This bit is fascinating. His Premiership in a nutshell. He pours out good intentions and platitudes. When it comes to doing owt though "Can you do it for me? It's a bit difficult and complex."
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
But it is the same modus operandi.
Break the rules, deny breaking them, then a few days later and admit it you got it wrong.
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Now they're pulling him apart about women's safety. A lot of press releases but no investment into the CPS, the police, the courts to make up for a decade of punitive cuts in their ability to work effectively.
Johnson blames the CPS, the police and the courts for "passing the buck"...
Andrew Neil has called GB News the “single biggest mistake” of his 50 years in journalism, saying that that the station is quickly heading in a “Fox News direction” under founders and investors that resemble a “Ukip tribute band”
Andrew Neil has called GB News the “single biggest mistake” of his 50 years in journalism, saying that that the station is quickly heading in a “Fox News direction” under founders and investors that resemble a “Ukip tribute band”
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
He looks contrite and weary.
Contrite is probably the best look in a very bad situation to get to the other side of this stupid mess.
When in a hole, stop digging.
Would anyone on this site - except for HYUFD be at all upset (or surprised) if Boris went?
I seriously can't think of any other poster here who thinks Boris is a suitable or qualified person for the job of PM...
I wouldn't say he is either suitable or qualifed by historical standards, but I would say that he remains the appropriate person to lead the Conservative Party. In the run up and aftermath to Brexit he has embarked on a particular path, and remains the only person in the Conservative Party with the political skills to negotiate the various big intractable problems that follow from it. I also think that, in the end, he is the only person who can brush off this sleaze thing, because there is always sleaze and rule bending everywhere you go digging in public life, any supposed quest for purity in public life will ultimately be little more than a performance for the public who, in the end, aren't particularly gullible.
Political skills to negotiate big intractable problems ?
No - animal skill and cunning to please people from day to day - something which eventually catches up with you without longer-term or strategic foresight, and which is what happened starting with the Paterson error.
How exactly was he able to get Brexit done? It completely defeated Ms May, a far more conventionally skilled politician. It may have been animal skill and cunning, but it worked. Not only did it work, but he reinvented the working class appeal of the Conservative Party at the same time. These are not accidents, they are the product of some strategic foresight. It may be that this was actually down to Dominic Cummings, and his big error may have actually been to lose him.
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
Andrew Neil has called GB News the “single biggest mistake” of his 50 years in journalism, saying that that the station is quickly heading in a “Fox News direction” under founders and investors that resemble a “Ukip tribute band”
I really, really hope that Boris is removed from office sooner rather than later. The ineptitude and corruption that the government is dragging this great nation through under his watch is unbearable. Everyday there's new revelations about how some minister/ex-minister/MP is or was on the take.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
Indeed. There have been several female athletes who have fallen foul of this rule.
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
Do you agree Big G that it is appallingly arrogant for the government to put up Dominic Raab to lie in our faces?
It was obvious Boris broke the rules. Why can’t this government tell the truth for once?
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
How about the idiotic way he and his ministers lied about it?
Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc
Johnson told to wear one - repeatedly - by the staff. Backed up by the hospital rules. Mandated by the legal requirements on NHS Trusts set by his government.
Johnson doesn't wear one. Gets roundly castigated for doing so - front pages, commentators, the lot. Sends that gormless idiot "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister onto GMTV. Repeats and repeats that the PM followed the rules as they repeatedly prove he didn't. Gormless doesn't get it even as the presenters explain it to him
Now he says "I did wear one, but took it off very briefly" (a lie) and then realised it was a mistake so put it back on (a lie). And then sent Raaaab out for more lies.
Yes its only a mask. But the lies are building. Proof that the PM has no interest in rules that are for you and me but not for him are building. The disconnect between him and everyone else are building.
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
He looks contrite and weary.
Contrite is probably the best look in a very bad situation to get to the other side of this stupid mess.
When in a hole, stop digging.
Would anyone on this site - except for HYUFD be at all upset (or surprised) if Boris went?
I seriously can't think of any other poster here who thinks Boris is a suitable or qualified person for the job of PM...
