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  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    edited May 2020
    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    Noon tomorrow plus a week.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,246

    Is it possible Johnson broke the lockdown rules too, is that what Johnson has on him

    There was a lot of unease about him convalescing at Chequers, not Downing Street.

    But if there is a hold, it will go back further than that. Something from the referendum campaign, perhaps.

    Most likely, however, they just don’t get how bad it is to break the rules like this.

    Good night.
  • AndrewAndrew Posts: 2,900
    edited May 2020

    Huh, interesting. Normally I'd tend to dismiss most Craig Murray stuff, he tends to fall for routine conspiracy theory bollocks, but a quick google shows GSK facilities in Barnard Castle are indeed involved in covid vaccine work:

    https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/18400944.glaxosmithkline-barnard-castle-enter-vaccine-collaboration-fight-covid-19/
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,529

    Big dom for his supposed political genius...they could have closed this story down in half a day, nobody would have noticed as nice bank holiday, and been back in government in 6 months.

    Worse. He might have pulled off a full on apology and some guff about panicking as he was sick and he has a child to look after.

    Could all have been over by now.

    But thats what little people do, the ordinary people, the ones who watch the news and follow the guidelines, the ones who graft away in ordinary jobs hoping for a bit of pension and a few years with the grandkids.

    The Übermenschs on the other hand. They reach for the stars.
    Yes, Boris could have come out and said look thus is serious, must abide by the rules, nobody above it, all in this together, know is hard, but know personally how evil this virus is, yadda yadda yadda.

    Big Dom does puff pieces about scared for family, kid, etc

    And other than the Guardian / Twitter, at most people hear that weird bloke had it and resigned.....oh look the pubs open for takeaway....beer...

    And come the autumn he gets rehired.
    The Mandelson process.

    Over 20 years ago now.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    eadric said:

    ydoethur said:

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    If so, after that press conference Johnson will have to go too.
    Well yes, quite possibly. This is now that grave

    As it were
    Johnson only goes if it transpires that he knew about yet another trip to pick blue bells that we don't know about.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,892

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    I predicted tomorrow evening when this broke.

    We shall see.
    I still can't fathom how he didn't get the boot Friday. It beggars belief that No. 10 couldn't see how badly it would go down with the public.
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006
    Andrew said:

    What is the largest polling swing in a week?

    Watch as it barely moves.
    It will move but not as dramatically as some would like to think.

    As we are already seeing, the Johnson v Starmer polls will move first. I think Starmer will be comfortably ahead after this. It will take longer for the Labour Party to regain people's trust.

    The good news for Starmer is that the more his polling outstrips that of the party the easier it will be for him to stamp his authority on it and I suspect that any Corbynistas inclined to make trouble will be given short shift, which in turn will further enhance Starmer's image in the eyes of the general public.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    I predicted tomorrow evening when this broke.

    We shall see.
    I predict neither Cummings nor Boris will go over this. You're frothing yourselves into a frenzy over ephemera.

    Let's see!
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,152
    ydoethur said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    Cummings’ mother has said they wanted to be together as her brother had died.

    Not a terribly plausible explanation as (1) he didn’t die until after Cummings had done his chicken run and (2) the brother in question also lived in London.

    It’s just another attempt to dodge the truth - which is that he wanted to be locked down in a house with a nice garden.
    And even if it were true, it's utterly tone deaf.

    The whole point, the reason for the gritted-teeth fury, is that many many people have wanted to move around or be elsewhere over the last couple of months. They've worried about childcare, or wanted to be with their family, or comfort a dying or grieving relative.

    And they haven't. Partly because of government messaging. Partly because they recognised that if everyone did it then the virus would keep spreading and doubling twice a week.

    One of the reasons the expenses scandal cut through was the sense that MPs were living the high life while the Great British Public suffered the credit crunch. And that was mostly backbench nobodies. This is the very pinnacle of government.

    Have any of the Cabinet said anything this evening?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    Why the regret?
    Because he wont be a junior minister whilst Cummings is in power.
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922

    I predict neither Cummings nor Boris will go over this. You're frothing yourselves into a frenzy over ephemera.

    Let's see!

    https://twitter.com/patrick_kidd/status/1264677536736346116
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    Oh FFS.

    If Cummings had to go to GKS then he could have gone in a government car and the whole thing would have been essential work
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503

    Foxy said:

    houndtang said:

    Excellent header. We can't live like this, it's unnatural.
    Apparently primary school children will be in 'bubbles' than can''t interact with the kids in the other 'bubbles' even in the playground. Three year olds in nurseries will have to sit and play alone.
    If you want to cause kids mental health problems, these policies sound like excellent ways of achieving this.

