Tribal politics is alive and kicking I see, pathetic.
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
I genuinely can't understand from both boris or big dom perspective. Just do a Mandy & still advise unofficially.
Genuinely one of the worst conferences he has done
No
Yesterday was by far the worst he has done.
You use car crash quite liberally but yesteday was a real car crash
Stop splitting hairs BigG - take the f*cking blinkers off!
It was a shocking performance - the man is simply not well or not competent or both.
This whole sorry saga has been embarrassing and to be honest it is a massive distraction. A distraction to how this Tory Government has handled this pandemic - it's been an utter shambles and the title "worst in Europe" is richly deserved!
Tribal politics is alive and kicking I see, pathetic.
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
I genuinely missed the part where the police confirmed Cummings acted reasonably - do you have a link?.
Going for a drive is NOT a valid test of your eyesight, even if you're fortunate enough to be okay after all. When I'm flying, if I think something's wrong with my aircraft, I don't use the test "I'll go for a flight and see if the wing falls off," because if there IS anything wrong, you're in trouble.
You don't use a test like that where failing means someone's in danger. And especially you don't put your small child in the back if you're foolish enough to do it in the first place.
I'm sorry, but when I learned to drive it was drummed into me that a car is a lethal weapon if you're not driving sensibly and with all your faculties. You do not, to test your faculties, go driving.
Why couldn't he simply wait a couple more days until he was definitely better? It's not as if Boris desperately needed his advice, and he could keep up with things over his encrypted laptop if he needed to.
You may think it's a reasonable thing to do. Many others do not.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
I genuinely can't understand from both boris or big dom perspective. Just do a Mandy & still advise unofficially.
Ego, I suspect. Dom wants to be a big man, the known man, it's not enough to be the smartest and best (in his opinion), everyone must know he is and hate him for it to boot. It explains his 'cooler than thou' persona.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
I genuinely can't understand from both boris or big dom perspective. Just do a Mandy & still advise unofficially.
So following classic Dom's sage advice today I'm going to confirm whether or not I have Parkinson's disease by attempting to use an angle grinder to cut-up a paving slab supported between two dogs. If all three of us survive I guess its a no!
If so, you may not have Parkinson’s but you’re definitely barking.
He drove to the outskirts of the castle town, stopped briefly by a river and returned to his lodgings. Didn't go near the castle.
It doesn’t matter where he drove. If he drive just one foot on the public highway with reason to think his vision was insufficient to safely drive then he committed an offence.
That’s what I cannot believe. Even if you accept his version of lockdown/quarantine, which the Attorney General does but a judge may not, he’s just freely admitted to a crime live on air.
What a numpty.
That was what I thought. Driving without care and attention.
It’s actually a separate, specific offence under Section 96 of the RTA (1988) to drive with impaired vision.
(1)If a person drives a motor vehicle on a road while his eyesight is such (whether through a defect which cannot be or one which is not for the time being sufficiently corrected) that he cannot comply with any requirement as to eyesight prescribed under this Part of this Act for the purposes of tests of competence to drive, he is guilty of an offence.
Except that he didn’t. It might have been so he checked. If he’d decided it wasn’t safe to drive then he would have been in breach. But he was safe so he didn’t commit an offence
What are you on about @Charles ? Come on, you’re better than this. He left his “home” to go for a drive which was not necessary. He should have simply stayed at “home” if he wasn’t sure.
Staying at home wasn’t a request, it was an instruction remember!
Returning to work if able was an instruction. He checked to see if he was safe to drive so he could return to work
Except if he spread it to someone who died. And all the people who died, and their families weren't allowed to see them, when he was swanning around a big house because of a patently concocted story about driving while maybe incapacitated / maybe blind. And it was the cops who changed their story after telling the newspapers.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a long drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
30 miles is not a short drive. A test drive if you think you might not be safe is not one where you bring your wife and child. You risk putting them - as well as others - at serious risk.
Honestly sometimes you do give the impression you will swallow any old rubbish.