I wouldn't say he is either suitable or qualifed by historical standards, but I would say that he remains the appropriate person to lead the Conservative Party. In the run up and aftermath to Brexit he has embarked on a particular path, and remains the only person in the Conservative Party with the political skills to negotiate the various big intractable problems that follow from it. I also think that, in the end, he is the only person who can brush off this sleaze thing, because there is always sleaze and rule bending everywhere you go digging in public life, any supposed quest for purity in public life will ultimately be little more than a performance for the public who, in the end, aren't particularly gullible.
Political skills to negotiate big intractable problems ?
No - animal skill and cunning to please people from day to day - something which eventually catches up with you without longer-term or strategic foresight, and which is what happened starting with the Paterson error.
How exactly was he able to get Brexit done? It completely defeated Ms May, a far more conventionally skilled politician. It may have been animal skill and cunning, but it worked. Not only did it work, but he reinvented the working class appeal of the Conservative Party at the same time. These are not accidents, they are the product of some strategic foresight. It may be that this was actually down to Dominic Cummings, and his big error may have actually been to lose him.
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
He got it done by creating a very flimsy, day-to-day facade of all threads having been tied up and everything being for the best in the best of all possible worlds, and having significant parts of the media backing the illusion. These things tend to bite back at you, like overstuffed and chaotic cupboards whose contents come crashing down on you, when you try to open them again after a year or two.
His chaotic, short-term, people-pleasing in all sorts of other areas like Paterson, is much the same.
Anyway, an interesting stand-off this afternoon in the Cyclefree household.
The hound - Husband's hound - made a bit of a mess in my car, which Husband was using. Car due to go to garage today so Husband got in a grump this morning at having to clean up dog mess. Car is now being valeted and will return later.
Meanwhile, the shitey cushion on which Hound was seated is in driveway being an eyesore in my garden.
Husband commented that "it would need washing". I love his use of the passive tense. I have no intention of washing it myself of course. If the birds busily picking bits of branches and berries for their winter habitat were to take it away I'd be delighted.
How long will I have to wait before Husband decides to wash it himself or, better still, throw it away?
Andrew Neil has called GB News the “single biggest mistake” of his 50 years in journalism, saying that that the station is quickly heading in a “Fox News direction” under founders and investors that resemble a “Ukip tribute band”
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
He looks contrite and weary.
Contrite is probably the best look in a very bad situation to get to the other side of this stupid mess.
When in a hole, stop digging.
Would anyone on this site - except for HYUFD be at all upset (or surprised) if Boris went?
I seriously can't think of any other poster here who thinks Boris is a suitable or qualified person for the job of PM...
I wouldn't say he is either suitable or qualifed by historical standards, but I would say that he remains the appropriate person to lead the Conservative Party. In the run up and aftermath to Brexit he has embarked on a particular path, and remains the only person in the Conservative Party with the political skills to negotiate the various big intractable problems that follow from it. I also think that, in the end, he is the only person who can brush off this sleaze thing, because there is always sleaze and rule bending everywhere you go digging in public life, any supposed quest for purity in public life will ultimately be little more than a performance for the public who, in the end, aren't particularly gullible.
Political skills to negotiate big intractable problems ?
No - animal skill and cunning to please people from day to day - something which eventually catches up with you without longer-term or strategic foresight, and which is what happened starting with the Paterson error.
How exactly was he able to get Brexit done? It completely defeated Ms May, a far more conventionally skilled politician. It may have been animal skill and cunning, but it worked. Not only did it work, but he reinvented the working class appeal of the Conservative Party at the same time. These are not accidents, they are the product of some strategic foresight. It may be that this was actually down to Dominic Cummings, and his big error may have actually been to lose him.
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
When you say "it worked", "it" was the "oven-ready deal" which won an election. That worked, absolutely. If you are referring to "it" as Brexit, it clearly hasn't worked, hence the endless tirades against Lord Jobbie's Brexit deal by Lord Jobbie.
Anyway, an interesting stand-off this afternoon in the Cyclefree household.
The hound - Husband's hound - made a bit of a mess in my car, which Husband was using. Car due to go to garage today so Husband got in a grump this morning at having to clean up dog mess. Car is now being valeted and will return later.