    If you want normality to resume, and lockdown to go, then support strict quarantine measures to protect normality.

    Track, Trace, Isolate if you want no second wave.

    Quarantine and lockdown are not the same, they are alternatives. Johnson and Cummings have just done a Cleveland Steamer on the prospect of quarantine working.
    God I had to look up 'Cleveland Steamer' and now wish I hadn't. I must have had a blissfully innocent life.

    Amusingly though there is a company that makes Cleveland Steamers

    https://www.clevelandrange.com/Products/Steamers
    Glad to help with your education. A copy of Viz's Profanisaurus should be on everybody's bookshelf.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,873

    ydoethur said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    Cummings’ mother has said they wanted to be together as her brother had died.

    Not a terribly plausible explanation as (1) he didn’t die until after Cummings had done his chicken run and (2) the brother in question also lived in London.

    It’s just another attempt to dodge the truth - which is that he wanted to be locked down in a house with a nice garden.
    And even if it were true, it's utterly tone deaf.

    The whole point, the reason for the gritted-teeth fury, is that many many people have wanted to move around or be elsewhere over the last couple of months. They've worried about childcare, or wanted to be with their family, or comfort a dying or grieving relative.

    And they haven't. Partly because of government messaging. Partly because they recognised that if everyone did it then the virus would keep spreading and doubling twice a week.

    One of the reasons the expenses scandal cut through was the sense that MPs were living the high life while the Great British Public suffered the credit crunch. And that was mostly backbench nobodies. This is the very pinnacle of government.

    Have any of the Cabinet said anything this evening?
    Meeting of cabinet in morning. It will be interesting
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,529

    If you want an example of how to close a story down quickly. PC MP accused of assaulting his wife, out the party in a few hours, 99.99999% of the public have no idea about this story.

    Thanks, hadn't noticed that previously:

    A Plaid Cymru MP has had the whip withdrawn by the party after being arrested on suspicion of assault.

    Jonathan Edwards, who has represented Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2010, was arrested on Wednesday 20 May.

    Dyfed-Powys Police said a 44-year-old man from Ammanford had been arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of assault. He has been released on bail and the investigation is ongoing.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52779708
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,280
    Scott_xP said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    https://twitter.com/harrytlambert/status/1264650700883136514

    But apparently the Uncle died, in London...
    It’s another attempt at a feeble excuse. Sir John Laws, an eminent judge, died in London on 5 April - so after Cummings fled to Durham. And at the opposite end of the country from where they were.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    glw said:

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    I predicted tomorrow evening when this broke.

    We shall see.
    I still can't fathom how he didn't get the boot Friday. It beggars belief that No. 10 couldn't see how badly it would go down with the public.
    They are totally out of touch. And the ones who are in touch are scared of Cummings total power over the whole operation.

    Johnson needed a Willy Whitelaw, but he was too arrogant to have one. For all Thatcher's faults she was much much brighter than this clown.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    Scott_xP said:
    Utterly stupid thing to do by Ms Patel.
    The EU said we couldn't do it for only one EU state - none or all are the options. France is also doing it for Spain which also has 14 day quarantine
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,376
    eadric said:

    MrEd said:

    eadric said:

    MrEd said:

    MrEd said:

    Just back from a pleasant walk on Hampstead Heath. Not a lot of evidence of social distancing. Quite a bit of evidence of 'don't give a shit'. It's been a few weeks since I was in London so maybe things have been a lot looser down here than in Gloucestershire where I live now, but it may just be the Cummings fiasco is already having an impact.

    I should confess that I find his account implausible. It seems to me much more likely that when his wife got sick he didn't fancy looking after her and the little one on his own so found a more congenial solution involving his parents.

    Johnson performance this afternoon was abject. He had the chance to sack DC or at least explain why he didn't. He did neither. The airy waffle about 'reasonable parent' told us nothing and will have grated like hell with those who have ever experienced similar dilemmas.

    Given that nobody seems to have been infected in Islington in the last week (I know Hampstead Heath is in Camden) I suspect fear has evaporated from those who are 'out and about'.

    I like your second paragraph, it chimes with what Cummings's character might well be.
    Hampstead Heath is probably busier now than it has ever been. Plenty of mass picnics and people taking advantage of the weather. Part of it is probably because it is so hard to police. From personal experience of running around it, I would say the vast majority of the people in groups are in their 20s with a few families interspersed. Cannot blame them - I suspect many are stuck in cramped flats which are not particularly pleasant on a hot day.
    and tbh
    TOPPING said:

    It is unfortunate for Cummings that the whole country is frustrated and has a huge amount of pent up energy waiting to be unleashed.