I doubt PT actually believes it himself, he's not stupid, he's simply trying to spin it as best he can in the hope that the rest of us are stupid. .
Just as a question: @Philip_Thompson - as the father of a young lad yourself, would you, if there was reason to suspect your eyesight might be impaired, test it by going for a 30-mile drive with your son in the car? Rather than, say, wait a few more days and check in over Zoom.
I really wouldn’t, myself, but I’m wondering if I’m overcautious
If I felt my vision currently impaired I wouldn't get behind the wheel.
If I felt safe to drive but was concerned after a serious illness I'd certainly consider a short drive first before setting off on a cross country drive.
With your kid in the car? I wouldn’t, not if there was any reasonable chance I might be incapable. Such as when he was too sick to continue for a while at Barnard’s Castle.
His wife needed to be in the car - it was her who was worried about him being safe to drive. So the son had to come because he was too young to stay home alone and it would have been a breach of the rules to intermingle two households
Personally, if there was any doubt and I'd been that ill recently, and I had the facilities to work from home and my boss who I advise was not at work and recuperating for the next two weeks anyway, I think I'd have waited a few more days first.
find this difficult to believe - he had plenty of time to come up with a better story
Perhaps, but people often have plenty of time to come up with things and come up with something crap. It's like those Novichok conspiracies abotu how the Russians couldn't be involved because they wouldn't have cocked things up.
Going for a drive is NOT a valid test of your eyesight, even if you're fortunate enough to be okay after all. When I'm flying, if I think something's wrong with my aircraft, I don't use the test "I'll go for a flight and see if the wing falls off," because if there IS anything wrong, you're in trouble.
You don't use a test like that where failing means someone's in danger. And especially you don't put your small child in the back if you're foolish enough to do it in the first place.
I'm sorry, but when I learned to drive it was drummed into me that a car is a lethal weapon if you're not driving sensibly and with all your faculties. You do not, to test your faculties, go driving.
Why couldn't he simply wait a couple more days until he was definitely better? It's not as if Boris desperately needed his advice, and he could keep up with things over his encrypted laptop if he needed to.
You may think it's a reasonable thing to do. Many others do not.
He is the second most important man in the govt. He can get a govt driver there within the hour (maybe police to take them within 15 mins if needed) let alone one for a drive the next day.
It is no more reasonable than Prince Phillip driving when he cant see. But it almost certainly didnt happen as said so its a moot point.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a live drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
I genuinely can't understand from both boris or big dom perspective. Just do a Mandy & still advise unofficially.
Ego, I suspect. Dom wants to be a big man, the known man, it's not enough to be the smartest and best (in his opinion), everyone must know he is and hate him for it to boot. It explains his 'cooler than thou' persona.
Why else not take the easy way as you suggest?
This is right.
Cummings wants personally to win and be the cleverest in the room.
Mandy, ultimately, was a Party man. Yes, he enjoyed the "ooh, aren't I naughty?" stuff, the gossip and the intrigue. But, if push came to shove, he knew he was part of a common endeavour and would live with not personally winning everything for the sake of the bigger game.
In any case, seeing as the damage has been done public health wise, and Boris, to provide a dead cat, has effectively signalled it's all over anyway, please keep him on.
Bed is made. Let Boris and the Tories bloody well lie in it.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a long drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
The logical thing to do is get someone else to drive!
What if he could only drive for 90 mins but then the eye problems made him tired, halfway thru the journey?
I hope Cummings survives. [EDIT: Even though I lose a bet]
This is operating at several levels.
There is the basic emotional level across all political opinions that this stinks. One law for us, another for them. I agree with that. Tory MPs are getting this in their in-trays in spades. That's the political raw material.
The Left wing and maybe some Remainers see this as a way at undermining Johnson's credibility and possibly getting a change of Tory leader and softening of policy on the EU (Hunt?).
