - Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville, Balsall Heath, etc - rather than a single entity that had grown outwards. All those places and many others had very different personalities. And that’s before you moved into the Black Country, which will never, ever, be Brum.
Let's explore the context of your comment in the context of darkage's earlier: "If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham..... It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2."
Well it's not going to be 45 minutes from any of Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville or Balsall Heath. All are, together with most of the rest of Birmingham and the Black Country, heavily integrated into the rail hub that is Birmingham New Street. There are some tweaks planned, but they're not going to alter the situation for most. So for rail travellers the choice will still be: - Either arrive at Birmingham New Street and allow at least 30 mins to get out of the station and make a stress filled dash across to Curzon Street to catch HS2. - Or just walk across the concourse to the neighbouring platform at New Street to get on a West Coast main line service that takes about 35 minutes longer to get there than HS2. Just a 5 minute difference.
If you're coming from Wolverhampton or Sandwell the choice is even simpler, you don't even need to get off the WCML service while it stops at New Street.
So in contrast to what are no doubt fantastical passenger number figures built into the HS2 business case, I just can't see HS2 being a draw to rail travellers from Birmingham and the Black Country to London. The vast majority will continue to use the WCML (or the Chiltern Line which is far cheaper than the WCML and will be even cheaper still than HS2.)
Curzon Street will be more convenient to business people travelling from London for the occasional meeting in Birmingham City Centre (although whether there are going to be many meetings going forward might be questioned given the with the widespread adoption of Zoom etc.) But that amounts to an added benefit to businesses and their employees based in London. Hardly levelling up is it?
It's a ten minute walk from New Street to Curzon Street...
Edit - also, you're making some false assumptions about the speed of the trains from New Street. When the Pendolinos are retired they will not be replaced with more titling trains, because HS2 will be carrying the fast traffic. So you can extend journey times to London on the WCML (which will in any case be needed for more pathways).
You will still be able to get to London from New Street, but it will take about 100 minutes. As against that, there will be more frequent and probably rather cheaper trains.
So your five minutes has become 45, but at lower cost and more regular intervals.
For most people, the issue is not “is this the fastest train” as much as “does this train avoid me having to change somewhere” or “will this train get me closest to my destination”.
I know Alistair Campbell thought it should have been on the news yesterday but I suspect the booing will be once politics resumes on Monday.
Why? It only takes one person booing for it to be heard in a crowd. It is not newsworthy at all
That's rubbish. One person booing in a crowd of 10,000 cheering is not going to be heard unless you are right alongside him. It was clearly not just one person booing - the large majority, I'd say.
The Boris inner circle do seem to be getting increasingly deluded, and the loyal press rather transparent.
From my perspective it’s all good news if it means the fall is harder and causes more collateral damage to the party. I still have a suspicion they’ll be able to pull off one of those Dr Who rebirths where a new leader somehow convinces everyone they have a brand new government.
In the unlikely event of a successful VONC there could be some amusing options for Starmer. If the new leader us currently in the Cabinet they will recently have been desperately proving their loyalty, publicly at least, so come the first PMQs Starmer could probably truthfully point out not even the new leader thought they should be PM, so theres something they agree on.
Possibly ... though surely SKS is not the best person to make this point.
He loyally fought GE 2019 to make Corbyn PM -- someone apparently now so toxic that SKS can't even let him stand as a Labour candidate.
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
In the unlikely event of a successful VONC there could be some amusing options for Starmer. If the new leader us currently in the Cabinet they will recently have been desperately proving their loyalty, publicly at least, so come the first PMQs Starmer could probably truthfully point out not even the new leader thought they should be PM, so theres something they agree on.
The retort? "Sadly for the Rt Hon gentlemen, there is now no vacancy for the foreseeable future...."
Not much a retort since it doesn't counter the true fact that the PM will have been removed by his peers, presumably for being crap, but the one replacing him not want that. Starmer could just jibe back that his predecessor probably thought he was going nowhere too.
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
Yet Tory ministers seem convinced the Beeb is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
You just, but some have at least suggested a British political equivalent with the fear Boris will use his now restored ability to call a GE to punish the party, either to forestall a VONC, or in its aftermath, unless he is given a face saver.
Vote him out, then make him plenipotentiary for matters relating to Ukraine, that'd give him a face saver and focus on an area of strength, and maintain relations he has built there.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
If I were attempting a character analysis of Johnson I would guess that he responds to public booing (which he has been treated to before, but never at so high-profile an event) with a desire not to shrink away from the light but to try to become popular again. That is how he has functioned thus far in his career, which seems to consist purely of crests and troughs.
Tory MPs who want to see the back of him should therefore take the initiative themselves rather than wait for him to do so.
If they want him to go, they ought to encourage obvious contenders to emerge, probably sneakily from within cabinet. Hunt as current lead contender doesn't really inspire; why replace a Prime Minister who hides in fridges with one who hides behind trees?
Tugendhat is impressive but I think the prospective replacement is likely to be someone who is currently a member of the cabinet.
I don’t think Tugendhat will get it as I think he’s “too confident and able”. This might seems silly but I have a theory, which is probably bollocks, that all Tory leaders are chosen because there is a large rump of MPs who choose someone they think they can “control”.
I think a lot would have looked at Boris and thought “well he’s a lightweight showman but he’ll get us elected and we can do all the work and make the decisions by the scenes and he will just be a figurehead”.
With May they might have thought “she’s a dull administrator so whilst she’s doing the paperwork we can show our individuality and brio and get things done because she will be happy shuffling paper and being a good technocrat.”
Cameron “he’s young and posh, we can guide him and get him to do what we want from behind the scenes”.
IDS “he’s an idiot, we can do what we want”.
Howard “placeholder, young cardinals vote for old popes”.
Hague - similar to Cameron.
So I think a lot would look at Truss and think too headstrong, Hunt not able to be manipulated. Will probably go for a blank canvas they think they can put their own design on and as usual be unpleasantly surprised when that person doesn’t do things the way they thought.