    He happened to be the person that was at the right time and place and with adequate reason to satisfy that need.

    Whether he was right or wrong in what he did is immaterial.

    You are right about pen

    TOPPING said:

    It is unfortunate for Cummings that the whole country is frustrated and has a huge amount of pent up energy waiting to be unleashed.

    He happened to be the person that was at the right time and place and with adequate reason to satisfy that need.

    Whether he was right or wrong in what he did is immaterial.

    He must know that he has a lot of enemies & so they will look for anything done wrong...see the whole SAGE stuff. The thought that nobody would notice in his street not being there for two weeks or people wouldn't see him walking about in the NE....its idiot level stuff.
    It's arrogant entitlement of a privileged elite is what it is.
  • Makes this afternoon even less explicable. Boris or a minion could have done a low key "Dom understands people's concerns, Cabinet Secretary has promised a report will be on PM's desk Friday, keep calm, carry on and remain indoors unless permitted." Deflate the story by boring the hell out of everyone.

    Instead, we've seen the stakes doubled, the PM looking strange, confused and shifty again, and the PM has kept the story going.

    Makes no sense.
    This is, indeed, the weirdest thing of all.

    How can they have imagined for one moment that the PM fronting it up, without any contrition, explanation, or willingness to answer a straight question, would have helped resolve it?

    How on earth did they not see it was pouring petrol onto the fire?

    What is wrong at the heart of the operation?
    You have a sociopath trying to explain his problems away, that is why.
    That may be so.

    Cummings think he is the cleverest in the room, whether he's talking politics with politicians, medicine with doctors, statistics with statisticians, or PR with PR people.

    The ego on it!
    He might well be.

    And that might be the source of problems.

    Because problems in life often arise from thinking yourself cleverer than you are.
    I suspect he also thinks he's the cleverest in the room when talking about plumbing with plumbers.

    And that his bog hasn't flushed properly for 18 months.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    I predicted tomorrow evening when this broke.

    We shall see.
    I predict neither Cummings nor Boris will go over this. You're frothing yourselves into a frenzy over ephemera.

    Let's see!
    Your prediction surprises me. You have been notably bearish and pessimistic about their prospects all weekend.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,871
    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer
  • Ave_itAve_it Posts: 2,411
    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    'PB righties' always keep it nice and friendly even when being bullied and intimidated by hard left Corbynista nasty people
  • Ave_it said:

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    'PB righties' always keep it nice and friendly even when being bullied and intimidated by hard left Corbynista nasty people
    Corbynism is dead mate, you need to get over it.

    Although I agree that the left can be nasty. They have disowned me and I have received a lot of abuse.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503

    Thats the Manchester doctor who killed 100s.

    Bridge too far?
    Oh that GP bloke!!

    Who is the younger one?
    Mary Wakefield.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    eadric said:

    DougSeal said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
    Another howling miscalculation

    If you are going to butch this out, butch this out. Do a Trump. You Just Don't Care. The media are all liars. Etc. You can't simultaneously play the sympathy card, badly.
    Read the article:

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/05/exclusive-dominic-cummings-parents-defend-their-son-he-faces-demands-resign
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    Ave_it said:

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    'PB righties' always keep it nice and friendly even when being bullied and intimidated by hard left Corbynista nasty people
    CHB is certainly of the left but he’s far from nasty.
  • AndrewAndrew Posts: 2,900
    Timings look even tighter than the past article .....

    12th April: Cummings in Barnard Castle
    14th April: GSK announce vaccine deal to be run out of their BC site


    Wondering if perhaps some procurement .... *ahem* "niceties" .... have been thoroughly bypassed.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,306

    glw said:

    eadric said:

    Prediction: he will be gone by noon tomorrow

    https://twitter.com/timloughton/status/1264669836447305733?s=20

    I predicted tomorrow evening when this broke.

    We shall see.
    I still can't fathom how he didn't get the boot Friday. It beggars belief that No. 10 couldn't see how badly it would go down with the public.
    They are totally out of touch. And the ones who are in touch are scared of Cummings total power over the whole operation.

    Johnson needed a Willy Whitelaw, but he was too arrogant to have one. For all Thatcher's faults she was much much brighter than this clown.
    That is hardly in dispute.

