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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The Cummings Durham trip during the lockdown – the reaction co

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  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382
    tlg86 said:

    isam said:

    Has any mere mortal been prosecuted or punished in any way for breaking the lockdown as Cummings did?

    If there is a similar case who has been prosecuted - there will be hell to pay.
    There has been plenty fined by North Yorkshire Police for breaking the so called rules.
    Hard to see that driving over 200 miles , whilst showing symptoms of co-vid , is not breaking the rules set by the government.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,563
    ydoethur said:

    I understand why he may have done this but the riight thing to do is resign

    Big G, we all understand why he did it. He did it because he didn’t want to be ill and in quarantine in a cramped townhouse in London. He wanted somewhere with a garden for the little one to play in, a view and the chance to get out a bit.

    And I do understand that. How often have I come on here counting my blessings that I have a lovely big house, with a garden, and a cycle trail to Cannock Chase less than 200 yards away? When I see people on the Chase, we actually comment on how lucky we are and reflect on those poor sods stuck in little flats in Walsall, whom we can actually see, but who until a few days ago couldn’t join us.

    The problem is that (a) flatly contradicts everything the government is doing and (b) he’s come up with just about the stupidest and most implausible set of lies imaginable to excuse it.

    But as it is Cummings and that is what he has always done, I agree there is a high chance he survives.
    Quality post. The only bit I disagree with is that I hope you are wrong and he does go. And as you know I say that as someone who is a big fan of him.
  • murali_smurali_s Posts: 3,067
    Pulpstar said:

    Even Grant Shapps can't believe he's defending this nonsense.

    LOL. It's true popcorn entertainment. Though deep down I do feel sorry for him.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,259
    tlg86 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    tlg86 said:

    "It seems to me that the guidance was pretty clear"

    That's not what journalists were saying two month's ago!

    Guidance if you have symptons has always been very clear. Do not leave your house, do not pass go.
    There was an argument about seven or 14 days if I remember correctly. Not that that is applicable in this case.
    If you have symptoms, 7 days. If you have a household member with Covid, 14 days (to allow for any incubation and/or asymptomatic-but-infectious periods).
  • stjohnstjohn Posts: 1,861
    tyson said:

    Pulpstar said:

    isam said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Strikes me as a better idea for them to just not say anything about it at all and refer any questions to Cummings
    I'd keep my gob shut if I was a Tory MP right now, you're either defending the indefensible or harming your career chances.
    By the way,.....I heard from Roger...all good...he sent me a sublime photo he captured of a swan.....
    Was it Black?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    Pulpstar said:

    tlg86 said:

    "It seems to me that the guidance was pretty clear"

    That's not what journalists were saying two month's ago!

    Guidance if you have symptons has always been very clear. Do not leave your house, do not pass go.
    eadric said:

    IanB2 said:

    eadric said:

    I am sad to say that I think Cummings will have to go.

    Not sad for the man. He was a fool to break the rules in the way he did and think he was above reprimand for it. It was an arrogance that has always typified him from what I have seen.

    But I am sad for two specific reasons.

    One because it gives a win to the scum who have always hated him simply because he was effective and on the opposite side from them in arguments- and I include a fair few on here in that description.

    And two because he was undoubtedly right in the vast majority of things he did. He was a huge asset to both the Governance of this country and the Leave campaign.

    But it appears that success then breeds, or rather reinforces, that arrogance.

    No one should be above the law when people's lives are at stake, no one should get away with the crass hypocrisy he has displayed and no one should take the public for fools when trying to protect ones own career. He has done all these things and so should not survive.

    Whether he will or not is something I am incapable of predicting.

    As I said last night Boris could easily let him go for a while. Then rehire him in a different position in three months time. In the middle of summer. The opposition might bleat but no one would care.
    But will the government listen to expert advice, even from PB’s in house hypocrite?
    I’m still waiting for your legal action against me, on the grounds of my being in “a part of the country”
    It’s a criminal, not a civil matter.