Interesting theory and new to me. Conservative MPs, maybe you're right. Labour MPs not so much - the idea of controlling either of Blair or Brown is a definite LOL.
I used to love it back in the day when it was a real place with a properly edgy vibe. Then gentrification took over. The lambretta seats went, and in came all sorts of trendy eateries and shops selling fancy things at exorbitant prices.
Two of my young guests yesterday announced that they're leaving London next month for a provincial city. Now that they can predominantly work from home they no longer find London an attractive proposition. They'd rather be in a city where you can easily walk or cycle from one part to the other in a matter of minutes.
Which ‘provincial city?’
Brizzle
I was being coy in case they read this!!!!
Hmmm. They may find it a bit bigger than they expect, speaking as somebody who used to live there.
But it is a lovely city.
Good on you, Bristolian.
One of them grew up there and spent the first 20 years of their life in it so knows it very well. A return to their roots. I think it's fairly easy to get around in minutes on foot or bike as long as you don't mind the steep climb up to Clifton etc.
The regeneration around the harbour is superb. Brilliant food to be had as well these days.
Well, I was in Downend and Frenchay, so rather out on a limb and that may have coloured my views.
But as you say there is a great deal to enjoy there.
If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham. What it lacks in beauty it makes up in energy. It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2. For salaried jobs in many industries, it is pretty much at London wages. And the property prices.... very affordable, as in you can actually buy a nice house/flat in a nice area for the money that you earn in a professional job. You can have the 15 minute lifestyle if that is what you want. Makes me wonder about all the criticism of house prices. There is no problem at all in large parts of the country. It really is concentrated in the south east, and for many people, the best answer is simply to move. My own assessment of London before quitting it 10 years ago was that it is fine if you either have serious wealth or are building up a career in your twenties. But there is no point sticking around beyond that.
I lived in Birmingham in the 1980s. Let’s just say it’s improved somewhat since then. Not sure if it’s still the same now, but back then it felt like a collection of smaller towns that had come together - Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville, Balsall Heath, etc - rather than a single entity that had grown outwards. All those places and many others had very different personalities. And that’s before you moved into the Black Country, which will never, ever, be Brum.
Let's explore the context of your comment in the context of darkage's earlier: "If I was young I'd be off to Birmingham..... It is going to be 45 minutes to London in a couple of years on HS2."
Well it's not going to be 45 minutes from any of Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville or Balsall Heath. All are, together with most of the rest of Birmingham and the Black Country, heavily integrated into the rail hub that is Birmingham New Street. There are some tweaks planned, but they're not going to alter the situation for most. So for rail travellers the choice will still be: - Either arrive at Birmingham New Street and allow at least 30 mins to get out of the station and make a stress filled dash across to Curzon Street to catch HS2. - Or just walk across the concourse to the neighbouring platform at New Street to get on a West Coast main line service that takes about 35 minutes longer to get there than HS2. Just a 5 minute difference.
If you're coming from Wolverhampton or Sandwell the choice is even simpler, you don't even need to get off the WCML service while it stops at New Street.
So in contrast to what are no doubt fantastical passenger number figures built into the HS2 business case, I just can't see HS2 being a draw to rail travellers from Birmingham and the Black Country to London. The vast majority will continue to use the WCML (or the Chiltern Line which is far cheaper than the WCML and will be even cheaper still than HS2.)
Curzon Street will be more convenient to business people travelling from London for the occasional meeting in Birmingham City Centre (although whether there are going to be many meetings going forward might be questioned given the with the widespread adoption of Zoom etc.) But that amounts to an added benefit to businesses and their employees based in London. Hardly levelling up is it?
It's a ten minute walk from New Street to Curzon Street...
Edit - also, you're making some false assumptions about the speed of the trains from New Street. When the Pendolinos are retired they will not be replaced with more titling trains, because HS2 will be carrying the fast traffic. So you can extend journey times to London on the WCML (which will in any case be needed for more pathways).
You will still be able to get to London from New Street, but it will take about 100 minutes. As against that, there will be more frequent and probably rather cheaper trains.
So your five minutes has become 45, but at lower cost and more regular intervals.
For most people, the issue is not “is this the fastest train” as much as “does this train avoid me having to change somewhere” or “will this train get me closest to my destination”.
That is true. And it is also possible that there will still be 125mph trains from New Street if the right models are bought - the class 397s and 802s can manage 125mph without tilt due to their acceleration.
But realistically there is no way of providing a better service to London, with more trains, while keeping everything at New Street. It's too cramped, too inconvenient and there is no way to expand the site - even the amount of work being done at Euston would barely scratch the surface of its problems and would be even more expensive.
And Curzon Street, a ten minute walk or one stop on the Metro, being a helpful brownfield site with plenty of room, is a realistic compromise.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
On topic, I don't really think there is a genuinely face-saving way to step aside.
Nobody looks back on Anthony Eden now and says, "How sad that he had to resign due to ill-health, just as he was beginning his fightback after the whole Suez thing." They see it as it was - support had drained away after policy failings and misleading the House.
Yes. The only way for Johnson to save face now is to tough it out, see off the challenge, prove his continuing popularity with the electorate by winning the next general election and then standing aside after exceeding Cameron's length of tenure tidying up Brexit, winning the war in Ukraine and levelling up the North.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
What do you define as "risks escalating" though?
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
I know Alistair Campbell thought it should have been on the news yesterday but I suspect the booing will be once politics resumes on Monday.
Why? It only takes one person booing for it to be heard in a crowd. It is not newsworthy at all
That's rubbish. One person booing in a crowd of 10,000 cheering is not going to be heard unless you are right alongside him. It was clearly not just one person booing - the large majority, I'd say.
The Boris inner circle do seem to be getting increasingly deluded, and the loyal press rather transparent.
From my perspective it’s all good news if it means the fall is harder and causes more collateral damage to the party. I still have a suspicion they’ll be able to pull off one of those Dr Who rebirths where a new leader somehow convinces everyone they have a brand new government.
It's a good trick if you can do it, and the Conservatives have a better track record than Labour. But.