But the worrying movement is by the hard Brexiteeers who have always hated Cummings who is a soft Brexiteer (Farage, Baker etc hate him). Baker led the charge by Tory MPs. If they can get rid of Cummings, they stand a better change of getting a No Deal Brexit. Cummings is a steadying force in this Cabinet of half-wits. I hope he survives.
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
So why take his son? He had nieces who could look after the child if he wasn't sure about his ability to drive?
Because he never actually met his nieces during his trip, as he said today.
They were on standby in case both parents fell sick at the same time and were unable to look after him, but as it happens weren't required.
I'm sorry this is utter bollocks, if I wasn't sure about my ability to drive, I wouldn't take my kids along to make sure, I'd have left them with the nieces.
So you would have chosen to break the law/guidelines?
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
30 miles is not a short drive. A test drive if you think you might not be safe is not one where you bring your wife and child. You risk putting them - as well as others - at serious risk.
Honestly sometimes you do give the impression you will swallow any old rubbish.
I doubt PT actually believes it himself, he's not stupid, he's simply trying to spin it as best he can in the hope that the rest of us are stupid. .
It's reasonable. Before going on a cross country drive I'd go on a half hour drive in those circumstances. It's what I was taught to do. I don't know local are not 30 miles is half an hour if it's national speed limit.
I wonder exactly where on the outskirts of Barnard Castle near a river he stopped. At what time? And how long for?
Why would he give such a silly explanation when there is a more obvious one available?
Two options
A) it’s true - people often do things that are silly in the cold light of day
it’s a lie to cover up a transgression. I find this difficult to believe - he had plenty of time to come up with a better story
The point is it is vague enough to cover multiple sightings in the area over a long time period unless the witnesses were writing down the times of the sightings.
More than that, Rishi just comments on the agreed and obvious thought - that DC is trying to protect his child - and says that he, Rishi, 'believes that he has explained himself'.
I too believe DC has explained himself. (Though I think the explanation is thin).
To defend him Rishi would have to say 'that I believe him'. It is noticeable that no-one is saying this - including Boris.
In any case, seeing as the damage has been done public health wise, and Boris, to provide a dead cat, has effectively signalled it's all over anyway, please keep him on.
Bed is made. Let Boris and the Tories bloody well lie in it.
I don't agree with this at all, as we all have to lie in their foetid bed.
There will be a second wave, and the measures needed to restrict it will be significantly more difficult to take.
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
So why take his son? He had nieces who could look after the child if he wasn't sure about his ability to drive?
Because he never actually met his nieces during his trip, as he said today.
They were on standby in case both parents fell sick at the same time and were unable to look after him, but as it happens weren't required.
I'm sorry this is utter bollocks, if I wasn't sure about my ability to drive, I wouldn't take my kids along to make sure, I'd have left them with the nieces.
So you would have chosen to break the law/guidelines?
I would have hired a driver for the trip and my means are a tiny fraction of his families. And he could have had a driver for free.
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
So why take his son? He had nieces who could look after the child if he wasn't sure about his ability to drive?
Because he never actually met his nieces during his trip, as he said today.
They were on standby in case both parents fell sick at the same time and were unable to look after him, but as it happens weren't required.
I'm sorry this is utter bollocks, if I wasn't sure about my ability to drive, I wouldn't take my kids along to make sure, I'd have left them with the nieces.
So you would have chosen to break the law/guidelines?
So what was the bloody point of him going up to Durham if he wasn't going to use the support network he needed ?
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a live drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
Tribal politics is alive and kicking I see, pathetic.
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
Today is the first time I have really seen or heard from Cummings and outside of the bubble he did not look like the monster he is portrayed as and he did prove the Guardian were wrong when they said he had gone back and the Guardian lied about the police speaking to Cummings himself. It will be interesting to see if the Guardian retract and apologise
My wife listened with me and felt he had given an honest and frank statement and indeed the vox pop from Barnard Castle seemed to bear that out, with some support for Cummings, especially from women
The divides on here are self evident but I expect he will retain his job, the polls will be bad for Boris, and the gap to labour will close
In a 4 year parliament it is not the event that decides GE 24, it is the way HMG deals with the economic armageddon that will.