Meanwhile, the shitey cushion on which Hound was seated is in driveway being an eyesore in my garden.
Husband commented that "it would need washing". I love his use of the passive tense. I have no intention of washing it myself of course. If the birds busily picking bits of branches and berries for their winter habitat were to take it away I'd be delighted.
How long will I have to wait before Husband decides to wash it himself or, better still, throw it away?
When my mother wants to throw something of mine away/or wants something thrown away she'll make sure to pick up all my clothes that need washing and then announce she's got room to wash that disgusting item.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
The country would be far better served by appointing this Committee to act as the cabinet and vote one of them as Prime Minister
No it really, really wouldn't.
For one thing this Committee is crossparty so how is that going to work?
For another, this Committee is the head of each committee who scrutinise and hold to account the Cabinet and the PM, if this Committee became the Cabinet then who would hold the scrutiny role filled by this Committee? You'd need to reinvent this Committee and be back to square one.
Has that last issue changed over the years - he most have been able to think on his feet at some point to get to where he is?
Not really. Those close to him have always known he is a duffer and bluffer. Hence the talk of trying to keep him off the final ballot of Conservative members.
Think of the Wizard of Oz.
Wonderfully projected image, which is why he wins national campaigns.
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
Do you agree Big G that it is appallingly arrogant for the government to put up Dominic Raab to lie in our faces?
It was obvious Boris broke the rules. Why can’t this government tell the truth for once?
The charge sheet against Boris is extensive and it will be Paterson that is likely to see him lose his premiership
He is wholly unsuitable and the sooner he goes the better
I really, really hope that Boris is removed from office sooner rather than later. The ineptitude and corruption that the government is dragging this great nation through under his watch is unbearable. Everyday there's new revelations about how some minister/ex-minister/MP is or was on the take.
Uk politics has always stunk. If I may venture to say so, it would be naive to think the removal of the PM from office is sufficient to clean it up when rank and file MPs are falling over each other to keep the gravy train on the rails.
Is Boris the right person to clean it all up? Hmm. Not obviously so no. But then again he has little time for the parliamentary party so if he sees it as his only way of remaining world king then perhaps he’ll have a go. Conversely how willing would the shmoozers lining up to replace him be to finally muck out the stables?
The country would be far better served by appointing this Committee to act as the cabinet and vote one of them as Prime Minister
I'd be tempted to adopt the Swiss system of having a rotisserie leader. If you knew that each Cabinet minister would spend a certain period, in turn, as first among equals then it would prevent the PM from acting as a President in all but name. We'd be back to genuine Cabinet government.
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
How about the idiotic way he and his ministers lied about it?
Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc
Johnson told to wear one - repeatedly - by the staff. Backed up by the hospital rules. Mandated by the legal requirements on NHS Trusts set by his government.
Johnson doesn't wear one. Gets roundly castigated for doing so - front pages, commentators, the lot. Sends that gormless idiot "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister onto GMTV. Repeats and repeats that the PM followed the rules as they repeatedly prove he didn't. Gormless doesn't get it even as the presenters explain it to him
Now he says "I did wear one, but took it off very briefly" (a lie) and then realised it was a mistake so put it back on (a lie). And then sent Raaaab out for more lies.
Yes its only a mask. But the lies are building. Proof that the PM has no interest in rules that are for you and me but not for him are building. The disconnect between him and everyone else are building.
“Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc”
We didn’t have to wear one in the maternity ward, or the post birth room, last month when our son was born. I did wear one when I got lost walking around the endless, identical corridors though
Has that last issue changed over the years - he most have been able to think on his feet at some point to get to where he is?
Not really. Those close to him have always known he is a duffer and bluffer. Hence the talk of trying to keep him off the final ballot of Conservative members.
Think of the Wizard of Oz.
Wonderfully projected image, which is why he wins national campaigns.
But behind the curtain, there's hardly anything.
Anyone following his career knows there’s hardly anything there.
Remember all those “major speeches” that were trailed in the media that turned out to be half an hour of rambling, undigested, after-dinner shite?