This would be the third time in a row that a Conservative PM elected in a General Election hasn't made it to the next one. And if once is unfortunate (Cameron had to go following the failure of a core policy) and twice is careless (May had to go because the party wasn't following their leader) what is three times? Nothing we are discovering about Johnson wasn't known in 2019. If a party keeps changing its leader, at some point their judgement comes into question.
Also, the Conservatives don't really have a PM in waiting. May was flawed, but she had five years in a great office. Johnson pushed his way to the front by sheer bloody-mindedness, but his lack of experience has shown.
This time- Sunak? Truss? Patel? Hunt? You have to be joking. Hence people talking seriously about catapulting Mordaunt or Wallace into Number Ten.
If I were attempting a character analysis of Johnson I would guess that he responds to public booing (which he has been treated to before, but never at so high-profile an event) with a desire not to shrink away from the light but to try to become popular again. That is how he has functioned thus far in his career, which seems to consist purely of crests and troughs.
Tory MPs who want to see the back of him should therefore take the initiative themselves rather than wait for him to do so.
If they want him to go, they ought to encourage obvious contenders to emerge, probably sneakily from within cabinet. Hunt as current lead contender doesn't really inspire; why replace a Prime Minister who hides in fridges with one who hides behind trees?
Tugendhat is impressive but I think the prospective replacement is likely to be someone who is currently a member of the cabinet.
I don’t think Tugendhat will get it as I think he’s “too confident and able”. This might seems silly but I have a theory, which is probably bollocks, that all Tory leaders are chosen because there is a large rump of MPs who choose someone they think they can “control”.
I think a lot would have looked at Boris and thought “well he’s a lightweight showman but he’ll get us elected and we can do all the work and make the decisions by the scenes and he will just be a figurehead”.
With May they might have thought “she’s a dull administrator so whilst she’s doing the paperwork we can show our individuality and brio and get things done because she will be happy shuffling paper and being a good technocrat.”
Cameron “he’s young and posh, we can guide him and get him to do what we want from behind the scenes”.
IDS “he’s an idiot, we can do what we want”.
Howard “placeholder, young cardinals vote for old popes”.
Hague - similar to Cameron.
So I think a lot would look at Truss and think too headstrong, Hunt not able to be manipulated. Will probably go for a blank canvas they think they can put their own design on and as usual be unpleasantly surprised when that person doesn’t do things the way they thought.
Certainly Cummings (who clearly fancies himself a cross between Otto Von Bismarck and Cardinal Richelieu) saw Johnson that way, as a foolish king only he could manipulate.
Cabinet members who may fall under the 'competent, but apparently mouldable' category: Wallace, Javid, Zahawi? No doubt they all have minds of their own but they haven't openly stuck their heads over the parapet, Truss-style.
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
Yet Tory ministers seem convinced the Beeb is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time.
BBC1 has definitely tacked to the right over the last year under new direction. That's evident not just in how things are reported, but what is selected to be reported. Quite a lot of stories damaging to the government have either been ignored or skated over. Newsnight's output is still more critical (in the right sense of the word - analytical), though I'm not sure how long that will last.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
What do you define as "risks escalating" though?
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
The UK certainly isn't doing "everything" short of going to war.
Heavy armour, artilllery, aircraft given to Ukraine to date by the UK: zero.
And then, finally, there is the apparent attempt to capture “Waitrose woman” – another of those imagined market-research categories, like Mondeo Man, which can unlock a supposed electoral demographic. This group, real or not, apparently shops at expensive supermarkets, voted Remain, is small-c conservative, and doesn’t like Johnson. How does the Rwanda policy or the Protocol decision attract them? No-one has explained this discrepancy.
It’s not just Johnson. The confusion goes all the way down. Leading Tory MP Tobias Ellwood deserves considerable respect for breaking the omerta on Brexit this week. In an article for the House magazine, he dared to say the thing that no-one will mention: Britain is suffering for having left the European single market. Regulatory checks are holding up trade and driving up prices. They’re part of the reason why the Northern Ireland issue has become so acute.
His reward, it goes without saying, was instant dismissal and sneering condescension. Reporters and Tory MPs rejected it out of hand.
That was always going to be the way it played out once someone opened the window to let the air in. Everyone else would stand up and scream for him to shut it again. But Ellwood was doing something striking. He was daring to speak in terms of economic and political rationality in a party which has forsaken them.
A closer relationship with Europe is inevitable. It might be a new trade deal, or customs union membership, or single market membership, or even full EU membership. It might be a few years or a decade. But it is coming.
It is coming by virtue of trading gravity. They are big, they are right next to us, and eventually people will start asking what we can do to trade more easily with them. And once you start asking that question, you are entering the debate upon which the EU is founded.
Ellwood wasn’t just daring to suggest it. He was providing the first instance of a process which will one day need to take place: the Tory rapprochement with reality. There will be kickbacks and much gnashing and wailing. But reality will demand to be let in. It must, in the end, be faced up to, no matter how intense your dream-state.
Johnson’s splatter-against-the-walls personal defence strategy is just the start. As the party declines, it is going to keep exploring all sorts of contradictory and desperate gambits to reverse its misfortune.
It is about to experience an almighty hangover. For years now, Conservatives have given up on reality-based politics and committed exclusively to character-based politics. Now they are waking up after a hell of a bender. The pain hasn’t hit yet, but they just got that first stabbing jolt in their temple, and, with it, the knowledge that it’s going to be a horrible day.
LOL. It is highly amusing to see Dunt talk about "rapprochement with reality" as he rehashes for the umpteenth time why Britain must be in the EU's market, using perverted logic that would mean Canada has to be in the USA or Japan has to be in China.
The only "reality" is that Dunt can't accept he lost and is still living in a parallel universe where everything is going to be reversed and all will be right with the world again.
The Canadian and US markets are very highly integrated in a number of areas.
A government minister’s bleak assessment in @thetimes: “And then there’s whether I can lie in public and I say I voted confidence. I don’t know whether I can.”