    Any regular PB’er will have spotted the chasm between your words and your deeds.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.
  • https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1264220615965278208

    "If only the media would ask the questions I want them to ask..."

    This is the game guy who spent his many years attacking Corbyn for similar behaviour. Hypocrite.

    (Harwood BTW, not Shipman)
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Scott_xP said:
    Childcare purposes isn't mentioned there.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,259
    malcolmg said:

    Hopefully one of them have relatives in or near London and the the unedifying charade will totally explode in their lying chops.

    I'm not sure the distance is relevant *as long as they stayed in their car for the whole journey* (or pissed by the side of the road)
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    Yorkcity said:

    tlg86 said:

    isam said:

    Has any mere mortal been prosecuted or punished in any way for breaking the lockdown as Cummings did?

    If there is a similar case who has been prosecuted - there will be hell to pay.
    There has been plenty fined by North Yorkshire Police for breaking the so called rules.
    Hard to see that driving over 200 miles , whilst showing symptoms of co-vid , is not breaking the rules set by the government.
    My suspicion is that the people that have been fined have been done so for refusing to stop breaking the rules. I can see why the police let this go, even if this is potentially more serious than people refusing to go home from the park.

    I wonder if the police that investigated this knew that they claimed to have had COVID-19? Could the police come under pressure to look into the case again?
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,259

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    Yes I'd be fairly annoyed to be dumped with that gig.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
  • Scott_xP said:
    Consistent trend in all the polls really.

    Starmer has done a superb job, nobody could really have done better, starting so low.

    I was proud to vote for him as LOTO.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Isn't it his sister not the grandparents who was offering the childcare?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    Isn't it his sister not the grandparents who was offering the childcare?
    Depends on the time of day.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Malky - did you see my post earlier about the analysis of risk factors in Scotland?
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,563
    edited May 2020
    DougSeal said:


    This is all rather turning into a weird kind of Shaun of the Dead homage :)
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    malcolmg said:

    Hopefully one of them have relatives in or near London and the the unedifying charade will totally explode in their lying chops.

    I'm not sure the distance is relevant *as long as they stayed in their car for the whole journey* (or pissed by the side of the road)
    Of course it is relevant , who would risk infecting half the country, break the strict rules they setup when they have relatives just around the corner.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,405

    Isn't it his sister not the grandparents who was offering the childcare?
    The Cummings family went to his parents home - i.e. the grandparents.
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,366
    I've been reading an interesting book today and I waited until four o'clock to catch up with the news. What a complete load of bollocks and a total waste of time. If this Cummings bloke's been naughty, sack him. And while you're at it sack the lot of the press mob for wasting my time today. Who died?

    it reminds me of the fuss about Prescott. The press reaction converted most people to his side. Even Brown's eyesight did the opposite to what they intended.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    Isn't it his sister not the grandparents who was offering the childcare?
    Yet from above she has two brothers in London, explain that one.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,405
    tlg86 said:

    Yorkcity said:

    tlg86 said:

    isam said:

    Has any mere mortal been prosecuted or punished in any way for breaking the lockdown as Cummings did?

    If there is a similar case who has been prosecuted - there will be hell to pay.
    There has been plenty fined by North Yorkshire Police for breaking the so called rules.
    Hard to see that driving over 200 miles , whilst showing symptoms of co-vid , is not breaking the rules set by the government.
    My suspicion is that the people that have been fined have been done so for refusing to stop breaking the rules. I can see why the police let this go, even if this is potentially more serious than people refusing to go home from the park.

    I wonder if the police that investigated this knew that they claimed to have had COVID-19? Could the police come under pressure to look into the case again?
    This is Durham Police, a sane sensible force who avoid the stupider things neighbouring forces do.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    edited May 2020

    malcolmg said:

    Hopefully one of them have relatives in or near London and the the unedifying charade will totally explode in their lying chops.