Amazing that so many on this board were (maybe still are) hoodwinked by this shyster.
Since Starmer wept crocodile tears for Sir David Amess and called for more civillity in politics he has accused the PM of leading his party into the sewwer and called the PM a coward. Starmer's hypocrisy is unbounded.
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I too feel that when he leaves his post, it is most likely to be in disgrace.
This format is so much better than PMQs- first, these are among the smartest MPs, second they follow up on his answers to previous questions.
Dave (pbuh) said this used to stress him more than a 100 PMQs.
Tony Blair used to love them - stayed fresh and sparky long after the committee had started to look exhausted. Anyone who likes intelligent discussion prefers formats like this.
Since Starmer wept crocodile tears for Sir David Amess and called for more civillity in politics he has accused the PM of leading his party into the sewwer and called the PM a coward. Starmer's hypocrisy is unbounded.
BoJo picked the right person to lead the vaccine campaign and he's still living off it. But the Tories have picked two duds in a row. Isn't that Labour's job?
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
He looks contrite and weary.
Contrite is probably the best look in a very bad situation to get to the other side of this stupid mess.
When in a hole, stop digging.
Would anyone on this site - except for HYUFD be at all upset (or surprised) if Boris went?
I seriously can't think of any other poster here who thinks Boris is a suitable or qualified person for the job of PM...
I wouldn't say he is either suitable or qualifed by historical standards, but I would say that he remains the appropriate person to lead the Conservative Party. In the run up and aftermath to Brexit he has embarked on a particular path, and remains the only person in the Conservative Party with the political skills to negotiate the various big intractable problems that follow from it. I also think that, in the end, he is the only person who can brush off this sleaze thing, because there is always sleaze and rule bending everywhere you go digging in public life, any supposed quest for purity in public life will ultimately be little more than a performance for the public who, in the end, aren't particularly gullible.
Political skills to negotiate big intractable problems ?
No - animal skill and cunning to please people from day to day - something which eventually catches up with you without longer-term or strategic foresight, and which is what happened starting with the Paterson error.
How exactly was he able to get Brexit done? It completely defeated Ms May, a far more conventionally skilled politician. It may have been animal skill and cunning, but it worked. Not only did it work, but he reinvented the working class appeal of the Conservative Party at the same time. These are not accidents, they are the product of some strategic foresight. It may be that this was actually down to Dominic Cummings, and his big error may have actually been to lose him.
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
The answer is obvious.
To get Brexit "done" (sic), you needed to be dishonest and be prepared to tell bare-faced lies. Mrs May wasn't up to such a task.
Since Starmer wept crocodile tears for Sir David Amess and called for more civillity in politics he has accused the PM of leading his party into the sewwer and called the PM a coward. Starmer's hypocrisy is unbounded.
Feeble post. Tory HQ should ask for their money back.
Since Starmer wept crocodile tears for Sir David Amess and called for more civillity in politics he has accused the PM of leading his party into the sewwer and called the PM a coward. Starmer's hypocrisy is unbounded.
That would be a fair statement if the PM hadn't lead his party into a sewer of shite of his own making while also being a coward.
The country would be far better served by appointing this Committee to act as the cabinet and vote one of them as Prime Minister
I'd be tempted to adopt the Swiss system of having a rotisserie leader. If you knew that each Cabinet minister would spend a certain period, in turn, as first among equals then it would prevent the PM from acting as a President in all but name. We'd be back to genuine Cabinet government.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
A female sportswoman who doped herself to have the amount of testosterone a transwoman sportsperson is permitted would be banned. But a trans athlete - a male claiming to be a woman - with that amount of testosterone in his body as a result of male puberty can legally compete. How can this possibly be fair? And isn't this discrimination against women?
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
Johnson now claiming the lack of mask in Hexham was a mistake that lasted six seconds.
So why then did the "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister get sent out to do the media round insisting the PM had followed the rules.
He wouldn't have to sit there looking his usual gormless saying "he followed the rules" as they repeat the clip proving he didn't" had as he just claimed he had only taken it off for 5 seconds and had realised it was a mistake.
Another lie.