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
Yet Tory ministers seem convinced the Beeb is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time.
BBC1 has definitely tacked to the right over the last year under new direction. That's evident not just in how things are reported, but what is selected to be reported. Quite a lot of stories damaging to the government have either been ignored or skated over. Newsnight's output is still more critical (in the right sense of the word - analytical), though I'm not sure how long that will last.
And that in a year where government support has steadily drifted down. Perhaps BBC Bias (in whatever direction) is less important than culture warriors would like to admit.
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
Yet Tory ministers seem convinced the Beeb is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time.
Wait till they find out that the electorate is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time. Obligatory reference to Brecht’s Die Lösung.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
Obviously, Russia should surrender immediately and cede Crimea to the U.K.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
What do you define as "risks escalating" though?
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
The UK certainly isn't doing "everything" short of going to war.
Heavy armour, artilllery, aircraft given to Ukraine to date by the UK: zero.
Bit like Germany with only a tenth of the refugees then?
If I were attempting a character analysis of Johnson I would guess that he responds to public booing (which he has been treated to before, but never at so high-profile an event) with a desire not to shrink away from the light but to try to become popular again. That is how he has functioned thus far in his career, which seems to consist purely of crests and troughs.
Tory MPs who want to see the back of him should therefore take the initiative themselves rather than wait for him to do so.
If they want him to go, they ought to encourage obvious contenders to emerge, probably sneakily from within cabinet. Hunt as current lead contender doesn't really inspire; why replace a Prime Minister who hides in fridges with one who hides behind trees?
Tugendhat is impressive but I think the prospective replacement is likely to be someone who is currently a member of the cabinet.
I don’t think Tugendhat will get it as I think he’s “too confident and able”. This might seems silly but I have a theory, which is probably bollocks, that all Tory leaders are chosen because there is a large rump of MPs who choose someone they think they can “control”.
I think a lot would have looked at Boris and thought “well he’s a lightweight showman but he’ll get us elected and we can do all the work and make the decisions by the scenes and he will just be a figurehead”.
With May they might have thought “she’s a dull administrator so whilst she’s doing the paperwork we can show our individuality and brio and get things done because she will be happy shuffling paper and being a good technocrat.”
Cameron “he’s young and posh, we can guide him and get him to do what we want from behind the scenes”.
IDS “he’s an idiot, we can do what we want”.
Howard “placeholder, young cardinals vote for old popes”.
Hague - similar to Cameron.
So I think a lot would look at Truss and think too headstrong, Hunt not able to be manipulated. Will probably go for a blank canvas they think they can put their own design on and as usual be unpleasantly surprised when that person doesn’t do things the way they thought.
Interesting theory and new to me. Conservative MPs, maybe you're right. Labour MPs not so much - the idea of controlling either of Blair or Brown is a definite LOL.
The control theory has long been around for American presidents Reagan and GW Bush, even Trump once he'd won the nomination. Mrs Thatcher thought she could control Major and Hague.
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
What do you define as "risks escalating" though?
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
The UK certainly isn't doing "everything" short of going to war.
Heavy armour, artilllery, aircraft given to Ukraine to date by the UK: zero.
Another beautiful Buchan morning! Have to giggle somewhat at the deliberate manipulation of the news by the Tory BBC News managers and how quickly it got pulled apart.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen. Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
Yet Tory ministers seem convinced the Beeb is packed full of lefties who hate them and undermine them all the time.
BBC1 has definitely tacked to the right over the last year under new direction. That's evident not just in how things are reported, but what is selected to be reported. Quite a lot of stories damaging to the government have either been ignored or skated over. Newsnight's output is still more critical (in the right sense of the word - analytical), though I'm not sure how long that will last.
And that in a year where government support has steadily drifted down. Perhaps BBC Bias (in whatever direction) is less important than culture warriors would like to admit.
Its TV news. A media which fewer and fewer people still watch regularly if at all, and those people are the older demographic more likely to vote Tory anyway.
This is why yesterday was so damaging to the government and all it stands for. A thing happened - the PM was booed - and the BBC tried to censor it. If the BBC was the singular main news source then perhaps it would have worked. Instead the place where anyone under the age of 50 gets their news - social media - shoved the censorship and hypocrisy out there for people to see. I was out with the family and the first I knew of it was someone forwarding a tweet to me.
When the right-whingers foam on about culture wars, what they really mean is that they aren't in control of it any more and hate the fact that it doesn't say what they want it to.
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
Does he care? No, he will want to stay PM as long as he can and the public voted for him in 2019 knowing that could give him at least 5 years in No 10 so they can't complain
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
Insane, why not tell us how long she will live if she lives as long as her favourite corgi, adjusted for dog years?
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
They booed George IV at his father's funeral, and cheered his wife when she was locked out of Westminster Abbey for his coronation.
And then, finally, there is the apparent attempt to capture “Waitrose woman” – another of those imagined market-research categories, like Mondeo Man, which can unlock a supposed electoral demographic. This group, real or not, apparently shops at expensive supermarkets, voted Remain, is small-c conservative, and doesn’t like Johnson. How does the Rwanda policy or the Protocol decision attract them? No-one has explained this discrepancy.
It’s not just Johnson. The confusion goes all the way down. Leading Tory MP Tobias Ellwood deserves considerable respect for breaking the omerta on Brexit this week. In an article for the House magazine, he dared to say the thing that no-one will mention: Britain is suffering for having left the European single market. Regulatory checks are holding up trade and driving up prices. They’re part of the reason why the Northern Ireland issue has become so acute.
His reward, it goes without saying, was instant dismissal and sneering condescension. Reporters and Tory MPs rejected it out of hand.
That was always going to be the way it played out once someone opened the window to let the air in. Everyone else would stand up and scream for him to shut it again. But Ellwood was doing something striking. He was daring to speak in terms of economic and political rationality in a party which has forsaken them.
A closer relationship with Europe is inevitable. It might be a new trade deal, or customs union membership, or single market membership, or even full EU membership. It might be a few years or a decade. But it is coming.