As for Boris he lost me last night and I believe he needs to go on paternity leave, he has not recovered by some distance from covid
"Thanks for the explanation but it still seems like double standards." "One rule for us another for them. And him." "Looks like Cummings is in charge and Boris is just doing what he's told. It's a farce" "The arrogance of these people, 30 minutes when the whole country is waiting, still wrong, so wrong Lawbreaker and should not be setting rules for us." "This is BS. Damage limitation exercise" "What a story!! He's so lucky he kept a diary of all his feelings and movements during this time!!!! Complete joke I'm embarrassed for him." "This sounds like a script, composed afterwards, to fit the known facts." "The longest excuse in the history of excuses!" ""I drove half an hour to Barnard Castle to make sure I could drive"... RESIGN!" "So his wife had symptoms but didnt self isolate, and he was in barnard castle, we are being taken for mugs here"
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
30 miles is not a short drive. A test drive if you think you might not be safe is not one where you bring your wife and child. You risk putting them - as well as others - at serious risk.
Honestly sometimes you do give the impression you will swallow any old rubbish.
I doubt PT actually believes it himself, he's not stupid, he's simply trying to spin it as best he can in the hope that the rest of us are stupid. .
It's reasonable. Before going on a cross country drive I'd go on a half hour drive in those circumstances. It's what I was taught to do. I don't know local are not 30 miles is half an hour if it's national speed limit.
Even if you think the explanation would provide a reasonable excuse under sec 6, Do you actually believe him?
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
So why take his son? He had nieces who could look after the child if he wasn't sure about his ability to drive?
Because he never actually met his nieces during his trip, as he said today.
They were on standby in case both parents fell sick at the same time and were unable to look after him, but as it happens weren't required.
I'm sorry this is utter bollocks, if I wasn't sure about my ability to drive, I wouldn't take my kids along to make sure, I'd have left them with the nieces.
So you would have chosen to break the law/guidelines?
So what was the bloody point of him going up to Durham if he wasn't going to use the support network he needed ?
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a live drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
Pure coincidence it was on his wife's birthday?
Maybe. The timeline matches what he said.
They were feeling rather better, so went on a day trip to a local beauty spot because it was her birthday.
It all fits with the timelines. But it was a clear breach of the publicised rules.
The self eye-test thing reminds me of the Labour MP who claimed his expenses claims were all part of self-diagnosed OCD. It's a joke.
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
Well he said the trip towards the Barnard Castle area to test it was safe to drive for him, but why didn't let his wife drive instead if he wasn't sure about driving.
My wife is a better driver than me but doesn’t like long drives so I do all motorway driving.
We left home for the first time in months for a half hour's drive. No, we didn't go to Barnard Castle. I can confirm that the world beyond our gate looks much the same as it did in March. Didn't see anyone with a face covering.
Got home to find out that my mother-in-law had a heart attack this morning. She seems to be doing OK, but of course we can't go to visit her in hospital. At least Wor Lass is able to phone her.
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
Well he said the trip towards the Barnard Castle area to test it was safe to drive for him, but why didn't let his wife drive instead if he wasn't sure about driving.
My wife is a better driver than me but doesn’t like long drives so I do all motorway driving.
Why didnt he ask for a govt driver? He is the second most important person in govt.
If Dom had gone Saturday, Boris could have been standing there say see leadership, got to stick to the rules, all in this together and btw we are winning, deaths down, some shops to open...
Agreed. Why on earth then has he not done that?
Because Cummings is a valued member of his team who acted reasonably as the Police confirmed and has been unreasonably attacked by the Guardian who've printed lies about him in a politically motivated witch-hunt?
If you show no backbone to every witch-hunt then where does it end?
He is lying about driving because he thought he couldn't see. Can we at least agree on that? He didn't get in a car because he thought he could not see.