The lies are coming faster by the day. Eventually they will collide into one big enormous mess and he'll be done.
I doubt an incident over mask wearing will see Boris lose his premiership, but the idiotic way he dealt with the Paterson affair and his steps since including the change in standards may well
How about the idiotic way he and his ministers lied about it?
Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc
Johnson told to wear one - repeatedly - by the staff. Backed up by the hospital rules. Mandated by the legal requirements on NHS Trusts set by his government.
Johnson doesn't wear one. Gets roundly castigated for doing so - front pages, commentators, the lot. Sends that gormless idiot "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister onto GMTV. Repeats and repeats that the PM followed the rules as they repeatedly prove he didn't. Gormless doesn't get it even as the presenters explain it to him
Now he says "I did wear one, but took it off very briefly" (a lie) and then realised it was a mistake so put it back on (a lie). And then sent Raaaab out for more lies.
Yes its only a mask. But the lies are building. Proof that the PM has no interest in rules that are for you and me but not for him are building. The disconnect between him and everyone else are building.
“Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc”
We didn’t have to wear one in the maternity ward, or the post birth room, last month when our son was born. I did wear one when I got lost walking around the endless, identical corridors though
I'm impressed they let you in at all - I know various people who ended up having to give birth alone with their other half banned. Congrats again on the birth!
Anyway, the guidelines at the time the PM went to Hexham are clear. Both from the DHSC and the Trust. He HAD to wear a mask. He didn't. And now he's saying sorry.
Are you suggesting that he was wrong to apologise for this error of judgement?
Worth noting the current signal is that they're flat, so we'll get a few days of falls now but only because the denominator is going up rather than any chance in the numerator.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
They might as well just cancel separate women’s categories in most events at the Olympics, if they are so determined to go down the path of allowing self-identification.
Aren't non execs supposed to challenge rather than questionably facilitate ?
You mean you've never heard the joke about what's the difference between a supermarket shopping trolley and a non executive director? A supermarket shopping trolley has a mind of its own!
The country would be far better served by appointing this Committee to act as the cabinet and vote one of them as Prime Minister
I'd be tempted to adopt the Swiss system of having a rotisserie leader. If you knew that each Cabinet minister would spend a certain period, in turn, as first among equals then it would prevent the PM from acting as a President in all but name. We'd be back to genuine Cabinet government.
How did the war with Spain begin PM Grayling?
Well, if every Cabinet Minister took a turn as PM it would be more important to make sure they were of sufficient calibre. Though perhaps you could limit it to the more senior Cabinet positions.
Cases down almost 1K from last week. Has the last week been the back-to-school surge? If it has only lasted a week then that is a very good sign.
Just thinking about this some more. I think we will have a very good idea over the course of the next month whether the UK has reached herd immunity. If we have no restrictions, schools are back and cases are declining from the current high levels then I don't see what else it could be.
V senior backbench Tory MP on why there were so many empty spaces behind the PM at #PMQs: “a sense of dumb exhaustion. The party is at each others throats and what for? A u-turn on a u-turn. There’s a sense of exhaustion with the whole lot of them and the whole thing.”
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
A female sportswoman who doped herself to have the amount of testosterone a transwoman sportsperson is permitted would be banned. But a trans athlete - a male claiming to be a woman - with that amount of testosterone in his body as a result of male puberty can legally compete. How can this possibly be fair? And isn't this discrimination against women?
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
a spineless decision going against common sense. Most drastic actions in life have consequences. Changing gender and not being able to compete in the new gender category is just a consequence ,presumably a small one if the main wish is to change gender. Why do we pretend that anything remotely based to do with LGBT rights has to have zero downside for the person?
Cases down almost 1K from last week. Has the last week been the back-to-school surge? If it has only lasted a week then that is a very good sign.
Just thinking about this some more. I think we will have a very good idea over the course of the next month whether the UK has reached herd immunity. If we have no restrictions, schools are back and cases are declining from the current high levels then I don't see what else it could be.
Cases by specimen date are essentially flat, I think.
Aren't non execs supposed to challenge rather than questionably facilitate ?
You mean you've never heard the joke about what's the difference between a supermarket shopping trolley and a non executive director? A supermarket shopping trolley has a mind of its own!