It is coming by virtue of trading gravity. They are big, they are right next to us, and eventually people will start asking what we can do to trade more easily with them. And once you start asking that question, you are entering the debate upon which the EU is founded.
Ellwood wasn’t just daring to suggest it. He was providing the first instance of a process which will one day need to take place: the Tory rapprochement with reality. There will be kickbacks and much gnashing and wailing. But reality will demand to be let in. It must, in the end, be faced up to, no matter how intense your dream-state.
Johnson’s splatter-against-the-walls personal defence strategy is just the start. As the party declines, it is going to keep exploring all sorts of contradictory and desperate gambits to reverse its misfortune.
It is about to experience an almighty hangover. For years now, Conservatives have given up on reality-based politics and committed exclusively to character-based politics. Now they are waking up after a hell of a bender. The pain hasn’t hit yet, but they just got that first stabbing jolt in their temple, and, with it, the knowledge that it’s going to be a horrible day.
LOL. It is highly amusing to see Dunt talk about "rapprochement with reality" as he rehashes for the umpteenth time why Britain must be in the EU's market, using perverted logic that would mean Canada has to be in the USA or Japan has to be in China.
The only "reality" is that Dunt can't accept he lost and is still living in a parallel universe where everything is going to be reversed and all will be right with the world again.
The Canadian and US markets are very highly integrated in a number of areas.
And both Canada and Mexico essentially have to follow US trade policies and rules. Philip's missed the target with his post; being next to a large trading bloc essentially leaves you with the choice between being a rule-taker or doing immense self-harm.
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
Why? 1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that. 2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures. 3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
And then, finally, there is the apparent attempt to capture “Waitrose woman” – another of those imagined market-research categories, like Mondeo Man, which can unlock a supposed electoral demographic. This group, real or not, apparently shops at expensive supermarkets, voted Remain, is small-c conservative, and doesn’t like Johnson. How does the Rwanda policy or the Protocol decision attract them? No-one has explained this discrepancy.
It’s not just Johnson. The confusion goes all the way down. Leading Tory MP Tobias Ellwood deserves considerable respect for breaking the omerta on Brexit this week. In an article for the House magazine, he dared to say the thing that no-one will mention: Britain is suffering for having left the European single market. Regulatory checks are holding up trade and driving up prices. They’re part of the reason why the Northern Ireland issue has become so acute.
His reward, it goes without saying, was instant dismissal and sneering condescension. Reporters and Tory MPs rejected it out of hand.
That was always going to be the way it played out once someone opened the window to let the air in. Everyone else would stand up and scream for him to shut it again. But Ellwood was doing something striking. He was daring to speak in terms of economic and political rationality in a party which has forsaken them.
A closer relationship with Europe is inevitable. It might be a new trade deal, or customs union membership, or single market membership, or even full EU membership. It might be a few years or a decade. But it is coming.
It is coming by virtue of trading gravity. They are big, they are right next to us, and eventually people will start asking what we can do to trade more easily with them. And once you start asking that question, you are entering the debate upon which the EU is founded.
Ellwood wasn’t just daring to suggest it. He was providing the first instance of a process which will one day need to take place: the Tory rapprochement with reality. There will be kickbacks and much gnashing and wailing. But reality will demand to be let in. It must, in the end, be faced up to, no matter how intense your dream-state.
Johnson’s splatter-against-the-walls personal defence strategy is just the start. As the party declines, it is going to keep exploring all sorts of contradictory and desperate gambits to reverse its misfortune.
It is about to experience an almighty hangover. For years now, Conservatives have given up on reality-based politics and committed exclusively to character-based politics. Now they are waking up after a hell of a bender. The pain hasn’t hit yet, but they just got that first stabbing jolt in their temple, and, with it, the knowledge that it’s going to be a horrible day.
LOL. It is highly amusing to see Dunt talk about "rapprochement with reality" as he rehashes for the umpteenth time why Britain must be in the EU's market, using perverted logic that would mean Canada has to be in the USA or Japan has to be in China.
The only "reality" is that Dunt can't accept he lost and is still living in a parallel universe where everything is going to be reversed and all will be right with the world again.
The Canadian and US markets are very highly integrated in a number of areas.
And both Canada and Mexico essentially have to follow US trade policies and rules. Philip's missed the target with his post; being next to a large trading bloc essentially leaves you with the choice between being a rule-taker or doing immense self-harm.
Are you really suggesting that burying our heads in the sand and repeating Global Britain is better than Sclerotic EU 100 times a day will not work? Are you an agent of Macron?
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
They booed George IV at his father's funeral, and cheered his wife when she was locked out of Westminster Abbey for his coronation.
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
I'd say probably not because the US would stop him but it isn't unthinkable (which it ought to be).
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
I suspect batshit people like Scott would boo him wherever he was. Even at a funeral. They are irrationally obsessed by Him.
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
Why? 1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that. 2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures. 3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
Polling in November 1990 showed both Major and Heseltine leading Kinnock Labour and that was BEFORE the first ballot against Thatcher.
There is no such polling now showing any alternative Tory leader leading Starmer Labour
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
I suspect batshit people like Scott would boo him wherever he was. Even at a funeral. They are irrationally obsessed by Him.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
That would be whisky and revolver time.
Even the whisky and revolver scenario requires a degree of selflessness and honour.
What's to stop Johnson drinking the whisky and then threatening to use the revolver to shoot the next person who suggests he resigns?
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
Your first sentence is just weird
He could have an accident as we are posting and you spectacularly miss the point
Your are a self confessed Christian but you do not care about Boris total disrespect for the people and the hurt he has caused as long as the polls do not show a successor
You are quite unique and I expect very shortly you will be singing the praises of the new conservative leader and pm
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
That would not have been the view, as I understand it, of a 'traditional' Conservative in my youth.
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
Why? 1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that. 2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures. 3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
Polling in November 1990 showed both Major and Heseltine leading Kinnock Labour and that was BEFORE the first ballot against Thatcher.
There is no such polling now showing any alternative Tory leader leading Starmer Labour
Has anyone done any polling on the subject recently?