    I'm not sure the distance is relevant *as long as they stayed in their car for the whole journey* (or pissed by the side of the road)
    Other options are available. I had to drive between Glasgow and Edinburgh 3 or 4 times a week for a while and eventually reduced the tedium by looking at roadkill and debris by the road (that badger at the Newhouse interchange became an old pal). It took me a while to work out what the numerous bottles half full of what looked like Irn Bru scattered along the central reservation were.
  • murali_smurali_s Posts: 3,067

    Scott_xP said:
    Consistent trend in all the polls really.

    Starmer has done a superb job, nobody could really have done better, starting so low.

    I was proud to vote for him as LOTO.
    Twas always going to be case. Get anyone half decent, half intelligent in post and Johnson would be found out for what he is - an empty vessel who only cares about himself. The amount of contempt that fellow Londoners have for him is massive (and that after being Mayor for 8 years).
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    Carnyx said:

    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Malky - did you see my post earlier about the analysis of risk factors in Scotland?
    Carnyx, No never saw it , is it on this thread or a previous one.
  • So only the two cultists trying to defend Cummings then. We know who to avoid in the future.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,259
    Surely people expect there to be one rule for them and one for government advisers. And ministers, MP, businessmen, rich people, film stars etc. We weren't born yesterday.
  • malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    In fairness, what do you do? These are jobs which really need doing by someone professionally qualified, and if you don't then someone potentially less capable will.

    It's an issue you can see etched on the faces of many in the Trump administration, and I have no doubt it's been an issue for officials in far worse governments even than that.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,381

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    I understand why he may have done this but the riight thing to do is resign

    Big G, we all understand why he did it. He did it because he didn’t want to be ill and in quarantine in a cramped townhouse in London. He wanted somewhere with a garden for the little one to play in, a view and the chance to get out a bit.

    And I do understand that. How often have I come on here counting my blessings that I have a lovely big house, with a garden, and a cycle trail to Cannock Chase less than 200 yards away? When I see people on the Chase, we actually comment on how lucky we are and reflect on those poor sods stuck in little flats in Walsall, whom we can actually see, but who until a few days ago couldn’t join us.

    The problem is that (a) flatly contradicts everything the government is doing and (b) he’s come up with just about the stupidest and most implausible set of lies imaginable to excuse it.

    But as it is Cummings and that is what he has always done, I agree there is a high chance he survives.
    You're a good person, you have my respect and thanks for your understanding of people with less than yourself. 10/10 post.
    Shame on Big G for supporting him, I expected better from him given his previous posting.
    I have said he should resign Malc.
    If he goes BigG the media will want an even bigger scalp next time- and you know who that is. The media tail wagging the government dog has to stop!
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    malcolmg said:

    Isn't it his sister not the grandparents who was offering the childcare?
    Yet from above she has two brothers in London, explain that one.
    I'm not getting in the middle of family business. If the sister offered childcare and the brothers didn't that's there business and none of mine.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,405
    Scott_xP said:
    Another Journalist who cannot read. Since when was Rachel Reeves, Kier Starmer.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,259

    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    In fairness, what do you do? These are jobs which really need doing by someone professionally qualified, and if you don't then someone potentially less capable will.

    It's an issue you can see etched on the faces of many in the Trump administration, and I have no doubt it's been an issue for officials in far worse governments even than that.
    She could have refused to answer the questions and passed them back to Shapps. Might not have been a career-enhancing move though.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Maybe she knows the public health official who lost her job for doing the same thing. It's a small world.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,898
    Just as an aside, Grant Shapps's announcement of £283 million in Transport spending isn't even a drop in the ocean - it's much smaller.

    We've heard all these grandiose schemes before - if it's an attempt to reverse Beeching it's far too little and far too late.

    It also seems that once fruit picking is over, the army of the furloughed will be deployed to railway and tube stations telling us how (and indeed if) we can get on the public transport it's our "civic duty" (according to one G.Shapps) not to use.

    Once again I see no detailed transport usage figures - instead, we have this "mobility" thing which not surprisingly shows we all went to the park on a nice warm day.