Aren't non execs supposed to challenge rather than questionably facilitate ?
You mean you've never heard the joke about what's the difference between a supermarket shopping trolley and a non executive director? A supermarket shopping trolley has a mind of its own!
I'm a naive sort.
You only have to give a trolley a £1 to get it to work
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
A female sportswoman who doped herself to have the amount of testosterone a transwoman sportsperson is permitted would be banned. But a trans athlete - a male claiming to be a woman - with that amount of testosterone in his body as a result of male puberty can legally compete. How can this possibly be fair? And isn't this discrimination against women?
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
Where it gets interesting is where that testosterone comes from. In both cases er.... medical intervention. Only the intent is different.
The Monday -> Monday comparison looks like it will come in about evens, a few more days of reporting day drops and the specimen date drops will start to show in cases.
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
A female sportswoman who doped herself to have the amount of testosterone a transwoman sportsperson is permitted would be banned. But a trans athlete - a male claiming to be a woman - with that amount of testosterone in his body as a result of male puberty can legally compete. How can this possibly be fair? And isn't this discrimination against women?
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
a spineless decision going against common sense. Most drastic actions in life have consequences. Changing gender and not being able to compete in the new gender category is just a consequence ,presumably a small one if the main wish is to change gender. Why do we pretend that anything remotely based to do with LGBT rights has to have zero downside for the person?
What downsides to being gay do you think there should be?
Given the very many downsides historically enforced on people who were different it's understandable they'd want to struggle against them.
But the issue of fair competition is one where they create a downside for others, that isn't created by having equal rights to LGBT people in almost every other conceivable situation.
Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 · 49m BREAKING: The end of elite women's sport has just been announced.
Transgender athletes should not have to lower testosterone to compete, IOC says as it changes guidelines
So there's the trade off:
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
The International Athletics Federation still have their own testosterone rule that was stricter than the one dropped by the IOC, but I think the IOC are saying you'd need copious formal evidence to exclude even pre-op transgender athletes.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
It has been obvious that as soon as you let transgender male->female athletes compete against naturally born females that it would finish women's sport. They just will not be able to compete. It is a disgrace. There were 3 options and they have picked the worst. May as well just be done with it and no longer have any male/female categories.
The other two options in my view are: 1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few) 2. Creating new categories.
A female sportswoman who doped herself to have the amount of testosterone a transwoman sportsperson is permitted would be banned. But a trans athlete - a male claiming to be a woman - with that amount of testosterone in his body as a result of male puberty can legally compete. How can this possibly be fair? And isn't this discrimination against women?
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
a spineless decision going against common sense. Most drastic actions in life have consequences. Changing gender and not being able to compete in the new gender category is just a consequence ,presumably a small one if the main wish is to change gender. Why do we pretend that anything remotely based to do with LGBT rights has to have zero downside for the person?
Why is it that so many transgender male->female athletes want to compete in sport and so few female->male ones do? If people want to change their gender then that is entirely up to them but they should do so knowing that they can't compete in sport. Why are we trampling on the rights of billions to protect the "rights" of a few?
The Monday -> Monday comparison looks like it will come in about evens, a few more days of reporting day drops and the specimen date drops will start to show in cases.
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
It will be interesting in a couple of weeks when most of Europe including Ireland is in lockdown and our case numbers are falling.
The only reason I am voting Tory at the moment is the great job they (Boris) is doing over covid . Most of Europe in the grip still of facemasks (useless ), curfews and rising cases in winter when Boris had the right idea to relax in summer and Autumn and gain herd immunity.Starmer is wrong on covid and has been for a while
Since Starmer wept crocodile tears for Sir David Amess and called for more civillity in politics he has accused the PM of leading his party into the sewwer and called the PM a coward. Starmer's hypocrisy is unbounded.
Feeble post. Tory HQ should ask for their money back.
Cases down almost 1K from last week. Has the last week been the back-to-school surge? If it has only lasted a week then that is a very good sign.
Just thinking about this some more. I think we will have a very good idea over the course of the next month whether the UK has reached herd immunity. If we have no restrictions, schools are back and cases are declining from the current high levels then I don't see what else it could be.