    A communications director would be a distinct asset. It was also tbf what Vote Leave could have done with. Leave's victory hides a very flawed Vote Leave operation imo.
  • SirNorfolkPassmoreSirNorfolkPassmore Posts: 7,129
    edited May 2020

    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    I'd heard that. And I'd heard the nature of it is much less sympathetic than the usual Johnson rogering of a bored posh totty. The rumour is rather dark.

    As you say, may just be one of those rumours that does the rounds.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    What does your average swing voter think of this I wonder.

    They leant their vote to a new type of Tory Party. Looks a lot like the old Tory Party at the moment - will they make that mistake again now that Labour has woken up?

    Ahem - no, it doesn't look anything even remotely like the old Tory party, the one which was fiscally prudent, grounded in reality, keen on the rule of law, pro-business. This is the Tory party taken over and deformed by some malign parasite, as Labour was until a few weeks ago.
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006
    edited May 2020
    Ave_it said:

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    'PB righties' always keep it nice and friendly even when being bullied and intimidated by hard left Corbynista nasty people
    I'm beginning to quite enjoy your sense of humour
  • I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    I'd heard that. And I'd heard the nature of it is much less sympathetic than the usual Johnson rogering of a bored posh totty. The rumour is rather dark.

    As you say, may just be one of those rumours that does the rounds.
    I mean it's not implausible at all based on his history.

    But it will destroy that poor son he has just had.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,871
    On Tuesday I am in the office for the first time in 10 weeks. On Tuesday teatime I am going to go see my son. For the first time in 10 weeks. I expect to cry a littlw. Johnson can do one
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,280
    Foxy said:

    Thats the Manchester doctor who killed 100s.

    Bridge too far?
    Oh that GP bloke!!

    Who is the younger one?
    Mary Wakefield.
    She’s a pisspoor writer. That article in Spectator reads like it was written by Enid Blyton - “What Happened when I Became Very Ill”.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,871
    edited May 2020

    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    I'd heard that. And I'd heard the nature of it is much less sympathetic than the usual Johnson rogering of a bored posh totty. The rumour is rather dark.

    As you say, may just be one of those rumours that does the rounds.
    I mean it's not implausible at all based on his history.

    But it will destroy that poor son he has just had.
    How mamy children has Shagger got?
  • CorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorseBattery Posts: 21,436
    edited May 2020
    The simplest view surely must be that Cummings believed this would be another "FBPE Remainy London bubble" story. Arrogance always gets people in the end.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,707

    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    Boris has been known as a serial shagger for decades. What possible hold could it give Cummings or anyone else? And why should the pandemic mean voters care now more than they did in December? It doesn't ring true because half of it does ring true.
  • I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    I'd heard that. And I'd heard the nature of it is much less sympathetic than the usual Johnson rogering of a bored posh totty. The rumour is rather dark.

    As you say, may just be one of those rumours that does the rounds.
    I mean it's not implausible at all based on his history.

    But it will destroy that poor son he has just had.
    How mamy children has Shagger got?
    I'm sure some of them must be damaged by his many relationships and broken marriages.

    It is Carry I feel sorry for - but the reality is she won't last. Sorry to be harsh.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922
    Cyclefree said:

    She’s a pisspoor writer. That article in Spectator reads like it was written by Enid Blyton - “What Happened when I Became Very Ill”.

    I did wonder if this might end her career. Evry article she submits will now have an asterisk, did this really happen?

    Although of course making up articles didn't harm BoZo's career
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,376
    Not only are they fighting the last War. They're also fighting it in a changed nation.
    Child care and dead uncles don't cut it as an excuse for arrogant entitlement from a couple who've never been short of money or wealthy, influential relatives.
    We've all got stories now.
    I'm sure that's what they're missing.
  • Ave_itAve_it Posts: 2,411

    On Tuesday I am in the office for the first time in 10 weeks. On Tuesday teatime I am going to go see my son. For the first time in 10 weeks. I expect to cry a littlw. Johnson can do one

    DougSeal said:

    Ave_it said:

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    'PB righties' always keep it nice and friendly even when being bullied and intimidated by hard left Corbynista nasty people
    CHB is certainly of the left but he’s far from nasty.
    CHB is lovely! I basically told him that myself earlier tonight! ❤️
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    Cyclefree said:

    Foxy said:

    Thats the Manchester doctor who killed 100s.

    Bridge too far?
    Oh that GP bloke!!

    Who is the younger one?
    Mary Wakefield.
    She’s a pisspoor writer. That article in Spectator reads like it was written by Enid Blyton - “What Happened when I Became Very Ill”.
    I liked Enid Blyton, but I always wondered what Lacrosse was when they played it at Mallory Towers. Admittedly I was only about 10 years old at the time :)
  • I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    Boris has been known as a serial shagger for decades. What possible hold could it give Cummings or anyone else? And why should the pandemic mean voters care now more than they did in December? It doesn't ring true because half of it does ring true.
    The nature of the rumour is darker than that. It is very, very unsympathetic.

