Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
And to add, I think most of the social distancing regulations will be in place for months....
I'm not even sure why Tories are desperate to support Dom.
He's not even a Tory.
Dom's not one of them and is often openly contemptuous of politicians in general (as in that video someone posted yesterday or as played by Cumberbatch). The payroll vote may have tweeted their support this morning but what are backbenchers telling the 1922 and the whips?
Well, I did point out the risks. Those dutiful Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers who have compromised their own integrity today have only themselves to blame.
Absolute shower of bastards. Fuck the lot of them.
I wouldn’t put it that way, though I sympathise with the sentiment.
Dominic Cummings visited his parents' home TWICE and took a trip 30 miles away, say new eyewitnesses as maverick No10 chief's excuse for travelling 260 miles while self-isolating with Covid-19 crumbles after he insisted he 'doesn't care' if it looks bad
I knew I had doomed him from the very second I backed him.
My record in these kind of markets is pretty much 100% failure. But the sheer brazenness and totally of the snow job Cummings and the cabinet put out convinced me he was safe for at least a week and probably permanently.
But a second fucking visit? Had they not seen what happened to Calderwood?
This is on par with Clinton's Presidential campaign for shit signal sending.
The sad thing is all of this distracts from the Sunday Times story which shows that if the government had locked down just days earlier than it did - perhaps if Boris had not been asleep at the wheel - then we would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
Honestly comrade...you are really are gunning for the Comical Ali PbCom Award....
Some hints to help you achieve that accolade.....
Our Dom is subject to the mother of all witch hunts...he was valiantly protected his wife and child...there is no proof that he had a shit in KFC en route to Durham....he only went there to save his poor child from starvation.....
I'm not even sure why Tories are desperate to support Dom.
He's not even a Tory.
It's more how he represents what they see as themselves: the meek, the ignored and the downtrodden, finally given voice in a land that had hitherto mocked their earthy truths and unassuming ways.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
Where is Boris? Why is he investing so much scarce political capital in Dom? They risk turning this into a bigger thing.
Is it pride or fear about Dom’s revenge?
Its because he has chosen a cabinet full of powerless schmucks who are managed by Dom. If Dom goes they become a cabinet full of powerful schmucks, which is not great for a PM.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
Still defending Cummings's wrongdoing?
Cummings is the architect of Tory wet dreams. They will forgive him anything, he can do no wrong.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
Well maybe if the chief adviser to the government stopped wandering around the country on 350 mile drives each weekend we would have made more progress?
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
Well maybe if the chief adviser to the government stopped wandering around the country on 350 mile drives each weekend we would have made more progress?
I think it's fair to say that most of the ministers who tweeted support today did so in terms fairly carefully expressed only to cover caring for a child in an emergency; I think they were mostly hedging their bets and we are finding out why.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
Still defending Cummings's wrongdoing?
Cummings is the architect of Tory wet dreams. They will forgive him anything, he can do no wrong.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
Well maybe if the chief adviser to the government stopped wandering around the country on 350 mile drives each weekend we would have made more progress?
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
I'm just not sure the patience is running out - an awful lot of people who I speak to were worried about the 1st June date. I think the studied ambiguity of the 'stay alert' guidance allows both lockdowners and easers some latitude as to their own activities. Trains are still VERY quiet. I suspect airports etc are too.
My fear is as soon as shops start reopening, an attempt to try and return to normality won't be far behind.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
Well maybe if the chief adviser to the government stopped wandering around the country on 350 mile drives each weekend we would have made more progress?
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
The most stupid thing about this is that resignations in politics are far from permanent. Just look at Peter Mandelson!
Indeed. Boris could have easily sacked Cummings, and brought him back in a "new" role in a few months time.
But instead we've had virtually the whole cabinet defending Cummings when it turns out his story has more holes than a fishing net. You would have thought they would know what Boris and Cummings are like, and been a little bit wary.
The sad thing is all of this distracts from the Sunday Times story which shows that if the government had locked down just days earlier than it did - perhaps if Boris had not been asleep at the wheel - then we would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
Perhaps Cummingsgate *is* the dead cat
And Nicola, Drakesford and Foster all asleep at the wheel as well
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
But what was the win for? The right for the elite to spread viruses 350 miles up the country?