    We are also apparently all going to get on our bikes (presumably the looking for work will be added later).
  • DennisBetsDennisBets Posts: 244
    Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    malcolmg said:

    Carnyx said:

    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Malky - did you see my post earlier about the analysis of risk factors in Scotland?
    Carnyx, No never saw it , is it on this thread or a previous one.
    Repeated now: O/T but afternoon Malky, this is just to ask if you have seen this?

    https://www.scotianomics.org/covid19-risk-monitor/

    Haven't looked at it n detail. It's predicted risk, not actual inc idence. Quite interesting it seems to pick some but not all of the high spots, presumably bevcause of luck (number of types skiing in Italy, etc.)

    It seems to work on Chrome but not all browsers. The printed report is provided anyway (click on the little picture of it).
  • murali_s said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Consistent trend in all the polls really.

    Starmer has done a superb job, nobody could really have done better, starting so low.

    I was proud to vote for him as LOTO.
    Twas always going to be case. Get anyone half decent, half intelligent in post and Johnson would be found out for what he is - an empty vessel who only cares about himself. The amount of contempt that fellow Londoners have for him is massive (and that after being Mayor for 8 years).
    Oh as somebody who has spent significant time in London, it is clear to my why the Tories are polling so poorly there (relative to the rest of the country) and why Khan will easily win again.

    I am just sad I supported Corbyn for so long. Wish Starmer had arrived earlier.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    Still making stuff up? There's no evidence the car crashed on the way :wink:
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    Seems to imply that Sunday Times wont be letting this go quietly tomorrow.
  • Still making stuff up? There's no evidence the car crashed on the way :wink:
    Even by your standards, this is pathetically weak.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    No idea why Johnson thinks he can ride this one out.

    Maybe he's really not well and not able to think straight.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,354
    Cummings' story doesn't hold up however you read it. The simple and most obvious interpretation is that he is a lying dratsab who got caught out when he disregarded Government guidelines in a rather awkward situation.

    Over to you, Boris.

    [My guess is that Boris will support him since he's a bit of Holy Friar himself and knows what it feels like to be caught out, but only if the political cost isn't too great.]
  • Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.

    Labour will regain some seats just because Starmer isn't Corbyn. He should have at a minimum, 230 seats by the end of the next election and 270 shouldn't be out of the question either.

    Not a mark of success of course.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    Carnyx said:

    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Malky - did you see my post earlier about the analysis of risk factors in Scotland?
    @Carnyx
    Carnyx , tracked it down, thanks for that looks excellent , I am right in middle of scale, but as shielding due to wife not a big deal for me, I am stuck in till 18th June.
    Not been out since 2nd half of February
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    100%

    P/T PM in hiding too.

    This will not go away

  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,708
    That’s the first mistake from Labour on this. A reversion to the Miliband days of calling for a judge-led inquiry on everything.
  • The Government really has done a very poor job of continuing to give this air.

    Have they been given advice by Seumus Milne?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    Carnyx said:

    malcolmg said:

    Carnyx said:

    malcolmg said:

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    That is what she gets for being a patsy for them.
    Malky - did you see my post earlier about the analysis of risk factors in Scotland?
    Carnyx, No never saw it , is it on this thread or a previous one.
    Repeated now: O/T but afternoon Malky, this is just to ask if you have seen this?

    https://www.scotianomics.org/covid19-risk-monitor/

    Haven't looked at it n detail. It's predicted risk, not actual inc idence. Quite interesting it seems to pick some but not all of the high spots, presumably bevcause of luck (number of types skiing in Italy, etc.)

    It seems to work on Chrome but not all browsers. The printed report is provided anyway (click on the little picture of it).
    Cheers Carnyx, got it , nice tool.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    stodge said:

    Just as an aside, Grant Shapps's announcement of £283 million in Transport spending isn't even a drop in the ocean - it's much smaller.

    We've heard all these grandiose schemes before - if it's an attempt to reverse Beeching it's far too little and far too late.