Cases by specimen date are essentially flat, I think.
Agreed, I suspect they probably are currently. However, I still think the next month will reveal for certain if we have hit herd immunity or not depending on which way the cases go in that time.
The Monday -> Monday comparison looks like it will come in about evens, a few more days of reporting day drops and the specimen date drops will start to show in cases.
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
I hope that you and the other optimists are right. The rolling 7 day average is +35,798 today, vs +34,894 yesterday. We need to get back to day after day of significant and sustained drops before considering if we're all now immune.
That 38,000 seems rather low to me. My sense is the mini casedemic wavette of the last fortnight might already be ebbing somewhat, but I haven't crunched the numbers.
The only reason I am voting Tory at the moment is the great job they (Boris) is doing over covid . Most of Europe in the grip still of facemasks (useless ), curfews and rising cases in winter when Boris had the right idea to relax in summer and Autumn and gain herd immunity.Starmer is wrong on covid and has been for a while
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Helpful update from @PA: "The Government sought to clarify that it has not lost the minutes of a meeting between Randox and a health minister, only that it cannot find them at the moment."
Bullshit. "I have been unable to locate the formal minutes" means there are no minutes. Now then, let us ask why that might be the case...
Liaison committee coming up. Get your popcorn ready.
Many many years ago I was involved in a mediation where transcripts of board meetings were required from the other side.
They sent everything we needed except the board meeting transcripts, we had to pester and pester them, their replies followed as such
1) We cannot find said minutes
then
2) We cannot still find said minutes
then
3) We have found said minutes, but only in a digital format, however it is password protected and the person who created the password no longer works for us, and we cannot locate them.
(We then asked the courts to compel them to name that employee)
4) Oh, we've remembered the password, here's the file emailed to you.
We took a look at the word file (helpfully they had left track changes on) and it was clear this file was created fewer than 48 hours ago and then kept on adding things to it.
Yep. I've suspected for a few weeks now that this could sink Johnson and I'm increasingly confident this will now happen.
His liaison committee is already not going well. "We will need more of your time Prime Minister" responded to with such a look of utter panic that the chair suggested "you can give short answers". And then straight into "is it not a conflict of interest that you are the ultimate arbiter for the ministerial code."
He looks contrite and weary.
Contrite is probably the best look in a very bad situation to get to the other side of this stupid mess.
When in a hole, stop digging.
Would anyone on this site - except for HYUFD be at all upset (or surprised) if Boris went?
I seriously can't think of any other poster here who thinks Boris is a suitable or qualified person for the job of PM...
I wouldn't say he is either suitable or qualifed by historical standards, but I would say that he remains the appropriate person to lead the Conservative Party. In the run up and aftermath to Brexit he has embarked on a particular path, and remains the only person in the Conservative Party with the political skills to negotiate the various big intractable problems that follow from it. I also think that, in the end, he is the only person who can brush off this sleaze thing, because there is always sleaze and rule bending everywhere you go digging in public life, any supposed quest for purity in public life will ultimately be little more than a performance for the public who, in the end, aren't particularly gullible.
Political skills to negotiate big intractable problems ?
No - animal skill and cunning to please people from day to day - something which eventually catches up with you without longer-term or strategic foresight, and which is what happened starting with the Paterson error.
How exactly was he able to get Brexit done? It completely defeated Ms May, a far more conventionally skilled politician. It may have been animal skill and cunning, but it worked. Not only did it work, but he reinvented the working class appeal of the Conservative Party at the same time. These are not accidents, they are the product of some strategic foresight. It may be that this was actually down to Dominic Cummings, and his big error may have actually been to lose him.
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
The answer is obvious.
To get Brexit "done" (sic), you needed to be dishonest and be prepared to tell bare-faced lies. Mrs May wasn't up to such a task.
There is some truth in this. The biggest post war policy failure was to get ourselves into a situation, without a series of referendums, into a place where getting out of super size trade association was both logically impossible (Ireland) and required double speak to achieve. Boris is not to blame for that; though much else of course. He was needed for the task. The day is coming when someone else is needed, but we had to be absolutely out first.