There's no proof that he spread the virus to a single human being, so that's hardly a reasonable point.
Honestly comrade...you are really are gunning for the Comical Ali PbCom Award....
Some hints to help you achieve that accolade.....
Our Dom is subject to the mother of all witch hunts...he was valiantly protected his wife and child...there is no proof that he had a shit in KFC en route to Durham....he only went there to save his poor child from starvation.....
Talking of people accused of Comical Ali-ism in the past, HYUFD has been very quiet on this topic today. I think that may well reflect the view of many rank and file Tories.
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
That's what they said about Westland and a hundred other political scandals.
The reality is that major electoral shifts happen only very rarely.
Matthew Parris said Westland marked the passing of Maggie's noon, though many more years in power awaited her. I have to say this has a similar feel to it: the best bits for Boris may have already gone.
Well Thatcher had another 4.5 years as PM together with another GE victory.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
Where is Boris? Why is he investing so much scarce political capital in Dom? They risk turning this into a bigger thing.
Is it pride or fear about Dom’s revenge?
Boris is afraid of the Press. All his bluster is just that. He was a rubbish reporter and he is proving to be a cr*p PM. His first term as London Mayor seems to have been the pinnacle of his success.
The problem this government faces is that their stock of political capital is unlikely to be replenished for a very long time. The economic picture will not afford many opportunities for good news. So why spend a cent of it defending Dom?
I don’t get it, especially when he’s just an advisor whose big political project is now superseded by events.
And does anyone know the today's numbers of tests and positive results ?
116,000 tests 2,950 positive approx
Thanks.
It seems that this story was only a local issue:
One day last week the number of new coronavirus cases registered at Bradford Royal Infirmary jumped to 30. Dr John Wright thinks there could be a link to VE Day parties that ended in fist fights, or in embraces.
The day after the Prime Minister announced an easing of the lockdown, the number of new Covid patients in the hospital fell to a reassuring three. And two of them were my medical colleagues.
The low figure partly resulted from delays in reporting, which happen every weekend, but there was still a collective sigh of relief. Maybe everything was going to be all right after all?
But three days later, on Thursday 14 May, the number of new Covid-positive patients had shot up to 30.
It's just one figure, and in normal times we might discount it as random variation. However these are times of alertness, and every flicker of the Covid dashboard needle triggers nervous anticipation of a possible spike.
There is a delay between infection and symptoms, usually about five-to-seven days. So these cases would have been incubating since the week before - and possibly since the communal gatherings on VE Day, six days earlier.
The sad thing is all of this distracts from the Sunday Times story which shows that if the government had locked down just days earlier than it did - perhaps if Boris had not been asleep at the wheel - then we would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
Perhaps Cummingsgate *is* the dead cat
And Nicola, Drakesford and Foster all asleep at the wheel as well
No part of the UK acted any differently
The enquiry will be interesting
Lol@Yoons
Absolute disgrace, Nicola made a statement about Scotland an hour before Boris, pure politicking!
Also
Nicola should have unilaterally locked down Scotland earlier!
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Except.....if Dom goes....so, goes BoJo's authority on the cabinet...the two are intrinsically linked....
I think BoJo is now fighting tonight for his own survival...he needs Dom to tough it out....
The sad thing is all of this distracts from the Sunday Times story which shows that if the government had locked down just days earlier than it did - perhaps if Boris had not been asleep at the wheel - then we would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
Perhaps Cummingsgate *is* the dead cat
And Nicola, Drakesford and Foster all asleep at the wheel as well
No part of the UK acted any differently
The enquiry will be interesting
Lol@Yoons
Absolute disgrace, Nicola made a statement about Scotland an hour before Boris, pure politicking!
Also
Nicola should have unilaterally locked down Scotland earlier!
It's funny. They moan when the Scots do something different and they moan when the Scots do the same. Irrespective of the actual merits of the matters in hand.
They may claim that call was about security, not covid19.
They obfuscated. They said that neither Dom nor his Wife were called by police, but said it in a way that suggested it was none of Dom's immediate family.