I don't think he said he couldn't see. I think he said he thought he had gotten better but wanted to test his driving before going on a live drive.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
Pure coincidence it was on his wife's birthday?
Maybe. The timeline matches what he said.
Wuthering Heights fits very exactly a carefully thought out time line. That doesn't mean it isn't fiction.
I hope Cummings survives. [EDIT: Even though I lose a bet]
This is operating at several levels.
There is the basic emotional level across all political opinions that this stinks. One law for us, another for them. I agree with that. Tory MPs are getting this in their in-trays in spades. That's the political raw material.
The Left wing and maybe some Remainers see this as a way at undermining Johnson's credibility and possibly getting a change of Tory leader and softening of policy on the EU (Hunt?).
But the worrying movement is by the hard Brexiteeers who have always hated Cummings who is a soft Brexiteer (Farage, Baker etc hate him). Baker led the charge by Tory MPs. If they can get rid of Cummings, they stand a better change of getting a No Deal Brexit. Cummings is a steadying force in this Cabinet of half-wits. I hope he survives.
Interesting analysis.
As I said the other day for me it is not a matter of hoping he goes, rather of believing that there is a fundamentally important reason why he must go - which is faith in and adherence to the guidance which, for all the other many things the Government have done wrong, I still believe is the best chance we have of bringing the virus under control with the minimum of further deaths. Cummings staying undermines that.
However as a Brexiteer I also agree with your analysis that Cummings is a pragmatic and a moderating force as far as the type of Brexit we achieve is concerned. So I do worry about who will gain further influence once he is gone.
Finally, whilst he is a moderating influence as far as Brexit is concerned, he is undoubtedly a radical if not a proto-revolutionary when it comes to remodelling the way our country is governed. Again I am a strong advocate of this and do think that when he falls, so will fall the once in a century chance to really reform the civil service and all aspects of Government in Britain. I regret that but still feel that people's lives are more important so he should go.
Tribal politics is alive and kicking I see, pathetic.
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
Today is the first time I have really seen or heard from Cummings and outside of the bubble he did not look like the monster he is portrayed as and he did prove the Guardian were wrong when they said he had gone back and the Guardian lied about the police speaking to Cummings himself. It will be interesting to see if the Guardian retract and apologise
My wife listened with me and felt he had given an honest and frank statement and indeed the vox pop from Barnard Castle seemed to bear that out, with some support for Cummings, especially from women
The divides on here are self evident but I expect he will retain his job, the polls will be bad for Boris, and the gap to labour will close
In a 4 year parliament it is not the event that decides GE 24, it is the way HMG deals with the economic armageddon that will.
As for Boris he lost me last night and I believe he needs to go on paternity leave, he has not recovered by some distance from covid
I agree about last night but thought he was back and fighting this evening, though I do agree that this has taken a lot out of him.
I reckon if he gets to the end of the year and we have left the EU, regardless of whether there is a trade deal or not, he will retire on health grounds and he will be able to say he got Brexit done
I have addressed it repeatedly. Safety comes first. Before going on a long cross country drive after illness going on a short drive first makes sense.
30 miles is not a short drive. A test drive if you think you might not be safe is not one where you bring your wife and child. You risk putting them - as well as others - at serious risk.
Honestly sometimes you do give the impression you will swallow any old rubbish.
I doubt PT actually believes it himself, he's not stupid, he's simply trying to spin it as best he can in the hope that the rest of us are stupid. .
It's reasonable. Before going on a cross country drive I'd go on a half hour drive in those circumstances. It's what I was taught to do. I don't know local are not 30 miles is half an hour if it's national speed limit.
Even if you think the explanation would provide a reasonable excuse under sec 6, Do you actually believe him?
On the short drive before a cross country one after an illness. Yes, it's what I'd do in those circumstances.
Has public health been compromised to try to save Dominic Cummings’ neck?
They have dropped the slogan stay home the last 2 days. It was used in virtually every press conference for over 2 months, but they cant say the words anymore.
