Picking 6 members of your cabinet who have either been sacked for lying or had scandals for misrepresentation certainly comes in handy for weekends like this.
The left and the media are so desperate to bring Cummings down. He must scare the cack out of them.
Yep. I still say dig in and don't give an inch. Half of them will collapse into a month-long catatonic state as a result.
'But, but... you HAVE to give in to us ... you HAVE to...'
No, we don't
You don’t understand do you? There have been no demands from Labour for his resignation. That’s because the longer he stays the more damage he does. Boris cannot live without his unelected Rasputin. That is a narrative that will grow over the next 4 years.
The left and the media are so desperate to bring Cummings down. He must scare the cack out of them.
Yep. I still say dig in and don't give an inch. Half of them will collapse into a month-long catatonic state as a result.
'But, but... you HAVE to give in to us ... you HAVE to...'
No, we don't
You don’t understand do you? There have been no demands from Labour for his resignation. That’s because the longer he stays the more damage he does. Boris cannot live without his unelected Rasputin. That is a narrative that will grow over the next 4 years.
The people who would benefit from Cummings demise would be the senior members of the cabinet.
Gove, Sunak, Patel all publicly backed him, did Raab? Not sure anyone else counts as senior?
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
I was hoping we'd be sub 100 deaths per day and sub 1000 new cases per day before we eased restrictions any further so it may be June 1st becomes June 8th or the 15th but the drop in new cases today was welcome.
Schools won't open fully on June 1st - councils of all political stripes have said this. There will be a patchy and limited re-start in some areas - secondary schools have been written off until September.
ALL non-essential retail won't open on June 1st - we also know that. Most bars and many restaurants will stay closed as will, I suspect, betting shops. More shops will be able to open but observing socials distancing protocols will reduce business considerably. There will be plenty of queues at hairdressers and for those needing their Big Mac fix.
Families without restriction - again, no. If you have older relatives in "high risk" categories I suspect the restrictions will remain. There is still a need to protect those who are vulnerable to this awful virus.
As for ending furlough, again no. The share payable by employers may well increase and it's very likely some businesses will collapse and jobs will be lost but you sound like a capitalist - you must know capitalism is brutal and that adversity leads to opportunity and the adept business can survive and the quick-witted entrepreneur can make a killing if they can exploit the crisis.
Well if people want to get stuck in a traffic jam on the way to a place where nothing is open including the toilets that's their choice but I wouldn't recommend it.
He added: “I went home and told my wife, we thought he must be in London. I searched up the number plate later that day and my computer search history shows that.”
The last time I searched for details of a car registration, was when some swine dumped a car outside the house. All the DVLA check shows is if it is taxed, has an MOT, nothing to do with where it is from.
Maybe he was just confirming that the plate matched the model he saw? Also, if the plate search is in his browser history then that’s evidence that corroborates the witnesses story.
Boris's seems rather rapid and I say that as a Leaver and friend to the government. Hanging Shapps out to dry today and tomorrow looking at the Sophy Ridge tweet is a dereliction of duty.
The left and the media are so desperate to bring Cummings down. He must scare the cack out of them.
You get this wrong. The best thing for anti-Tories is for Cummings to stay - a daily reminder of what a weakling Boris is
Boris needs to do a Tammy Wynette and stand by his man.
To give up in the face of the baying outrage mob would confirm for many of us his fatal weakness - his inability to face down a few days of bad headlines in order to make the right, albeit difficult choice.
Dominic Cummings is a talented individual and whether or not you think he has made a mistake, it is his talent that got Leave over the line and got the Conservative Party the majority it enjoys today. That is why certain quarters are so desperate to see him go.
To give in to the outrage mob over something as minor as this when lockdown is already crumbling would be a rash decision made in the heat of the moment.
This will be forgotten about in a week, let alone by the time of the next GE. If Boris capitulates now, it would show that he has no spine and we are ruled not by a man, but by Twitter mob and the tabloid press.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
The left and the media are so desperate to bring Cummings down. He must scare the cack out of them.
You get this wrong. The best thing for anti-Tories is for Cummings to stay - a daily reminder of what a weakling Boris is
Boris needs to do a Tammy Wynette and stand by his man.