Cummings brexit strategy was clearly masterful, but why does Boris need him now ? Brexit is done and he's a liability. Ironically if he goes the more hardcore brexiteers may hold more sway so a crash out becomes more likely perhaps at the margins - but he has to go, you can't have senior Gov't people undermining a central lockdown message in the middle of a pandemic. Every minute he's not sacked he saps the Gov'ts authority and capital.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Here in the Flatlands it is a meh, I'm afraid. He'll probably have to go although I can think of several government advisors that should have gone in the past but didn't. For a lot worse than driving to Durham.
What does annoy me is the rather frenzied hope that getting rid of him will stop Brexit in some way. It won't. We've already left.
Is there one person on here who has said it will stop Brexit? (Which has already happened).
Some "remainers" have suggested it might lead to an extension, others said it makes an extension less likely.
You are getting annoyed by something you are imagining.
Maybe not on here to be fair, although in some quarters I think there is a belief that extensions can continue indefinitely if only the government can be destabilised enough. There's definitely a Brexit Wars vibe here.
I'm failing to get worked up by the action itself (at least, as it stands at the moment) but as I say he will have to go eventually. I've technically been breaking lock-down since day 1 but not in a way that endangered anyone, so provided he didn't expose anyone else to the virus then I couldn't condemn it without being hypocritical.
I think the government made a mistake with being so prescriptive. Yes, shut venues where people mix and stop any large gatherings, but each family has their own circumstances that they may need to work around. They should have been allowed to make their own decisions.
If he was breaking lockdown thats one thing, and I agree that adding a level of personal decision making there is correct. A significant proportion of the population have not followed all the lockdown rules. It would still be hypocritical but that would be a different level offence.
But the problem is he broke quarantine. He thought the family was contagious and still thought the rules dont apply to him, that is just so different, it is dangerous and selfish.
True, it is a different level of risk. IF he drove all the way in one go without stopping (which is certainly possible) then technically he was still in quarantine. But breaking down wouldn't have been terribly good. I don't know what his actual state of mind was or what his real reasons for doing it were, and I'm not sure we'll ever be totally sure about that.
But, still, meh. There are many other, better, questions to be asking at the moment.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Yup, an immediate resignation but still using the Alpha Dad Defence at the same time would have left him fairly spotless and easily re-hireable later.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Yup, an immediate resignation but still using the Alpha Dad Defence at the same time would have left him fairly spotless and easily re-hireable later.
He could have spent years as head of UK National AI Research Centre.
The sad thing is all of this distracts from the Sunday Times story which shows that if the government had locked down just days earlier than it did - perhaps if Boris had not been asleep at the wheel - then we would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
Perhaps Cummingsgate *is* the dead cat
And Nicola, Drakesford and Foster all asleep at the wheel as well
No part of the UK acted any differently
The enquiry will be interesting
Lol@Yoons
Absolute disgrace, Nicola made a statement about Scotland an hour before Boris, pure politicking!
Also
Nicola should have unilaterally locked down Scotland earlier!
Your last sentence made my point for me.
They collectively failed and I assume it will be the advice that will be the key
I'll eat my hat if this hasn't cut right through to middle england and they are absolutely fucking furious.
They were also furious with the photo of the boy lying on the hospital floor ... for two days, and then they forgot about it. I remain utterly perplexed with the obsession with ephemera on here.
Not ephemera. People are scared of Covid-19 so they are scared of carriers travelling with it. This is going to hurt you badly.
Yes, ephemera. In 4 years' time Covid will be long gone one way or another, and the rights and wrongs of Cummings' going to Durham will be utterly irrelevant.
Your sole response to everything is "Suck it up losers, we won, we can do what we like, nothing else matters, na na na". It's infantile.
It's reality. Sorry that you're having a hard time accepting it. I have just as much right not to wet myself over a few bad headlines as you have to do so.
We are discussing whether Cummings deserves to be sacked. As far as I can see nobody is arguing that this is going to be a game changer as far as the next election is concerned.
If none of it matters because you have a huge majority why are you wasting most of the day banging out comments trying to defend him?
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
Are you serious? The Tory lead is still in double digits after 10 years in power and in the middle of a pandemic. But by all means, please take the next election for granted. Underestimating Boris and Cummings has always worked out so well in the past.
Still defending Cummings's wrongdoing?