Interesting day. I am still angry with Cummings. We have all being staying at home and obeying the lockdown. He could have stayed at home too and arrange childcare for his son if they both fell really sick. But other rules apply to him. ThIs has damaged the governments message.
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
Well he said the trip towards the Barnard Castle area to test it was safe to drive for him, but why didn't let his wife drive instead if he wasn't sure about driving.
My wife is a better driver than me but doesn’t like long drives so I do all motorway driving.
Why didnt he ask for a govt driver? He is the second most important person in govt.
Betfair "Year of Boris' Departure" market. Note that this is for Conservative leader, and the mess that happened with settlement dates when Mrs May departed.
But I am far from convinced this is the right outcome for the government. A narrative has been created that there is one rule for those in power, and one for the rest of us.
Labour is no longer run by a complete idiot, and I suspect this message will be repeated and repeated and repeated. Every scandal and misdemeanor will be seen through this lens.
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
Well he said the trip towards the Barnard Castle area to test it was safe to drive for him, but why didn't let his wife drive instead if he wasn't sure about driving.
My wife is a better driver than me but doesn’t like long drives so I do all motorway driving.
Oh well, better leave it to the man who's was in bed for 10 days and you ate worried about his physical well being then.
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
Well he said the trip towards the Barnard Castle area to test it was safe to drive for him, but why didn't let his wife drive instead if he wasn't sure about driving.
My wife is a better driver than me but doesn’t like long drives so I do all motorway driving.
"I drove for an hour every morning, slaloming past the road rage wrecks of battered trucks, up the 135 from Dallas to Denton".
Also, that gets nowhere near the test of reasonable excuse. "The wife prefers not to drive - although she's fully qualified and certainly can - so I breached the rules".
We left home for the first time in months for a half hour's drive. No, we didn't go to Barnard Castle. I can confirm that the world beyond our gate looks much the same as it did in March. Didn't see anyone with a face covering.
Got home to find out that my mother-in-law had a heart attack this morning. She seems to be doing OK, but of course we can't go to visit her in hospital. At least Wor Lass is able to phone her.
Hope the old MiL has a rapid and full recovery sir
What unravelled? I didn’t get all the q&a but did he say Mary doesn’t drive?
No the idea is why couldn't Mary drive back and therefore why was the trip to Barnard Castle necessary to see if Dom could drive?
May be she doesn’t like long distance driving? May be her license has been suspended? May be she was looking after the kid? May be their “thing” is her giving him BJs while he drives.
Who knows. But if he was safe to drive then it was probably their standard MO
Tribal politics is alive and kicking I see, pathetic.
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
Today is the first time I have really seen or heard from Cummings and outside of the bubble he did not look like the monster he is portrayed as and he did prove the Guardian were wrong when they said he had gone back and the Guardian lied about the police speaking to Cummings himself. It will be interesting to see if the Guardian retract and apologise
My wife listened with me and felt he had given an honest and frank statement and indeed the vox pop from Barnard Castle seemed to bear that out, with some support for Cummings, especially from women
The divides on here are self evident but I expect he will retain his job, the polls will be bad for Boris, and the gap to labour will close
In a 4 year parliament it is not the event that decides GE 24, it is the way HMG deals with the economic armageddon that will.
As for Boris he lost me last night and I believe he needs to go on paternity leave, he has not recovered by some distance from covid
I agree about last night but thought he was back and fighting this evening, though I do agree that this has taken a lot out of him.
I reckon if he gets to the end of the year and we have left the EU, regardless of whether there is a trade deal or not, he will retire on health grounds and he will be able to say he got Brexit done
Comments
Johnson was abysmal last night but much better this evening, thanks in large to the inane questions from a desperate media. They want a scalp and they are not going to get it.
Johnson fended them off really easily and even managed to get in a dig at the Guardian and their false reporting.
To be honest I am not remotely interested in what the likes of CHB thinks, it puerile rubbish.
However I am interested in what Big G thinks as he was so critical last night
"Have you called for the editor of The Guardian to resign?"