    But it is only a rumour, and these things are ten a penny
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,707

    If you want an example of how to close a story down quickly. PC MP accused of assaulting his wife, out the party in a few hours, 99.99999% of the public have no idea about this story.

    Thanks, hadn't noticed that previously:

    A Plaid Cymru MP has had the whip withdrawn by the party after being arrested on suspicion of assault.

    Jonathan Edwards, who has represented Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2010, was arrested on Wednesday 20 May.

    Dyfed-Powys Police said a 44-year-old man from Ammanford had been arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of assault. He has been released on bail and the investigation is ongoing.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52779708
    It was posted on here. You can't afford to take 10 minutes off pb in these fevered times.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Cyclefree said:

    Foxy said:

    Thats the Manchester doctor who killed 100s.

    Bridge too far?
    Oh that GP bloke!!

    Who is the younger one?
    Mary Wakefield.
    She’s a pisspoor writer. That article in Spectator reads like it was written by Enid Blyton - “What Happened when I Became Very Ill”.
    I don’t know. It was a very economical piece of writing.
  • May I ask a question, why when people write "new thread" does it take a while before I see it and why can others see it before me
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    Boris has been known as a serial shagger for decades. What possible hold could it give Cummings or anyone else? And why should the pandemic mean voters care now more than they did in December? It doesn't ring true because half of it does ring true.
    The nature of the rumour is darker than that. It is very, very unsympathetic.

    But it is only a rumour, and these things are ten a penny
    Can't be much of a hold if there's a rumour about it going around, can it?
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    What does your average swing voter think of this I wonder.

    They leant their vote to a new type of Tory Party. Looks a lot like the old Tory Party at the moment - will they make that mistake again now that Labour has woken up?

    Ahem - no, it doesn't look anything even remotely like the old Tory party, the one which was fiscally prudent, grounded in reality, keen on the rule of law, pro-business. This is the Tory party taken over and deformed by some malign parasite, as Labour was until a few weeks ago.
    I completely agree. This is not the old Tory party. I cannot make my mind up whether it should be classed as Populist or Clueless.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    What does your average swing voter think of this I wonder.

    They leant their vote to a new type of Tory Party. Looks a lot like the old Tory Party at the moment - will they make that mistake again now that Labour has woken up?

    Ahem - no, it doesn't look anything even remotely like the old Tory party, the one which was fiscally prudent, grounded in reality, keen on the rule of law, pro-business. This is the Tory party taken over and deformed by some malign parasite, as Labour was until a few weeks ago.
    I completely agree. This is not the old Tory party. I cannot make my mind up whether it should be classed as Populist or Clueless.
    The two are not mutually exclusive.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    What ever the thing is that is nominally running Britain tonight, it aint the Conservative and Unionist Party.

    If you shit on Middle England then you are done.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,892

    Boris has been known as a serial shagger for decades. What possible hold could it give Cummings or anyone else? And why should the pandemic mean voters care now more than they did in December? It doesn't ring true because half of it does ring true.

    The timing would make it quite a lot worse than normal.
  • MundoMundo Posts: 36
    Completely unsure how this one will play out. Strongly reminded of Blair Mandelson years, and the despair of the right wing press that they were unable to lay a glove on either due largely to a lack of appetite outside of the bubble.

    Will this resolve itself in the same way? Short term Teflon, long term reputations irretrievably damaged?
  • I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    Boris has been known as a serial shagger for decades. What possible hold could it give Cummings or anyone else? And why should the pandemic mean voters care now more than they did in December? It doesn't ring true because half of it does ring true.
    The nature of the rumour is darker than that. It is very, very unsympathetic.

    But it is only a rumour, and these things are ten a penny
    Can't be much of a hold if there's a rumour about it going around, can it?
    Depends if Cummings has evidence in some form. A recorded phone call with BJ discussing it, for instance. Rumours are ten a penny - evidence does the damage.

    I don't, incidentally, think it's true. Johnson is notorious with the bored posh totty, but the rumour is something else and seems out of character.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    DougSeal said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
    Another howling miscalculation

    If you are going to butch this out, butch this out. Do a Trump. You Just Don't Care. The media are all liars. Etc. You can't simultaneously play the sympathy card, badly.
    Read the article:

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/05/exclusive-dominic-cummings-parents-defend-their-son-he-faces-demands-resign
    Interesting, and sad

    But it doesn't detract from my point. Cummings is a hyper-political man and he lives in a political world. If he wants to survive this (which he apparently does) then he needs to find a plausible and sellable story, and stick with it, to the end. And if anyone knows how to sell a story, it is him, ironically.