Cummings is the architect of Tory wet dreams. They will forgive him anything, he can do no wrong.
If he went twice he has to go.
If he had gone the first time, it would have been forgotten already. In my opinion, all he done is ruin his own reputation, the PM's reputation and most of the Cabinet's reputation.
The longer he stays, the more damage he does. Perhaps, on reflection, it is a good thing. The populist remnant of what used to be Tory Party needs to go and be replaced by a proper centre right party.
They may claim that call was about security, not covid19.
They obfuscated. They said that neither Dom nor his Wife were called by police, but said it in a way that suggested it was none of Dom's immediate family.
I would like to know if either him or his wife ever tested positive for covid19.
I am beginning to doubt it. Their statement does not say they were. If they had it why not mention it?
Has anyone issued any sort of refutation of the witnesses yet? Ps. This explains a lot of Starmer's tactics since being elected. Broadly supportive but anxious to implant the idea they don't really know what they are doing. Out of sadness and concern, not anger. He knew about this when the Guardian and Mirror did.
Here in the Flatlands it is a meh, I'm afraid. He'll probably have to go although I can think of several government advisors that should have gone in the past but didn't. For a lot worse than driving to Durham.
What does annoy me is the rather frenzied hope that getting rid of him will stop Brexit in some way. It won't. We've already left.
Is there one person on here who has said it will stop Brexit? (Which has already happened).
Some "remainers" have suggested it might lead to an extension, others said it makes an extension less likely.
You are getting annoyed by something you are imagining.
Maybe not on here to be fair, although in some quarters I think there is a belief that extensions can continue indefinitely if only the government can be destabilised enough. There's definitely a Brexit Wars vibe here.
I'm failing to get worked up by the action itself (at least, as it stands at the moment) but as I say he will have to go eventually. I've technically been breaking lock-down since day 1 but not in a way that endangered anyone, so provided he didn't expose anyone else to the virus then I couldn't condemn it without being hypocritical.
I think the government made a mistake with being so prescriptive. Yes, shut venues where people mix and stop any large gatherings, but each family has their own circumstances that they may need to work around. They should have been allowed to make their own decisions.
If he was breaking lockdown thats one thing, and I agree that adding a level of personal decision making there is correct. A significant proportion of the population have not followed all the lockdown rules. It would still be hypocritical but that would be a different level offence.
But the problem is he broke quarantine. He thought the family was contagious and still thought the rules dont apply to him, that is just so different, it is dangerous and selfish.
True, it is a different level of risk. IF he drove all the way in one go without stopping (which is certainly possible) then technically he was still in quarantine. But breaking down wouldn't have been terribly good. I don't know what his actual state of mind was or what his real reasons for doing it were, and I'm not sure we'll ever be totally sure about that.
But, still, meh. There are many other, better, questions to be asking at the moment.
Driving 250 miles without a stop when ill is reckless driving.
Actually I am not really bothered by this Dom thing or whether he stays or goes.
What is really important is that Boris next week delivers substantive progress on releasing the lockdown from 1 June ie as a minimum - enables all non essential retail to open - gets the schools open - allows families to meet without restriction.
If we don't get that then the support for the government will really start to fall away
If you remember when we were predicting what the announcement would be earlier this month, I basically got it bang on. Little change, garden centres, tips etc.
Well, I'm afraid I don't see the 1st June deadline being met. This big serological study suggesting still over 100k infections was the clincher for me - just can't see how opening up non essential retail, schools or reducing social distancing is the right thing for now.
Mid June - maybe.
Agreed it may not be 1 June but the public's patience and tolerance is running out. Apart from what appears to be a substantial proportion of the population who appear to be content to sit at home and stay on furlough forever.
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
I'm just not sure the patience is running out - an awful lot of people who I speak to were worried about the 1st June date. I think the studied ambiguity of the 'stay alert' guidance allows both lockdowners and easers some latitude as to their own activities. Trains are still VERY quiet. I suspect airports etc are too.
My fear is as soon as shops start reopening, an attempt to try and return to normality won't be far behind.
I agree with you. The rate of infections is still too high to meet even the government's tests for significantly easing the lockdown, and is also too high for the track and trace system (even if it were to work well) to capture all outbreaks. Infections are now significantly lower in most other European countries than here.