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
'I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory vote share....'
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
I think she has ages left. In months my spread offering* would be 39/42.
* Indicative only. Not right to bet on this sort of thing. I do have her in our covid DeadPool, come to think of it, but that's just a bit of harmless fun.
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
Why? 1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that. 2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures. 3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
Polling in November 1990 showed both Major and Heseltine leading Kinnock Labour and that was BEFORE the first ballot against Thatcher.
There is no such polling now showing any alternative Tory leader leading Starmer Labour
Would appreciate you posting links. This is an interesting point in political history, and having studied this only a few years after doing A-level politics I do not remember that at all.
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
For once I agree, even I wouldn't boo Johnson at HM's funeral. Incidentally, I do worry that HM may not have long to go. Think she may have spent all her last energies on being around for the Jubilee.
We know the PM doesn't want to go. Therefore any semi plausible face saving reason will not be convincing.
Perhaps Macron should have regular calls with him, and look for possible off ramps. We don’t want Boris humiliated or he might launch WW3.
Somewhat seriously, if the only way for Boris to save his job was to do something that risked escalating the war in Ukraine into a war between Britain and Russia which might but probably wouldn't end in nuclear armageddon, he'd do it, right?
What do you define as "risks escalating" though?
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
The UK certainly isn't doing "everything" short of going to war.
Heavy armour, artilllery, aircraft given to Ukraine to date by the UK: zero.
Whilst I don't often agree with you I do wonder sometimes whether we are talking a good game rather than actually delivering on it. We started off well with the NLAWs but we can't dine out on that forever. I do believe we are now sending some mid-range artillery as the Americans have green lighted it - perhaps we couldn't before because it was American made so needed permission to do so?
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
I agree. Should be a good party again, although I don't envy those who have to plan for her death prior to the events as must have been the case for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
I suspect batshit people like Scott would boo him wherever he was. Even at a funeral. They are irrationally obsessed by Him.
Betting question - is there a market for the the number of votes against Johnson, if Grady gets the letters?
My guess is that there will be double the number letters as votes against, as a floor. That is, if Grady gets 54 letters, it will be 110 votes against. Minimum.
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls also show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
He should resign as he is unfit for the office he holds and has lost vast swathes of the country
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Has Boris had a serious accident or health issue? No.
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
Your first sentence is just weird
He could have an accident as we are posting and you spectacularly miss the point
Your are a self confessed Christian but you do not care about Boris total disrespect for the people and the hurt he has caused as long as the polls do not show a successor
You are quite unique and I expect very shortly you will be singing the praises of the new conservative leader and pm
His first sentence is weird because its such an obvious lie it could be a BBC News headline. Hasn't had a serious health issue? He nearly died of Covid and has visibly suffered from its after-effects.
"Health issues? No" sounds like some American spin doctor trying to insist Biden isn't senile and Trump isn't frail or that Clinton (H) didn't have some kind of episode getting in the limo.
We aren't Tory voters, we aren't stupid, we aren't going to just take lies and believe them as truths. So why patronise us in that way?
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
I agree. Should be a good party again, although I don't envy those who have to plan for her death prior to the events as must have been the case for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
That is the least of his bizareness. Personally, I think we will have an Oak jubilee.
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
I agree. Should be a good party again, although I don't envy those who have to plan for her death prior to the events as must have been the case for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
In an effort to claim the most tasteless post ever, is there a book on the date of her demise?
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
I agree. Should be a good party again, although I don't envy those who have to plan for her death prior to the events as must have been the case for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
In an effort to claim the most tasteless post ever, is there a book on the date of her demise?
A couple of interesting France24 items wrt the Stade de France catastrophe.
1 - France24 factcheck debunking a couple of fake videos of "local ethnic minorities causing trouble". Including a couple I have seen in our media - eg the "France does not belong to the French" vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSNILCZc48k
"Culminate. A term from Clausewitz (book 7, chapter 5), an offensive culminates (or reaches its culminating point) when the advantage in strength no longer favors the attacker sufficiently enough to continue pushing forward. Crucially, this does not mean the offensive ends: an attacker may not know their offensive has culminated and may keep ‘pushing’ and achieving nothing for some time. At the same time, the culmination of an offensive operation (see Operations) does not end a war – the attacker may merely rebuild strength (reinforcements, supplies, organization) to push again later, something that is generally termed an ‘operational pause.’"
If BoZo gets booed at the Queen's Jubilee, imagine the reception he would get at her funeral.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
While I agree his mps must act, hopefully on monday, I do not agree he would be booed at HMQ funeral as it would be a very sombre occasion and would not be well received by the public
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
She will likely live until 2025 if she Iives as long as her husband and 2027 if she lives as long as her mother ie past the likely next general election date of 2024. So Johnson may not be PM or even Tory leader by then anyway, it might be PM Starmer with a new Tory Leader of the Opposition
You have absolutely no idea how long she will live
We all hope she'll send herself a telegram, like Fats Waller did a letter.
I agree. Should be a good party again, although I don't envy those who have to plan for her death prior to the events as must have been the case for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
That is the least of his bizareness. Personally, I think we will have an Oak jubilee.
Why would Johnson step aside? He is the leader who won the Conservatives their biggest general election win since Thatcher in 2019 nobody else.
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
Why? 1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that. 2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures. 3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
Polling in November 1990 showed both Major and Heseltine leading Kinnock Labour and that was BEFORE the first ballot against Thatcher.
There is no such polling now showing any alternative Tory leader leading Starmer Labour
Would appreciate you posting links. This is an interesting point in political history, and having studied this only a few years after doing A-level politics I do not remember that at all.
Of course even if accurate it isn't necessarily relevant. It is not comparing like with like (typical of hyufd) Even if no Tory leader currently does outperform Starmer (again I don't know if that is true) you want to pick the one that will perform best.
Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ @ThreshedThought · 2h Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
Betting question - is there a market for the the number of votes against Johnson, if Grady gets the letters?