    It also seems that once fruit picking is over, the army of the furloughed will be deployed to railway and tube stations telling us how (and indeed if) we can get on the public transport it's our "civic duty" (according to one G.Shapps) not to use.

    Once again I see no detailed transport usage figures - instead, we have this "mobility" thing which not surprisingly shows we all went to the park on a nice warm day.

    We are also apparently all going to get on our bikes (presumably the looking for work will be added later).

    Agreed. In any case you'd want to do somethign different from merely reversing Beeching - Mr Shapps' statement is almost insulting in its dismissive verbiage. Completing the western and Midlands electrification for instance has to be more important than restoring the line to, say, Dolphinton or Lyme Regis (pleasant as those would be).
  • Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    I know single people who have had really really difficult times in last eight or nine weeks dealing with being alone in isolation and lockdown.

    And then this jumped up twat pulls this stunt as the rules don't apply to him and his wife.

    Half the country will be absolutely boiling with anger today.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited May 2020

    Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.

    Labour will regain some seats just because Starmer isn't Corbyn. He should have at a minimum, 230 seats by the end of the next election and 270 shouldn't be out of the question either.

    Not a mark of success of course.
    Even by Labour's standards, that seat total is pathetically weak.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,052

    Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.

    Labour will regain some seats just because Starmer isn't Corbyn. He should have at a minimum, 230 seats by the end of the next election and 270 shouldn't be out of the question either.

    Not a mark of success of course.
    Even by Labour's standards, that seat total is pathetically weak.
    Not since they lost Scotland. It's actually not bad.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    Jesus, the mouthpiece of Momentum has the gall to invoke CCHQ :lol:
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    edited May 2020

    Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.

    Labour will regain some seats just because Starmer isn't Corbyn. He should have at a minimum, 230 seats by the end of the next election and 270 shouldn't be out of the question either.

    Not a mark of success of course.
    Even by Labour's standards, that seat total is pathetically weak.
    Yes, even Callaghan got 269 seats in election 1979 BBC Parliament is now reshowing.

    Though of course Labour got about 40 more Scottish seats back then which are now SNP

  • Unsurprisingly some residents I know of in Durham are so furious its unbelievable. Looks like Laura Piddock's demise may have been one of a number of false heavens the North gifted themselves in Dec2019.
    Can't see the member for NW Durham adding Cummings to any WhatsApp banter groups anytime soon.

    Labour will regain some seats just because Starmer isn't Corbyn. He should have at a minimum, 230 seats by the end of the next election and 270 shouldn't be out of the question either.

    Not a mark of success of course.
    Even by Labour's standards, that seat total is pathetically weak.
    Don't you have irrelevant Tweets to bring up or something? Time to leave PB to the grown ups.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    I understand why he may have done this but the riight thing to do is resign

    Big G, we all understand why he did it. He did it because he didn’t want to be ill and in quarantine in a cramped townhouse in London. He wanted somewhere with a garden for the little one to play in, a view and the chance to get out a bit.

    And I do understand that. How often have I come on here counting my blessings that I have a lovely big house, with a garden, and a cycle trail to Cannock Chase less than 200 yards away? When I see people on the Chase, we actually comment on how lucky we are and reflect on those poor sods stuck in little flats in Walsall, whom we can actually see, but who until a few days ago couldn’t join us.

    The problem is that (a) flatly contradicts everything the government is doing and (b) he’s come up with just about the stupidest and most implausible set of lies imaginable to excuse it.

    But as it is Cummings and that is what he has always done, I agree there is a high chance he survives.
    You're a good person, you have my respect and thanks for your understanding of people with less than yourself. 10/10 post.
    Shame on Big G for supporting him, I expected better from him given his previous posting.
    I have said he should resign Malc.
    If he goes BigG the media will want an even bigger scalp next time- and you know who that is. The media tail wagging the government dog has to stop!
    Pete they need to clean their act up and they would not be at risk, they are a bunch of cheating lying bad uns.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    eadric said:

    IanB2 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    tlg86 said:

    "It seems to me that the guidance was pretty clear"

    That's not what journalists were saying two month's ago!