Most people I know, including those in their 20s and 30s, are still quite fearful, and although many have started meeting up with individual friends they are avoiding group activities of all sorts; they wouldn't yet go to the pubs even if they were open. The idea that the young have become blase about the virus doesn't seem to me to be accurate.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Yup, an immediate resignation but still using the Alpha Dad Defence at the same time would have left him fairly spotless and easily re-hireable later.
I though straight away that it was blindingly obvious Cummings had to go, and politically the smart thing would have been to sack him immediately.
Instead we've had 24 hours of almost the whole Cabinet at best demeaning themselves, and at worst lying to us.
Put aside the rights and wrongs of what Cummings has done but politically this is amateurish. A Cabinet of clowns, led by a man who is a lying lazy bluffer, advised by someone who plainly hasn't even tried to abide by the rules.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Yup, an immediate resignation but still using the Alpha Dad Defence at the same time would have left him fairly spotless and easily re-hireable later.
He could have spent years as head of UK National AI Research Centre.
AI? Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Insemination.?
Has anyone issued any sort of refutation of the witnesses yet? Ps. This explains a lot of Starmer's tactics since being elected. Broadly supportive but anxious to implant the idea they don't really know what they are doing. Out of sadness and concern, not anger. He knew about this when the Guardian and Mirror did.
I suspect, but cannot prove, that the Mirror and the Guardian have been verifying their sources for the last few weeks to strengthen this witness evidence.
If the government are wise they should sack him. If they don’t , the one rule for them and one for the rest of us will be a lens through which this period is remembered.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
Mandelson was a member of the Labour Party, a loyal member for decades, whose grandfather had been Deputy Prime Minister and was popular with the leadership. He was also, whatever his faults, a talented and successful politician.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
The crazy thing is, if Cummings had tendered his resignation immediately he could claim to have fallen on his sword and then been brought back in a few months. Doing it this way tarnishes him past redemption.
Yup, an immediate resignation but still using the Alpha Dad Defence at the same time would have left him fairly spotless and easily re-hireable later.
He could have spent years as head of UK National AI Research Centre.
AI? Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Insemination.?
May 2020: Still 80 seats, but now a lame duck administration waiting for the public to kick them out.
That's what they said about Westland and a hundred other political scandals.
The reality is that major electoral shifts happen only very rarely.
Matthew Parris said Westland marked the passing of Maggie's noon, though many more years in power awaited her. I have to say this has a similar feel to it: the best bits for Boris may have already gone.
Well Thatcher had another 4.5 years as PM together with another GE victory.
I'm suspect Boris would not decline that.
Maggie had political talent. Boris has bluster.
If Boris does not get his act together he will be doing well to survive another 4.5 months.
I do believe that the UK is going to have about the worst outcome of this pandemic anywhere in Europe and I don't think Boris's government is going to be able to escape the consequences of that.
Sorry, I couldn't care less about what Cummings did. I didn't about Ferguson or Calderwood. Yes, they are hypocrites. But how many of us can say that we are not at some point or another?
Comments
That old chestnut. LOL
Is it pride or fear about Dom’s revenge?
My record in these kind of markets is pretty much 100% failure. But the sheer brazenness and totally of the snow job Cummings and the cabinet put out convinced me he was safe for at least a week and probably permanently.
But a second fucking visit? Had they not seen what happened to Calderwood?
This is on par with Clinton's Presidential campaign for shit signal sending.
I am utterly furious.
If Cummings has been twice he has to go
Grow a pair Boris, sack him, and come out fighting or your Premiership could just go down the drain
Perhaps Cummingsgate *is* the dead cat
https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/1264283098683969536
Some hints to help you achieve that accolade.....
Our Dom is subject to the mother of all witch hunts...he was valiantly protected his wife and child...there is no proof that he had a shit in KFC en route to Durham....he only went there to save his poor child from starvation.....
Some progress on the track and trace would be helpful as a proper system would help with easing restrictions.
But basically everything is taking too long.
My fear is as soon as shops start reopening, an attempt to try and return to normality won't be far behind.
The tacit endorsement of double standards is a heavy price to save an advisor.
Dom could resign and probably come back later. Mandleson did it twice.