    Yet here he has abandoned his own principles. First he left London because of sickness, then it was for childcare, then it wasn't for childcare, now it is because of a dead uncle, but the uncle died in, er, London, and there are also hints tonight that the child is autistic, so THAT explains it, or it doesn't...

    It is very unfortunate and I can believe it might be cock-up rather than conspiracy but boy, what a cock-up

    The game theory expert to crown all game theory experts does cock ups?

    Yeh right.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,306
    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    He will? Today alone, two PB 'lefties' have called a PB 'righty' mentally ill (due to a typo), and nobody has batted an eyelid, least of all the individual concerned. 'fuck kindness and fuck tolerance' is a quote from another one.

    SeanT does a good line in colourful insults, and that gets a lot of attention, but it always seems to me it's our 'kinder, gentler' comrades who have a more frequent tendency to get unpleasant. I've always thought that it's because they're left wing and therefore automatically on the moral high ground that many feel they don't actually have to work at being a decent human being.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,781
    edited May 2020
    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    DougSeal said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
    Another howling miscalculation

    If you are going to butch this out, butch this out. Do a Trump. You Just Don't Care. The media are all liars. Etc. You can't simultaneously play the sympathy card, badly.
    Read the article:

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/05/exclusive-dominic-cummings-parents-defend-their-son-he-faces-demands-resign
    Interesting, and sad

    But it doesn't detract from my point. Cummings is a hyper-political man and he lives in a political world. If he wants to survive this (which he apparently does) then he needs to find a plausible and sellable story, and stick with it, to the end. And if anyone knows how to sell a story, it is him, ironically.

    Yet here he has abandoned his own principles. First he left London because of sickness, then it was for childcare, then it wasn't for childcare, now it is because of a dead uncle, but the uncle died in, er, London, and there are also hints tonight that the child is autistic, so THAT explains it, or it doesn't...

    It is very unfortunate and I can believe it might be cock-up rather than conspiracy but boy, what a cock-up

    Boris said something weird in the press conference about a health condition, i can't remember how he phrased it, but it sounded like something that isnt public knowledge. Could be more BS, but it came out all weird, not like a thought out story, more the Boris waffle, woophs i have let slip something i shouldn't have.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    Where is @pritipatel tonight?

  • glwglw Posts: 9,892
    Scott_xP said:
    When even IDS shows better judgement you really are in trouble.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535

    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    DougSeal said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
    Another howling miscalculation

    If you are going to butch this out, butch this out. Do a Trump. You Just Don't Care. The media are all liars. Etc. You can't simultaneously play the sympathy card, badly.
    Read the article:

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/05/exclusive-dominic-cummings-parents-defend-their-son-he-faces-demands-resign
    Interesting, and sad

    But it doesn't detract from my point. Cummings is a hyper-political man and he lives in a political world. If he wants to survive this (which he apparently does) then he needs to find a plausible and sellable story, and stick with it, to the end. And if anyone knows how to sell a story, it is him, ironically.

    Yet here he has abandoned his own principles. First he left London because of sickness, then it was for childcare, then it wasn't for childcare, now it is because of a dead uncle, but the uncle died in, er, London, and there are also hints tonight that the child is autistic, so THAT explains it, or it doesn't...

    It is very unfortunate and I can believe it might be cock-up rather than conspiracy but boy, what a cock-up

    Boris said something weird in the press conference about a health condition, i can't remember how he phrased it, but it sounded like something that isnt public knowledge. Could be more BS, but it came out all weird, not like a thought out story, more the Boris waffle, woophs i have let slip something i shouldn't have.
    Cummings has been diagnosed as narcissistic?
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922

    Boris said something weird in the press conference about a health condition, i can't remember how he phrased it, but it sounded like something that isnt public knowledge. Could be more BS, but it came out all weird, not like a thought out story, more the Boris waffle, woophs i have let slip something i shouldn't have.