    Guidance if you have symptons has always been very clear. Do not leave your house, do not pass go.
    eadric said:

    IanB2 said:

    eadric said:

    I am sad to say that I think Cummings will have to go.

    Not sad for the man. He was a fool to break the rules in the way he did and think he was above reprimand for it. It was an arrogance that has always typified him from what I have seen.

    But I am sad for two specific reasons.

    One because it gives a win to the scum who have always hated him simply because he was effective and on the opposite side from them in arguments- and I include a fair few on here in that description.

    And two because he was undoubtedly right in the vast majority of things he did. He was a huge asset to both the Governance of this country and the Leave campaign.

    But it appears that success then breeds, or rather reinforces, that arrogance.

    No one should be above the law when people's lives are at stake, no one should get away with the crass hypocrisy he has displayed and no one should take the public for fools when trying to protect ones own career. He has done all these things and so should not survive.

    Whether he will or not is something I am incapable of predicting.

    As I said last night Boris could easily let him go for a while. Then rehire him in a different position in three months time. In the middle of summer. The opposition might bleat but no one would care.
    But will the government listen to expert advice, even from PB’s in house hypocrite?
    I’m still waiting for your legal action against me, on the grounds of my being in “a part of the country”
    It’s a criminal, not a civil matter.

    Any regular PB’er will have spotted the chasm between your words and your deeds.
    No, you claimed that I had done something illegal. You claimed I had illegally moved during lockdown and illegally rented accommodation

    Here you go, from the last thread

    IanB2
    Maybe he’ll be next up after Eadric explaining that while advocating a Chinese style hard lockdown for the rest of us, he was illegally travelling to an illegally rented bolt hole in South Wales.


    In actual fact I left before lockdown (legal) and a friend gifted me the flat (legal). So you are simply wrong on both counts.

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The fact I was provably right about coronavirus 6 weeks before you seems to drive you a bit mad, I’m not sure why.

    It’s boring. Move on.
    You’re mistaking me for someone who gives a toss.

    I only care about the crap you regularly defecate on here.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Dan Hodges LOL
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,708

    Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    This MP has declared the story over.

    https://twitter.com/oliverdowden/status/1264221876374646786?s=21
  • Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    Jesus, the mouthpiece of Momentum has the gall to invoke CCHQ :lol:
    No denial, so what is CCHQ saying now? Just give up?
  • So we've given up following the "science" then? Just go by instinct, okay I'll go and get smashed, thanks!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,223

    ydoethur said:

    I understand why he may have done this but the riight thing to do is resign

    Big G, we all understand why he did it. He did it because he didn’t want to be ill and in quarantine in a cramped townhouse in London. He wanted somewhere with a garden for the little one to play in, a view and the chance to get out a bit.

    And I do understand that. How often have I come on here counting my blessings that I have a lovely big house, with a garden, and a cycle trail to Cannock Chase less than 200 yards away? When I see people on the Chase, we actually comment on how lucky we are and reflect on those poor sods stuck in little flats in Walsall, whom we can actually see, but who until a few days ago couldn’t join us.

    The problem is that (a) flatly contradicts everything the government is doing and (b) he’s come up with just about the stupidest and most implausible set of lies imaginable to excuse it.

    But as it is Cummings and that is what he has always done, I agree there is a high chance he survives.
    You're a good person, you have my respect and thanks for your understanding of people with less than yourself. 10/10 post.
    He is indeed.
    His understanding of Cummings seems pretty on the money, too.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999
    Han Dodges making a TERRIBLE job of defending the indefensible. So situation normal.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766

    Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    This MP has declared the story over.

    https://twitter.com/oliverdowden/status/1264221876374646786?s=21
    No, he didn't, as thousands of tweets of the actual guidelines has shown today.

    Totally out of touch with real people. Hopelessly lost. Entire virus strategy in tatters.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    Cummings' story doesn't hold up however you read it. The simple and most obvious interpretation is that he is a lying dratsab who got caught out when he disregarded Government guidelines in a rather awkward situation.