But instead we've had virtually the whole cabinet defending Cummings when it turns out his story has more holes than a fishing net. You would have thought they would know what Boris and Cummings are like, and been a little bit wary.
No part of the UK acted any differently
The enquiry will be interesting
I'm suspect Boris would not decline that.
The way that the Cabinet and sundry hangers on don't get how bad this plays in the real world speaks volumes.
Cummings is a political maverick whom everyone other than Johnson despises, a blogger with highfaluting but wildly inaccurate ideas about government and a failed think tank operator.
I honestly don’t see too many parallels.
https://twitter.com/pmasterton1985/status/1264284202905800705?s=21
Make of it what you will.
I don’t get it, especially when he’s just an advisor whose big political project is now superseded by events.
Disposable.
It seems that this story was only a local issue:
One day last week the number of new coronavirus cases registered at Bradford Royal Infirmary jumped to 30. Dr John Wright thinks there could be a link to VE Day parties that ended in fist fights, or in embraces.
The day after the Prime Minister announced an easing of the lockdown, the number of new Covid patients in the hospital fell to a reassuring three. And two of them were my medical colleagues.
The low figure partly resulted from delays in reporting, which happen every weekend, but there was still a collective sigh of relief. Maybe everything was going to be all right after all?
But three days later, on Thursday 14 May, the number of new Covid-positive patients had shot up to 30.
It's just one figure, and in normal times we might discount it as random variation. However these are times of alertness, and every flicker of the Covid dashboard needle triggers nervous anticipation of a possible spike.
There is a delay between infection and symptoms, usually about five-to-seven days. So these cases would have been incubating since the week before - and possibly since the communal gatherings on VE Day, six days earlier.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52715571
Starmer will be even on that soon.
Absolute disgrace, Nicola made a statement about Scotland an hour before Boris, pure politicking!
Also
Nicola should have unilaterally locked down Scotland earlier!
Except.....if Dom goes....so, goes BoJo's authority on the cabinet...the two are intrinsically linked....
I think BoJo is now fighting tonight for his own survival...he needs Dom to tough it out....
And I admit I do not know much about him so not a cult follower
Boris is more of a concern for me.
He needs to sack him and step up to the plate
I am losing patience
Brexit is done and he's a liability. Ironically if he goes the more hardcore brexiteers may hold more sway so a crash out becomes more likely perhaps at the margins - but he has to go, you can't have senior Gov't people undermining a central lockdown message in the middle of a pandemic. Every minute he's not sacked he saps the Gov'ts authority and capital.
Ladbrokes: 4/6 go; 11/10 stay.
Starsports: 4/6 stay; 11/10 go.
Fast fingered punters can lock in a profit!
But, still, meh. There are many other, better, questions to be asking at the moment.
They are shit scared of Dom. They know BoZo is a fuckwit.
They collectively failed and I assume it will be the advice that will be the key
If none of it matters because you have a huge majority why are you wasting most of the day banging out comments trying to defend him?
The longer he stays, the more damage he does. Perhaps, on reflection, it is a good thing. The populist remnant of what used to be Tory Party needs to go and be replaced by a proper centre right party.
I am beginning to doubt it. Their statement does not say they were. If they had it why not mention it?
Ps. This explains a lot of Starmer's tactics since being elected. Broadly supportive but anxious to implant the idea they don't really know what they are doing. Out of sadness and concern, not anger.
He knew about this when the Guardian and Mirror did.
Most people I know, including those in their 20s and 30s, are still quite fearful, and although many have started meeting up with individual friends they are avoiding group activities of all sorts; they wouldn't yet go to the pubs even if they were open. The idea that the young have become blase about the virus doesn't seem to me to be accurate.
Instead we've had 24 hours of almost the whole Cabinet at best demeaning themselves, and at worst lying to us.
Put aside the rights and wrongs of what Cummings has done but politically this is amateurish. A Cabinet of clowns, led by a man who is a lying lazy bluffer, advised by someone who plainly hasn't even tried to abide by the rules.
Likewise on Farage as leader of the Brexit Party. I honestly assumed he'd stepped down. What is he doing there? Job's done.
If Boris does not get his act together he will be doing well to survive another 4.5 months.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1264290726021599232