    That appears to be the autism angle
  • Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,781
    eadric said:

    Another prediction: Morgan is about to overreach. Not here, not now. But some of his recent tweets have been close to gloating about the high number of deaths in the UK. He is too invested in his own narrative
    We are in a mess when mr editor of fake army torture photo / the premier league champions of phone hacking is the moral voice of the nation.
  • Ave_itAve_it Posts: 2,411

    May I ask a question, why when people write "new thread" does it take a while before I see it and why can others see it before me

    You won't see it until you refresh your phone or PC. This is why some people write 'new thread' to alert posters
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922

    Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points

    https://twitter.com/hallamohieddeen/status/1264663057986400256
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    Mundo said:

    Completely unsure how this one will play out. Strongly reminded of Blair Mandelson years, and the despair of the right wing press that they were unable to lay a glove on either due largely to a lack of appetite outside of the bubble.

    Will this resolve itself in the same way? Short term Teflon, long term reputations irretrievably damaged?

    "lack of appetite outside of the bubble."???

    Have you spoken to anyone in last 48 hours?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    eadric said:

    What does Cummings have? A detailed list of exactly where and when each cabinet minister broke lockdown?

    Whatever he has, it must be political dynamite.

    Johnson made a move on the now Mrs Cummings. Old chap out and everything. Would make the most awful kiss and tell story
    hahahah

    er, is that true? That's good, if so, and explains a LOT

    I know a few of these people, very vaguely, and I can believe it
    It has been a persistent rumour even before this kicked off. Some of the Johnson tittle tattle in legal circles was debunked - notably the incident at Waterloo Station - but this rumour arrived with me from a separate source.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,781
    edited May 2020

    Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points

    Even more reason to do the quick resignation, Boris address the nation, Cummings does the puff piece, i panicked, i was scared for my kid, etc, approach.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,306

    Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points

    It does somewhat explain why Cummings didn't feel he could just palm him off on anyone with a London postcode as people here were glibly suggesting this morning.
  • eadric said:

    eadric said:

    DougSeal said:

    I've had a couple of texts to say Cummings family have a new line about grieving for a lost brother.

    Any info on this?

    He's just digging himself into a deeper hole.
    He is.

    That would certainly not be an allowable reason to drive 260 miles which is why he made up the child care one
    Uncle died in London. The angle was supposed to be grieving family together. Which is utterly sickening in the circumstances
    Another howling miscalculation

    If you are going to butch this out, butch this out. Do a Trump. You Just Don't Care. The media are all liars. Etc. You can't simultaneously play the sympathy card, badly.
    Read the article:

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/05/exclusive-dominic-cummings-parents-defend-their-son-he-faces-demands-resign
    Interesting, and sad

    But it doesn't detract from my point. Cummings is a hyper-political man and he lives in a political world. If he wants to survive this (which he apparently does) then he needs to find a plausible and sellable story, and stick with it, to the end. And if anyone knows how to sell a story, it is him, ironically.

    Yet here he has abandoned his own principles. First he left London because of sickness, then it was for childcare, then it wasn't for childcare, now it is because of a dead uncle, but the uncle died in, er, London, and there are also hints tonight that the child is autistic, so THAT explains it, or it doesn't...

    It is very unfortunate and I can believe it might be cock-up rather than conspiracy but boy, what a cock-up

    Boris said something weird in the press conference about a health condition, i can't remember how he phrased it, but it sounded like something that isnt public knowledge. Could be more BS, but it came out all weird, not like a thought out story, more the Boris waffle, woophs i have let slip something i shouldn't have.
    That doesn't make any sense in practice.

    If there was a massive fact that changed the whole complexion of the story but that the Cummings family desperately wanted to keep private for the sake of the child (or whoever), then they'd have had a quiet word with the editors and key broadcast people and said, "look, this is strictly confidential, but..."

    That's actually fairly common,and the media do soft pedal or even keep quiet stories because of it.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422

    May I ask a question, why when people write "new thread" does it take a while before I see it and why can others see it before me

    I don't know. Maybe you need to refresh the page more frequently.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422
    Boris still doesn't look right to me. I suggested the other day that he should take 6 months off from the job and let someone else be caretaker leader.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points

    The Gummer Defence? Using your kids as human shields against the media?

    Oops!
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    Scott_xP said:
    It is absolutely hilarious that IDS’s proxies felt it necessary to DENY he was defending the Government
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,781
    edited May 2020
    Andy_JS said:

    Boris still doesn't look right to me. I suggested the other day that he should take 6 months off from the job and let someone else be caretaker leader.

    He has never been very good at Q&A, but he is totally at sea. He doesn't even remember the question most of the time.or gets the wrong end of the stick, and I don't think it is just avoidance of hard ones. I have seen him do it with much more softball ones too.