To give up in the face of the baying outrage mob would confirm for many of us his fatal weakness - his inability to face down a few days of bad headlines in order to make the right, albeit difficult choice.
Dominic Cummings is a talented individual and whether or not you think he has made a mistake, it is his talent that got Leave over the line and got the Conservative Party the majority it enjoys today. That is why certain quarters are so desperate to see him go.
To give in to the outrage mob over something as minor as this when lockdown is already crumbling would be a rash decision made in the heat of the moment.
This will be forgotten about in a week, let alone by the time of the next GE. If Boris capitulates now, it would show that he has no spine and we are ruled not by a man, but by Twitter mob and the tabloid press.
Stand by your man, Boris.
I dont think he made a mistake. He doesnt think he made a mistake.
I think he made an incredibly selfish, deliberate and hypocritical choice that smacks of one rule for the elite, another for you lot.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
I was hoping we'd be sub 100 deaths per day and sub 1000 new cases per day before we eased restrictions any further so it may be June 1st becomes June 8th or the 15th but the drop in new cases today was welcome.
Schools won't open fully on June 1st - councils of all political stripes have said this. There will be a patchy and limited re-start in some areas - secondary schools have been written off until September.
ALL non-essential retail won't open on June 1st - we also know that. Most bars and many restaurants will stay closed as will, I suspect, betting shops. More shops will be able to open but observing socials distancing protocols will reduce business considerably. There will be plenty of queues at hairdressers and for those needing their Big Mac fix.
Families without restriction - again, no. If you have older relatives in "high risk" categories I suspect the restrictions will remain. There is still a need to protect those who are vulnerable to this awful virus.
As for ending furlough, again no. The share payable by employers may well increase and it's very likely some businesses will collapse and jobs will be lost but you sound like a capitalist - you must know capitalism is brutal and that adversity leads to opportunity and the adept business can survive and the quick-witted entrepreneur can make a killing if they can exploit the crisis.
Agreed I wasn't expecting pubs to reopen or indeed furlough to finish in my 'minimum expectations' even though I would personally like this. Quite happy for betting shops to remain closed - frankly permanently from my perspective. Family access, yes there are higher risk individuals but people should be free to judge the risk and make a call.
From a personal, rather than political or epidemiological point of view, the most disturbing thing about this is that I find myself in agreement with Piers Morgan.
Which I had always confidently predicted would never happen.
The worrying bit is not that I'm in agreement with Piers Morgan, it's the fact I've twice been in agreement with him this week.
Given that his job is to pick holes in Government policy to win viewers it shows how stupid the Government is being.
I endorse your last sentence 100%
At a time we need leadership where is Boris
Boris must be ill surely
He may just be visiting family. It is the weekend, after all.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
Here in the Flatlands it is a meh, I'm afraid. He'll probably have to go although I can think of several government advisors that should have gone in the past but didn't. For a lot worse than driving to Durham.
What does annoy me is the rather frenzied hope that getting rid of him will stop Brexit in some way. It won't. We've already left.
Is there one person on here who has said it will stop Brexit? (Which has already happened).
Some "remainers" have suggested it might lead to an extension, others said it makes an extension less likely.
You are getting annoyed by something you are imagining.
Maybe not on here to be fair, although in some quarters I think there is a belief that extensions can continue indefinitely if only the government can be destabilised enough. There's definitely a Brexit Wars vibe here.
I'm failing to get worked up by the action itself (at least, as it stands at the moment) but as I say he will have to go eventually. I've technically been breaking lock-down since day 1 but not in a way that endangered anyone, so provided he didn't expose anyone else to the virus then I couldn't condemn it without being hypocritical.
I think the government made a mistake with being so prescriptive. Yes, shut venues where people mix and stop any large gatherings, but each family has their own circumstances that they may need to work around. They should have been allowed to make their own decisions.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
In the Mid Eighties I walked around a corner in Wesminster, nearly knocking into an old couple. He was shuffling, she fussing over him, and steering him. It took me a moment to recognise Harold Wilson, but it was.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
I was hoping we'd be sub 100 deaths per day and sub 1000 new cases per day before we eased restrictions any further so it may be June 1st becomes June 8th or the 15th but the drop in new cases today was welcome.