That would have really wound everyone up.
What is the point in your account?
https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1264986421791784960?s=20
It was a shocking performance - the man is simply not well or not competent or both.
This whole sorry saga has been embarrassing and to be honest it is a massive distraction. A distraction to how this Tory Government has handled this pandemic - it's been an utter shambles and the title "worst in Europe" is richly deserved!
Absolutely pathetic from Johnson .
You don't use a test like that where failing means someone's in danger. And especially you don't put your small child in the back if you're foolish enough to do it in the first place.
I'm sorry, but when I learned to drive it was drummed into me that a car is a lethal weapon if you're not driving sensibly and with all your faculties. You do not, to test your faculties, go driving.
Why couldn't he simply wait a couple more days until he was definitely better? It's not as if Boris desperately needed his advice, and he could keep up with things over his encrypted laptop if he needed to.
You may think it's a reasonable thing to do. Many others do not.
Why else not take the easy way as you suggest?
"Unpaid troll"
"Brainwashed cultist"
"Massive annoyance"
"Barely tolerable"
All these and more in: CorrectHorseBattery The Movie
A) it’s true - people often do things that are silly in the cold light of day
However maybe not - Doyle was there and there wouldn't have been time for her to come in after they went.
So maybe plan was to use Doyle all along.
And all the people who died, and their families weren't allowed to see them, when he was swanning around a big house because of a patently concocted story about driving while maybe incapacitated / maybe blind.
And it was the cops who changed their story after telling the newspapers.
In the immortal words of Spock: It's only logical.
I doubt PT actually believes it himself, he's not stupid, he's simply trying to spin it as best he can in the hope that the rest of us are stupid. .
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8355021/Topless-Irish-Taoiseach-Leo-Varadkar-caught-having-picnic.html
It is no more reasonable than Prince Phillip driving when he cant see. But it almost certainly didnt happen as said so its a moot point.
Cummings wants personally to win and be the cleverest in the room.
Mandy, ultimately, was a Party man. Yes, he enjoyed the "ooh, aren't I naughty?" stuff, the gossip and the intrigue. But, if push came to shove, he knew he was part of a common endeavour and would live with not personally winning everything for the sake of the bigger game.
Ian Watson (BBC political reporter) on BBC1: Pressure on Cummings has diminished.
Bed is made. Let Boris and the Tories bloody well lie in it.
What if he could only drive for 90 mins but then the eye problems made him tired, halfway thru the journey?
Why not just call for a driver?
This is operating at several levels.
There is the basic emotional level across all political opinions that this stinks. One law for us, another for them. I agree with that. Tory MPs are getting this in their in-trays in spades. That's the political raw material.
The Left wing and maybe some Remainers see this as a way at undermining Johnson's credibility and possibly getting a change of Tory leader and softening of policy on the EU (Hunt?).
But the worrying movement is by the hard Brexiteeers who have always hated Cummings who is a soft Brexiteer (Farage, Baker etc hate him). Baker led the charge by Tory MPs. If they can get rid of Cummings, they stand a better change of getting a No Deal Brexit. Cummings is a steadying force in this Cabinet of half-wits. I hope he survives.
https://twitter.com/paulhutcheon/status/1264898348529655809?s=20
What was on their mind in the early part of the year?
https://twitter.com/scottishbigstu/status/1264899677146710016?s=20
that really should be the epitaph of this whole affair.
I am puerile rubbish!
I too believe DC has explained himself. (Though I think the explanation is thin).
To defend him Rishi would have to say 'that I believe him'. It is noticeable that no-one is saying this - including Boris.
There will be a second wave, and the measures needed to restrict it will be significantly more difficult to take.
Dom lied about going for a bloody eye test - unless you are wilfully credulous
My wife listened with me and felt he had given an honest and frank statement and indeed the vox pop from Barnard Castle seemed to bear that out, with some support for Cummings, especially from women
The divides on here are self evident but I expect he will retain his job, the polls will be bad for Boris, and the gap to labour will close
In a 4 year parliament it is not the event that decides GE 24, it is the way HMG deals with the economic armageddon that will.