    Over to you, Boris.

    [My guess is that Boris will support him since he's a bit of Holy Friar himself and knows what it feels like to be caught out, but only if the political cost isn't too great.]

    Problem is Peter that Boris will have known all along that he did it so just enhances his reputation as a no user.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Piers Morgan
    @piersmorgan
    ·
    27m
    Cummings’ wife’s sister LIVES IN LONDON.
    His closest aide LIVES 2 STREETS AWAY IN LONDON.
    This is such bullsh*t.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,223

    My impression is that Jenny Harries is incandescent.

    She’s a fairly dim bulb. though.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    Jesus, the mouthpiece of Momentum has the gall to invoke CCHQ :lol:
    No denial, so what is CCHQ saying now? Just give up?
    It says a lot about you that you think people who disagree with you are taking lines from party HQ. For the record I'm not, and I'm not even a party member, although in all other ways I am obviously a massive Tory :smile:

    And no, I have no intention of giving up: Cummings should stay, the whiners should be told to shove it.
  • Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    I understand why he may have done this but the riight thing to do is resign

    Big G, we all understand why he did it. He did it because he didn’t want to be ill and in quarantine in a cramped townhouse in London. He wanted somewhere with a garden for the little one to play in, a view and the chance to get out a bit.

    And I do understand that. How often have I come on here counting my blessings that I have a lovely big house, with a garden, and a cycle trail to Cannock Chase less than 200 yards away? When I see people on the Chase, we actually comment on how lucky we are and reflect on those poor sods stuck in little flats in Walsall, whom we can actually see, but who until a few days ago couldn’t join us.

    The problem is that (a) flatly contradicts everything the government is doing and (b) he’s come up with just about the stupidest and most implausible set of lies imaginable to excuse it.

    But as it is Cummings and that is what he has always done, I agree there is a high chance he survives.
    You're a good person, you have my respect and thanks for your understanding of people with less than yourself. 10/10 post.
    He is indeed.
    His understanding of Cummings seems pretty on the money, too.
    So are you.

    I don't wish to tar all people I disagree with, or indeed any as bad people. I am sure most are try to do the right things, save for a select few.

    Some have been very supportive of me when I have felt very isolated, so am grateful for that.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,381
    edited May 2020

    So only the two cultists trying to defend Cummings then. We know who to avoid in the future.

    Cummings did something both dumb and arrogant.

    I don't believe he should go at the behest of a salivating media (particularly someone with the dual standards of Piers Morgan as the moral-high-grounder-in-chief). I didn't think Calderwood or Jenrick should have gone-one did, one didn't. The Ferguson issue was slightly different in that he tried to blindside us for a quick shag or two, That appeared wrong, it felt he was rubbing our noses in it.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    Scott_xP said:
    That's exactly it. "Boris" is a lost little lamb without him. So I guess he does have to stay.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,317
    What Mrs Cummings wrote in the 25 April edition of the Spectator

    “My version of the virus began with a nasty headache and a grubby feeling of unease, after which I threw up on the bathroom floor. ‘That’s disgusting, Mum,’ said my four-year-old son, handing me a towel with a look of patronising distaste.
    ........
    My son, in his doctor’s uniform, administered Ribena with the grim insistence of a Broadmoor nurse
    ........
    That evening, as I lay on the sofa, a happy thought occurred to me: if this was the virus, then my husband, who works 16-hour days as a rule, would have to come home. I let myself imagine a fortnight in bed with ‘mild symptoms’, chatting to Dom and son through an open door. More fool me.

    My husband did rush home to look after me. He’s an extremely kind man, whatever people assume to the contrary. But 24 hours later, he said ‘I feel weird’ and collapsed. I felt breathless, sometimes achy, but Dom couldn’t get out of bed. Day in, day out for ten days he lay doggo with a high fever and spasms that made the muscles lump and twitch in his legs. He could breathe, but only in a limited, shallow way.