Schools won't open fully on June 1st - councils of all political stripes have said this. There will be a patchy and limited re-start in some areas - secondary schools have been written off until September.
ALL non-essential retail won't open on June 1st - we also know that. Most bars and many restaurants will stay closed as will, I suspect, betting shops. More shops will be able to open but observing socials distancing protocols will reduce business considerably. There will be plenty of queues at hairdressers and for those needing their Big Mac fix.
Families without restriction - again, no. If you have older relatives in "high risk" categories I suspect the restrictions will remain. There is still a need to protect those who are vulnerable to this awful virus.
As for ending furlough, again no. The share payable by employers may well increase and it's very likely some businesses will collapse and jobs will be lost but you sound like a capitalist - you must know capitalism is brutal and that adversity leads to opportunity and the adept business can survive and the quick-witted entrepreneur can make a killing if they can exploit the crisis.
Agreed I wasn't expecting pubs to reopen or indeed furlough to finish in my 'minimum expectations' even though I would personally like this. Quite happy for betting shops to remain closed - frankly permanently from my perspective. Family access, yes there are higher risk individuals but people should be free to judge the risk and make a call.
The way that this country has been allowed to become hooked on gambling is one of the more disgraceful things of the last 20 or so years. I’m normally a liberal on social matters but things have “gone too far”
Here in the Flatlands it is a meh, I'm afraid. He'll probably have to go although I can think of several government advisors that should have gone in the past but didn't. For a lot worse than driving to Durham.
What does annoy me is the rather frenzied hope that getting rid of him will stop Brexit in some way. It won't. We've already left.
Is there one person on here who has said it will stop Brexit? (Which has already happened).
Some "remainers" have suggested it might lead to an extension, others said it makes an extension less likely.
You are getting annoyed by something you are imagining.
Maybe not on here to be fair, although in some quarters I think there is a belief that extensions can continue indefinitely if only the government can be destabilised enough. There's definitely a Brexit Wars vibe here.
I'm failing to get worked up by the action itself (at least, as it stands at the moment) but as I say he will have to go eventually. I've technically been breaking lock-down since day 1 but not in a way that endangered anyone, so provided he didn't expose anyone else to the virus then I couldn't condemn it without being hypocritical.
I think the government made a mistake with being so prescriptive. Yes, shut venues where people mix and stop any large gatherings, but each family has their own circumstances that they may need to work around. They should have been allowed to make their own decisions.
If he was breaking lockdown thats one thing, and I agree that adding a level of personal decision making there is correct. A significant proportion of the population have not followed all the lockdown rules. It would still be hypocritical but that would be a different level offence.
But the problem is he broke quarantine. He thought the family was contagious and still thought the rules dont apply to him, that is just so different, it is dangerous and selfish.
The left and the media are so desperate to bring Cummings down. He must scare the cack out of them.
Yep. I still say dig in and don't give an inch. Half of them will collapse into a month-long catatonic state as a result.
'But, but... you HAVE to give in to us ... you HAVE to...'
No, we don't
What is the point of Dominic Cummings? What does he do for Boris? What use is he to the government this week, this month, this pandemic?
Media strategy? Clearly that is not working, whether the confusion over what is allowed, or even today's rush to defend Dom without first establishing the facts.
Controlling the pandemic? We know Dom attends SAGE meetings but our position is, tragically, near the top of the Covid-19 league.
Brexit? America? Reopening the schools? What does he do and if he stopped doing it then who would care or even notice? In other words, does Boris regard Cummings as indispensible?
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
It doesn't matter when the defining moment happens, it may be years before the public have their say, but this tawdry day of bullshit and Potemkin excuses will be remembered.
Agreed I wasn't expecting pubs to reopen or indeed furlough to finish in my 'minimum expectations' even though I would personally like this. Quite happy for betting shops to remain closed - frankly permanently from my perspective. Family access, yes there are higher risk individuals but people should be free to judge the risk and make a call.
I don't think our views are that apart. I quite agree for the vast majority of younger people the risk is minimal but there is a significant cohort of the population (both the elderly and those with existing health conditions) for whom the virus is a very real risk and the long term health impacts even for those who suffer the initial virus attack can be profound.