My guess is that there will be double the number letters as votes against, as a floor. That is, if Grady gets 54 letters, it will be 110 votes against. Minimum.
At least that. What HY and Dorries don't seem to get is that the momentum is building visibly day by day now. This wasn't "they need to act, they keep making excuses why they won't". This is people submitting letters and speaking in openly very critical terms each and every day.
And that was before Parliament broke up for the Lets Boo Boris festival. Tory MPs - even lickspittle worms like Duguid - have gone home. And if he turns up to see his people in Fraserburgh today they aren't going to be saying "good old Boris". When fruitcakes and loonies like Desmond Swayne or Peter Bone go and meet people, they are going to have to be profoundly selective to only hear the "good old Boris" messages they insist are all people are saying.
What they miss is that the more we are assured that everyone in Wellingborough is cheering the boss on, the more we know they are not. Its like their response to the cost of living crisis - deny, patronise, sneer - you can only tell people black is white for so long before they realise it isn't, and then start thinking you are delusional in still saying it is. That is the choice for Tory MPs.
A couple of interesting France24 items wrt the Stade de France catastrophe.
1 - France24 factcheck debunking a couple of fake videos of "local ethnic minorities causing trouble". Including a couple I have seen in our media - eg the "France does not belong to the French" vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSNILCZc48k
Comments
https://twitter.com/DanielLambert29/status/1532991072158220288
My conclusion is very simple. Not matter how many FTAs the U.K. gets, the one with our nearest neighbours is the most important. You can’t argue against geography, and the Global Covid reboot clearly shows this. We live in a just in time world, Brexit is the exact opposite.
Thanks.
Dragged kicking and screaming would be a fitting end
Well it's not going to be 45 minutes from any of Selly Oak, Mosley, Harborne, Handsworth, Aston, Bournville or Balsall Heath. All are, together with most of the rest of Birmingham and the Black Country, heavily integrated into the rail hub that is Birmingham New Street. There are some tweaks planned, but they're not going to alter the situation for most. So for rail travellers the choice will still be:
- Either arrive at Birmingham New Street and allow at least 30 mins to get out of the station and make a stress filled dash across to Curzon Street to catch HS2.
- Or just walk across the concourse to the neighbouring platform at New Street to get on a West Coast main line service that takes about 35 minutes longer to get there than HS2. Just a 5 minute difference.
If you're coming from Wolverhampton or Sandwell the choice is even simpler, you don't even need to get off the WCML service while it stops at New Street.
So in contrast to what are no doubt fantastical passenger number figures built into the HS2 business case, I just can't see HS2 being a draw to rail travellers from Birmingham and the Black Country to London. The vast majority will continue to use the WCML (or the Chiltern Line which is far cheaper than the WCML and will be even cheaper still than HS2.)
Curzon Street will be more convenient to business people travelling from London for the occasional meeting in Birmingham City Centre (although whether there are going to be many meetings going forward might be questioned given the with the widespread adoption of Zoom etc.) But that amounts to an added benefit to businesses and their employees based in London. Hardly levelling up is it?
Edit - also, you're making some false assumptions about the speed of the trains from New Street. When the Pendolinos are retired they will not be replaced with more titling trains, because HS2 will be carrying the fast traffic. So you can extend journey times to London on the WCML (which will in any case be needed for more pathways).
You will still be able to get to London from New Street, but it will take about 100 minutes. As against that, there will be more frequent and probably rather cheaper trains.
So your five minutes has become 45, but at lower cost and more regular intervals.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/new-video-reveals-boris-johnson-27144005
From my perspective it’s all good news if it means the fall is harder and causes more collateral damage to the party. I still have a suspicion they’ll be able to pull off one of those Dr Who rebirths where a new leader somehow convinces everyone they have a brand new government.
He loyally fought GE 2019 to make Corbyn PM -- someone apparently now so toxic that SKS can't even let him stand as a Labour candidate.
When their own reporting team are broadcasting live and comment on the booing with "wow" and "I wasn't expecting that" its rather difficult to just edit the entire episode out as if it didn't happen.
Because it did happen and we heard your channel report it.
When he has gone and all he is focused on is how many Churchill books he needs to right to pay off Carrie's divorce settlement there needs to be a clearout of the BBC top brass.
A lesson from history there for our own OGH....
Vote him out, then make him plenipotentiary for matters relating to Ukraine, that'd give him a face saver and focus on an area of strength, and maintain relations he has built there.
But realistically there is no way of providing a better service to London, with more trains, while keeping everything at New Street. It's too cramped, too inconvenient and there is no way to expand the site - even the amount of work being done at Euston would barely scratch the surface of its problems and would be even more expensive.
And Curzon Street, a ten minute walk or one stop on the Metro, being a helpful brownfield site with plenty of room, is a realistic compromise.
Quite the Houdini act if he pulls it off.
We should be doing everything short of going to war with Russia, even if that entails "risking escalating" such as supplying arms to Ukraine etc. Indeed we're already doing that and quite rightly too.
This would be the third time in a row that a Conservative PM elected in a General Election hasn't made it to the next one. And if once is unfortunate (Cameron had to go following the failure of a core policy) and twice is careless (May had to go because the party wasn't following their leader) what is three times? Nothing we are discovering about Johnson wasn't known in 2019. If a party keeps changing its leader, at some point their judgement comes into question.
Also, the Conservatives don't really have a PM in waiting. May was flawed, but she had five years in a great office. Johnson pushed his way to the front by sheer bloody-mindedness, but his lack of experience has shown.
This time- Sunak? Truss? Patel? Hunt? You have to be joking. Hence people talking seriously about catapulting Mordaunt or Wallace into Number Ten.
Cabinet members who may fall under the 'competent, but apparently mouldable' category: Wallace, Javid, Zahawi? No doubt they all have minds of their own but they haven't openly stuck their heads over the parapet, Truss-style.
Tory MPs must do the right thing now...
Heavy armour, artilllery, aircraft given to Ukraine to date by the UK: zero.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/531025de-e349-11ec-baab-53d14c642149?shareToken=21bbca75f6720cd0ea90ce6e06a9198b https://twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1533012181440241664/photo/1
Obligatory reference to Brecht’s Die Lösung.