    After a week, we reached peak corona uncertainty. Day six is a turning point, I was told: that’s when you either get better or head for ICU. But was Dom fighting off the bug or was he heading for a ventilator? Who knew? I sat on his bed staring at his chest, trying to count his breaths per minute. The little oxygen reader we’d bought on Amazon indicated that he should be in hospital, but his lips weren’t blue and he could talk in full sentences, such as: ‘Please stop staring at my chest, sweetheart.’

    When do you go to hospital? Do you really wait until the lips go blue? Cedd, in his doctor’s uniform, administered Ribena with the grim insistence of a Broadmoor nurse, and this might be my only really useful advice for other double-Covid parents or single mothers with pre-schoolers: get out the doctor’s kit and make it your child’s job to take your temperature. Any game that involves lying down is a good game. My other corona tip is to order at least a litre of PVA glue. As Dom lay sweating, Cedd and I made a palace out of polystyrene packaging.
    ............

    Long after my son lost interest I was busy gluing on towers, and cutting coloured acetate to make window panes. When Dom finally made it into the kitchen, he found me manically applying cheap plastic stick-on gems to a loo-roll tower. ‘Mum’s busy playing,’ I heard Cedd tell Dom, as he trotted off to fetch the oximeter.

    Just as Dom was beginning to feel better, it was reported that Boris was heading in the other direction, into hospital.

    .........

    After the uncertainty of the bug itself, we emerged from quarantine into the almost comical uncertainty of London lockdown. Everything and its opposite seems true.”

    Economical with the actualite?

    The last sentence, however, is delightful.
  • Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    Jesus, the mouthpiece of Momentum has the gall to invoke CCHQ :lol:
    No denial, so what is CCHQ saying now? Just give up?
    It says a lot about you that you think people who disagree with you are taking lines from party HQ. For the record I'm not, and I'm not even a party member, although in all other ways I am obviously a massive Tory :smile:

    And no, I have no intention of giving up: Cummings should stay, the whiners should be told to shove it.
    No people that disagree with me are calling for him to go. Only people taking the CCHQ line almost verbatim I am calling out.

    You're pathetic - and I think deep down you know this is indefensible.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,405

    Han Dodges making a TERRIBLE job of defending the indefensible. So situation normal.

    I almost wonder if he is intentionally making a terrible job of it.
  • Shapps the new Chancellor then?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,708
    edited May 2020
    kinabalu said:

    Scott_xP said:
    That's exactly it. "Boris" is a lost little lamb without him. So I guess he does have to stay.
    Perhaps Boris could bring back Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1264218824225755136

    GMB is going to be a belter next week.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    Han Dodges making a TERRIBLE job of defending the indefensible. So situation normal.

    He is such a bellend
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    edited May 2020

    Given up defending Cummings then? CCHQ a bit slow on the next line to take?
    This MP has declared the story over.

    https://twitter.com/oliverdowden/status/1264221876374646786?s=21
    No, he didn't, as thousands of tweets of the actual guidelines has shown today.

    Totally out of touch with real people. Hopelessly lost. Entire virus strategy in tatters.
    Even taking the most negative interpretation of Cummings' actions and the significance of such a senior figure taking those actions, I think suggesting the entire strategy is in tatters is a bit histrionic. New Zealand's strategy was not in tatters when a minister broke the rules, Scotland's strategy wasn't in tatters when their CMO broke the rules.

    These things matter, where important people are proven (or appear) to not follow advice they themselves are pushing it matters, but as much as I would denigrate the general public I don't think they would react with complete abandon or collapse at such news, nor would it particularly impact the success or failure of large scale policies.

    Stories of significance don't need further spinning, their significance stands on its own.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    Piers Morgan
    @piersmorgan
    ·
    27m
    Cummings’ wife’s sister LIVES IN LONDON.
    His closest aide LIVES 2 STREETS AWAY IN LONDON.
    This is such bullsh*t.

    Gardenshed lives round the corner , he has been doing nothing , Dom could have asked him to babysit.
This discussion has been closed.