I think we must do everything we can to protect the vulnerable but there's a growing recognition there are ways and means of doing that while still allowing those for whom the virus presents much less of a risk to resume a more normal life.
My fear is some people will be coerced back to work even though they have health issues which make them more vulnerable to the virus.
Morgan's still bitter that Boris wouldn't go on GMB during the general election then?
No, he is channelling his audiences anger.
I don't understand why Tory supporters don't get this.
Well as I said about two months ago the government is done for. No government can possibly survive this kind if economic disaster so whether Cummings stays or goes doesn't really make much difference.
A majority Labour government is a near certainty whatever happens.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
That's what they said about Westland and a hundred other political scandals.
The reality is that major electoral shifts happen only very rarely.
Matthew Parris said Westland marked the passing of Maggie's noon, though many more years in power awaited her. I have to say this has a similar feel to it: the best bits for Boris may have already gone.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
You’re not doing a great job of pretending not to be rattled.
Dominic Cummings visited his parents' home TWICE and took a trip 30 miles away, say new eyewitnesses as maverick No10 chief's excuse for travelling 260 miles while self-isolating with Covid-19 crumbles after he insisted he 'doesn't care' if it looks bad
"The suspicion remains that somewhere, deep in their hearts, the cabinet’s collective reaction to this scandal – for such it is – is predicated on a still darker appreciation of an unwelcome political reality. Namely that the Prime Minister, whatever his other talents, is not actually up to the job of running the country in a moment such as this. "
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
They did it en masse so none of them will have lost much political capital.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
They did it en masse so none of them will have lost much political capital.
And if they are smart, they will have told the PM that he would have to resign if more came out.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
There's no proof that he didn't, thanks to the policies of the administration which he (partly) runs. And we are dealing with precautiionary and preventive policies anyway.
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
If I was a Cabinet minister, I would have claimed today that I had had to have emergency dental treatment.
Oh wait...
The dentists are all closed because the country is in a massive, total fucking lockdown where children can't look after their ageing parents, and grandparents can't hug their grandchildren.*
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
Viruses spread without leaving proof of who gave it to who! We can barely test who has it accurately without monitoring exactly who he might have given it to.
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
They did it en masse so none of them will have lost much political capital.
They will also probably say Cummings lied to them and they genuinely believed they were telling the truth.
Whether looking like fools is better than looking like crooks in this context is another question.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
That's what they said about Westland and a hundred other political scandals.
The reality is that major electoral shifts happen only very rarely.
Matthew Parris said Westland marked the passing of Maggie's noon, though many more years in power awaited her. I have to say this has a similar feel to it: the best bits for Boris may have already gone.
There is no comparison between a Cabinet resignation over an obscure helicopter manufacturer and an entire nation trying to self isolation for weeks whilst the powers that be drive up and down the A1 like its their garden path.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
And if you want reasonable, start by thinking about issue by issue, point by point, not just supporting your blue team.
I'm not even sure why Tories are desperate to support Dom.
He's not even a Tory.
Boris could have sacked him last night — AS ANY REASONABLE PERSON WOULD HAVE DONE — instead the pathetic weasels in the cabinet have spent the day defending the indefensible, only to discover — *shock horror* — that they have been taken for a ride by Johnson and Cummings.
If there was any honour left in politics there would be a round of resignations, quite probably including the dopey beggar Boris as well.
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
Absolute shower of bastards. Fuck the lot of them.
Dominic Cummings visited his parents' home TWICE and took a trip 30 miles away, say new eyewitnesses as maverick No10 chief's excuse for travelling 260 miles while self-isolating with Covid-19 crumbles after he insisted he 'doesn't care' if it looks bad
Comments
https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1264272877416783873
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1264274378604384257
And a summary of the dates where he was alleged to be.
Harold Wilson had a long, slow decline.
Gove, Sunak, Patel all publicly backed him, did Raab? Not sure anyone else counts as senior?
Schools won't open fully on June 1st - councils of all political stripes have said this. There will be a patchy and limited re-start in some areas - secondary schools have been written off until September.