There are times in life when something trumps politics, this would be one of them
There is also no clear alternative, polls show every other potential alternative Tory leader polls worse with the public than Johnson apart from Wallace and Javid but even they poll no better than Starmer.
This is not 1990 when Major and Heseltine led Kinnock in polls but Thatcher didn't, nor is it 2019 either when Boris led Corbyn in polls but May didn't
https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/04/26/poland-confirms-t-72-tank-delivery-to-ukraine-with-challenger-2-tanks-to-fill-gap/
https://english.nv.ua/nation/uk-to-supply-mlrs-weapons-to-ukraine-military-news-50247101.html
This is why yesterday was so damaging to the government and all it stands for. A thing happened - the PM was booed - and the BBC tried to censor it. If the BBC was the singular main news source then perhaps it would have worked. Instead the place where anyone under the age of 50 gets their news - social media - shoved the censorship and hypocrisy out there for people to see. I was out with the family and the first I knew of it was someone forwarding a tweet to me.
When the right-whingers foam on about culture wars, what they really mean is that they aren't in control of it any more and hate the fact that it doesn't say what they want it to.
@ThreshedThought
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2h
Latest reports from Severodonestsk seem to indicate that the Russians have in fact culminated there and the Ukrainian are counterattacking successfully
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/status/1532970037438554115
This is honestly unbelievable. https://twitter.com/MarinaPurkiss/status/1533005291163467778
Your argument over alternatives is irrelevant, as he could suffer a serious accident or health issue or worse and would have to be replaced
You obsess over polling, but there are replacements for Boris and no matter there comes a time when one has to do the right thing and that time is now for conservative mps to vote him out of office
Of course, that was 200 years ago.
1. Morality. He could wake up one morning having been visited by the holy ghost who had shown him that lying and cheating and criminality are Bad. Repent and the kingdom of Heaven will be yours and all that.
2. Because he has been handed the pearl-handled revolver as happened to Thatcher and IDS and May before him. Not everyone in the party is a pliable lickspittle like your good self - they have a string track record of removing failures.
3. Because he loses the no confidence vote, or wins it so narrowly that the "its all over, lets move on" please from intellectual heavyweights like Simon Clarke fall flat on their face.
Its true that there is no obvious successor now. Nor was there in 1990 (please linky a poll before Howe resigned showing that Major would win the election). That doesn't mean that good people carry on supporting bad people, bad policies and misbehaviour. I know your personal support remains for the lying crook, but you aren't most Tory voters - how many of them voted Plaid Cymru...?
I don't care what Boris has done I only care about maximising the Tory voteshare as a Tory member and unless another Tory leader is shown in polls to have a clear lead over Starmer Labour, which none are, then Boris stays as far as I am concerned. Especially given most alternatives, Hunt, Raab, Patel, Sunak, Gove, Truss etc poll even worse with the voters than Boris anyway now.
If Boris went I would back Ben Wallace or Javid as the only alternatives who poll a bit better but even they as I said do no better than Starmer
https://twitter.com/c4ciaran/status/1532800840775393281?s=21&t=n35dfeuyxG8KXeyUOlWeJQ
There is no such polling now showing any alternative Tory leader leading Starmer Labour
What's to stop Johnson drinking the whisky and then threatening to use the revolver to shoot the next person who suggests he resigns?
He could have an accident as we are posting and you spectacularly miss the point
Your are a self confessed Christian but you do not care about Boris total disrespect for the people and the hurt he has caused as long as the polls do not show a successor
You are quite unique and I expect very shortly you will be singing the praises of the new conservative leader and pm
Do you have no morals at all?
* Indicative only. Not right to bet on this sort of thing. I do have her in our covid DeadPool, come to think of it, but that's just a bit of harmless fun.
Incidentally, I do worry that HM may not have long to go. Think she may have spent all her last energies on being around for the Jubilee.
HYUFD now predicting how long the Queen will live is bizarre.
It's a win for Trumpism.
My guess is that there will be double the number letters as votes against, as a floor. That is, if Grady gets 54 letters, it will be 110 votes against. Minimum.
"Health issues? No" sounds like some American spin doctor trying to insist Biden isn't senile and Trump isn't frail or that Clinton (H) didn't have some kind of episode getting in the limo.
We aren't Tory voters, we aren't stupid, we aren't going to just take lies and believe them as truths. So why patronise us in that way?
A couple of interesting France24 items wrt the Stade de France catastrophe.
1 - France24 factcheck debunking a couple of fake videos of "local ethnic minorities causing trouble". Including a couple I have seen in our media - eg the "France does not belong to the French" vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSNILCZc48k
2 - Good Debate. It seems there was also a transport strike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJucUyjnzVA
"Culminate. A term from Clausewitz (book 7, chapter 5), an offensive culminates (or reaches its culminating point) when the advantage in strength no longer favors the attacker sufficiently enough to continue pushing forward. Crucially, this does not mean the offensive ends: an attacker may not know their offensive has culminated and may keep ‘pushing’ and achieving nothing for some time. At the same time, the culmination of an offensive operation (see Operations) does not end a war – the attacker may merely rebuild strength (reinforcements, supplies, organization) to push again later, something that is generally termed an ‘operational pause.’"
And that was before Parliament broke up for the Lets Boo Boris festival. Tory MPs - even lickspittle worms like Duguid - have gone home. And if he turns up to see his people in Fraserburgh today they aren't going to be saying "good old Boris". When fruitcakes and loonies like Desmond Swayne or Peter Bone go and meet people, they are going to have to be profoundly selective to only hear the "good old Boris" messages they insist are all people are saying.
What they miss is that the more we are assured that everyone in Wellingborough is cheering the boss on, the more we know they are not. Its like their response to the cost of living crisis - deny, patronise, sneer - you can only tell people black is white for so long before they realise it isn't, and then start thinking you are delusional in still saying it is. That is the choice for Tory MPs.