As for Boris he lost me last night and I believe he needs to go on paternity leave, he has not recovered by some distance from covid
"Thanks for the explanation but it still seems like double standards."
"One rule for us another for them. And him."
"Looks like Cummings is in charge and Boris is just doing what he's told. It's a farce"
"The arrogance of these people, 30 minutes when the whole country is waiting, still wrong, so wrong Lawbreaker and should not be setting rules for us."
"This is BS. Damage limitation exercise"
"What a story!! He's so lucky he kept a diary of all his feelings and movements during this time!!!! Complete joke I'm embarrassed for him."
"This sounds like a script, composed afterwards, to fit the known facts."
"The longest excuse in the history of excuses!"
""I drove half an hour to Barnard Castle to make sure I could drive"... RESIGN!"
"So his wife had symptoms but didnt self isolate, and he was in barnard castle, we are being taken for mugs here"
There will come more evidence soon to show that he is lying, and this story will rumble on.
He's just too arrogant to realise this.
Jason Groves of the Daily Mail basically stood arms folded and cried at the podium whilst stamping his foot.
It’s not reporting the news for this mob anymore - it’s a personal slight. See also the harridan Rigby and the fanboy of the fox killer from C4.
It all fits with the timelines. But it was a clear breach of the publicised rules.
The self eye-test thing reminds me of the Labour MP who claimed his expenses claims were all part of self-diagnosed OCD. It's a joke.
We left home for the first time in months for a half hour's drive. No, we didn't go to Barnard Castle. I can confirm that the world beyond our gate looks much the same as it did in March. Didn't see anyone with a face covering.
Got home to find out that my mother-in-law had a heart attack this morning. She seems to be doing OK, but of course we can't go to visit her in hospital. At least Wor Lass is able to phone her.
Patel has gone right up in my estimation unless she has also gone travelling up the A1 looking at ruined castles.
https://twitter.com/p_surridge/status/1264993832040570881?s=21
Has public health been compromised to try to save Dominic Cummings’ neck?
As I said the other day for me it is not a matter of hoping he goes, rather of believing that there is a fundamentally important reason why he must go - which is faith in and adherence to the guidance which, for all the other many things the Government have done wrong, I still believe is the best chance we have of bringing the virus under control with the minimum of further deaths. Cummings staying undermines that.
However as a Brexiteer I also agree with your analysis that Cummings is a pragmatic and a moderating force as far as the type of Brexit we achieve is concerned. So I do worry about who will gain further influence once he is gone.
Finally, whilst he is a moderating influence as far as Brexit is concerned, he is undoubtedly a radical if not a proto-revolutionary when it comes to remodelling the way our country is governed. Again I am a strong advocate of this and do think that when he falls, so will fall the once in a century chance to really reform the civil service and all aspects of Government in Britain. I regret that but still feel that people's lives are more important so he should go.
I reckon if he gets to the end of the year and we have left the EU, regardless of whether there is a trade deal or not, he will retire on health grounds and he will be able to say he got Brexit done
Its now stay alert and self isolate.
Date - back - lay
2020 - 4.6 - 5.9
2021 - 6.0 - 8.0
2022 - 8.4 - 110
2023 - 8.4 - 12
2024+ 1.99 - 2.02
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/politics/event/28051208/multi-market?marketIds=1.160683973
But I am far from convinced this is the right outcome for the government. A narrative has been created that there is one rule for those in power, and one for the rest of us.
Labour is no longer run by a complete idiot, and I suspect this message will be repeated and repeated and repeated. Every scandal and misdemeanor will be seen through this lens.
If Dom has broken the law that's inexcusable. If he's not this is a stupid distraction from real news.
Also, that gets nowhere near the test of reasonable excuse. "The wife prefers not to drive - although she's fully qualified and certainly can - so I breached the rules".
Who knows. But if he was safe to drive then it was probably their standard MO