ALL non-essential retail won't open on June 1st - we also know that. Most bars and many restaurants will stay closed as will, I suspect, betting shops. More shops will be able to open but observing socials distancing protocols will reduce business considerably. There will be plenty of queues at hairdressers and for those needing their Big Mac fix.
Families without restriction - again, no. If you have older relatives in "high risk" categories I suspect the restrictions will remain. There is still a need to protect those who are vulnerable to this awful virus.
As for ending furlough, again no. The share payable by employers may well increase and it's very likely some businesses will collapse and jobs will be lost but you sound like a capitalist - you must know capitalism is brutal and that adversity leads to opportunity and the adept business can survive and the quick-witted entrepreneur can make a killing if they can exploit the crisis.
Hanging Shapps out to dry today and tomorrow looking at the Sophy Ridge tweet is a dereliction of duty.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
I like to know if I'm lying to save the skin of a tosser or a moron.
How much fucking shit is there on the menu, and what fucking flavour is it?
To give up in the face of the baying outrage mob would confirm for many of us his fatal weakness - his inability to face down a few days of bad headlines in order to make the right, albeit difficult choice.
Dominic Cummings is a talented individual and whether or not you think he has made a mistake, it is his talent that got Leave over the line and got the Conservative Party the majority it enjoys today. That is why certain quarters are so desperate to see him go.
To give in to the outrage mob over something as minor as this when lockdown is already crumbling would be a rash decision made in the heat of the moment.
This will be forgotten about in a week, let alone by the time of the next GE. If Boris capitulates now, it would show that he has no spine and we are ruled not by a man, but by Twitter mob and the tabloid press.
Stand by your man, Boris.
Those graphic artists are working like beavers this evening.
I think he made an incredibly selfish, deliberate and hypocritical choice that smacks of one rule for the elite, another for you lot.
I don't understand why Tory supporters don't get this.
I'm failing to get worked up by the action itself (at least, as it stands at the moment) but as I say he will have to go eventually. I've technically been breaking lock-down since day 1 but not in a way that endangered anyone, so provided he didn't expose anyone else to the virus then I couldn't condemn it without being hypocritical.
I think the government made a mistake with being so prescriptive. Yes, shut venues where people mix and stop any large gatherings, but each family has their own circumstances that they may need to work around. They should have been allowed to make their own decisions.
The reality is that major electoral shifts happen only very rarely.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/22/dominic-cummings-coronavirus-and-lockdown-a-timeline
But it's already a little out of date. They need to add:
12 April: Barnard Castle
19 April: Houghall Woods, near his parents' house (or houses).
A freak wave can emerge from otherwise flat water and swallow a vessel in seconds...
But the problem is he broke quarantine. He thought the family was contagious and still thought the rules dont apply to him, that is just so different, it is dangerous and selfish.
Media strategy? Clearly that is not working, whether the confusion over what is allowed, or even today's rush to defend Dom without first establishing the facts.
Controlling the pandemic? We know Dom attends SAGE meetings but our position is, tragically, near the top of the Covid-19 league.
Brexit? America? Reopening the schools? What does he do and if he stopped doing it then who would care or even notice? In other words, does Boris regard Cummings as indispensible?
https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1264274546741456896
I think we must do everything we can to protect the vulnerable but there's a growing recognition there are ways and means of doing that while still allowing those for whom the virus presents much less of a risk to resume a more normal life.
My fear is some people will be coerced back to work even though they have health issues which make them more vulnerable to the virus.
A majority Labour government is a near certainty whatever happens.
https://twitter.com/LabourRichard/status/1264226685748199436?s=20
Ladbrokes: 8/11 go; Evens stay.
PP/Betfair: Evens go; 8/11 stay.
Mail
He's not even a Tory.
6/4 available
https://starsports.bet/sport/politics
Oh wait...
The dentists are all closed because the country is in a massive, total fucking lockdown where children can't look after their ageing parents, and grandparents can't hug their grandchildren.*
* Aides to the PM excused.
Whether looking like fools is better than looking like crooks in this context is another question.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
If there was any honour left in politics there would be a round of resignations, quite probably including the dopey beggar Boris as well.