    It reminds me of seeing foreign footballers interviewed when they have recently arrived and their English isnt quite up to speed yet.
  • Waterloo one? Can somebody explain?
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    Ave_it said:

    May I ask a question, why when people write "new thread" does it take a while before I see it and why can others see it before me

    You won't see it until you refresh your phone or PC. This is why some people write 'new thread' to alert posters
    You will not see anything except adverts if you use a phone for PB. I tried today and had to flip the phone into "Desktop mode" :open_mouth:
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,280

    I've had two seperate people message me with the same Cummings has a sex scandal hold over Johnson allegation. That doesnt make it true. But it does mean people think Shagger can't keep from sticking his cock into anything that wears a skirt. Not a problem in normal times ("He's such a lad") but no longer

    I'd heard that. And I'd heard the nature of it is much less sympathetic than the usual Johnson rogering of a bored posh totty. The rumour is rather dark.

    As you say, may just be one of those rumours that does the rounds.
    I mean it's not implausible at all based on his history.

    But it will destroy that poor son he has just had.
    Why the son and not Carrie? Intriguing.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922

    It does somewhat explain why Cummings didn't feel he could just palm him off on anyone with a London postcode as people here were glibly suggesting this morning.

    The suggestion was his uncle
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    He will? Today alone, two PB 'lefties' have called a PB 'righty' mentally ill (due to a typo), and nobody has batted an eyelid, least of all the individual concerned. 'fuck kindness and fuck tolerance' is a quote from another one.

    SeanT does a good line in colourful insults, and that gets a lot of attention, but it always seems to me it's our 'kinder, gentler' comrades who have a more frequent tendency to get unpleasant. I've always thought that it's because they're left wing and therefore automatically on the moral high ground that many feel they don't actually have to work at being a decent human being.
    Neither side has a monopoly on the moral high ground and there are some unpleasant characters on either side of the spectrum.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,922
    DougSeal said:

    It is absolutely hilarious that IDS’s proxies felt it necessary to DENY he was defending the Government

    And to comment on the story that he wanted to make no media comments...
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,280

    Apparently Cummings' son has autism, which just makes it worse because it sounds like yet again he's using his son to score political points

    It does somewhat explain why Cummings didn't feel he could just palm him off on anyone with a London postcode as people here were glibly suggesting this morning.
    What not even his aunt and uncle, both of whom live in London?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,376
    DougSeal said:

    Scott_xP said:
    It is absolutely hilarious that IDS’s proxies felt it necessary to DENY he was defending the Government
    Indeed. If IDS can perform a political sidestep on you and leave you grasping at thin air then your backs against the wall.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    Scott_xP said:

    Boris said something weird in the press conference about a health condition, i can't remember how he phrased it, but it sounded like something that isnt public knowledge. Could be more BS, but it came out all weird, not like a thought out story, more the Boris waffle, woophs i have let slip something i shouldn't have.

    That appears to be the autism angle

    My kid has autism.

    I felt ill.

    My wife felt ill.

    I drove 260 miles without using the toilet.

    My niece would look after us.

    No, actually it was my sister.

    My parents didn't see us.

    My Dad called the police. They didn't call us.

    The property has several separate houses.

    My uncle died.

    There's no food in London.

    I like blue bells.


    What a crock of fucking horse shit.

  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,306
    OllyT said:

    OllyT said:

    eadric said:

    I want to make an open and comprehensive offer to PB Tories.

    Join our cause, a strong and stable Government in the national interest can be achieved.

    Fuck off
    It was a joke...
    you will find a number of PB righties turn nasty when things aren't going their way. Wear it as a badge of honour!
    He will? Today alone, two PB 'lefties' have called a PB 'righty' mentally ill (due to a typo), and nobody has batted an eyelid, least of all the individual concerned. 'fuck kindness and fuck tolerance' is a quote from another one.

    SeanT does a good line in colourful insults, and that gets a lot of attention, but it always seems to me it's our 'kinder, gentler' comrades who have a more frequent tendency to get unpleasant. I've always thought that it's because they're left wing and therefore automatically on the moral high ground that many feel they don't actually have to work at being a decent human being.
    Neither side has a monopoly on the moral high ground and there are some unpleasant characters on either side of the spectrum.
    There we agree.
  • Ave_itAve_it Posts: 2,411

    Ave_it said:

    May I ask a question, why when people write "new thread" does it take a while before I see it and why can others see it before me

    You won't see it until you refresh your phone or PC. This is why some people write 'new thread' to alert posters
    You will not see anything except adverts if you use a phone for PB. I tried today and had to flip the phone into "Desktop mode" :open_mouth:
    When I am on the phone I always go for the classic option. I can't get posting working on the new format and clearly that would be unfortunate! 😊
This discussion has been closed.