The Monday -> Monday comparison looks like it will come in about evens, a few more days of reporting day drops and the specimen date drops will start to show in cases.
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
I hope that you and the other optimists are right. The rolling 7 day average is +35,798 today, vs +34,894 yesterday. We need to get back to day after day of significant and sustained drops before considering if we're all now immune.
That is a lagging indicator though. If you look at the raw daily data (both reported and specimen dates) then you can tell which way it will be going.
The only reason I am voting Tory at the moment is the great job they (Boris) is doing over covid . Most of Europe in the grip still of facemasks (useless ), curfews and rising cases in winter when Boris had the right idea to relax in summer and Autumn and gain herd immunity.Starmer is wrong on covid and has been for a while
Sorry but this argument is a little daft. If you want to keep Starmer out then you should be calling for Johnson's head. Remove Johnson, replace with someone like Sunak and you win the election. Don't and you may lose.
The only reason I am voting Tory at the moment is the great job they (Boris) is doing over covid . Most of Europe in the grip still of facemasks (useless ), curfews and rising cases in winter when Boris had the right idea to relax in summer and Autumn and gain herd immunity.Starmer is wrong on covid and has been for a while
What evidence do you have that any decision was actually made by Boris "wait until there is only 1 option left on the table" Johnson?
Heck you only have to look back to last December to see how desperate Boris was to avoid making a decision.
The Monday -> Monday comparison looks like it will come in about evens, a few more days of reporting day drops and the specimen date drops will start to show in cases.
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
We have a lot more social mixing now then we had in September 2020, and R is clearly a lot lower, so we have a lot of immunity, but I think we still have less social contact than in February 2020, and so I would think we're still some way from herd immunity in those conditions. Not far off though.
Comments
He pours out good intentions and platitudes. When it comes to doing owt though "Can you do it for me? It's a bit difficult and complex."
Keep your tackle and make it to the Olympic semi-final.
Get it chopped off and win a medal.
Break the rules, deny breaking them, then a few days later and admit it you got it wrong.
disconnect your computer from the internet and change the system clock
We were assured yesterday that Boris had “shot Keir’s fox”.
Meanwhile, the “lost minutes” regarding the Randox meeting are literally unbelievable. At what point does Lord Bethell receive police interest?
Johnson blames the CPS, the police and the courts for "passing the buck"...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gb-news-was-biggest-mistake-of-my-career-says-andrew-neil-j9lx7nwnx
I remain of the view that Boris will ultimately shake off all this sleaze stuff, but concede that Starmer is now looking dangerous.
So in your scenario they might not even need to sacrifice the dangly bits.
She was paid £60,000 a year for 84 hours work (£714 per hour) for ship design firm Artemis Technologies Ltd
The RMT point out that Artemis has received "significant" public funding
https://twitter.com/josiahmortimer/status/1460998893852934145
It was obvious Boris broke the rules. Why can’t this government tell the truth for once?
Wearing a mask in hospital is a given. Everyone has to, do not kiss your relatives edicts etc etc
Johnson told to wear one - repeatedly - by the staff. Backed up by the hospital rules. Mandated by the legal requirements on NHS Trusts set by his government.
Johnson doesn't wear one. Gets roundly castigated for doing so - front pages, commentators, the lot. Sends that gormless idiot "I'm the" Deputy Prime Minister onto GMTV. Repeats and repeats that the PM followed the rules as they repeatedly prove he didn't. Gormless doesn't get it even as the presenters explain it to him
Now he says "I did wear one, but took it off very briefly" (a lie) and then realised it was a mistake so put it back on (a lie). And then sent Raaaab out for more lies.
Yes its only a mask. But the lies are building. Proof that the PM has no interest in rules that are for you and me but not for him are building. The disconnect between him and everyone else are building.
His chaotic, short-term, people-pleasing in all sorts of other areas like Paterson, is much the same.
The hound - Husband's hound - made a bit of a mess in my car, which Husband was using. Car due to go to garage today so Husband got in a grump this morning at having to clean up dog mess. Car is now being valeted and will return later.
Meanwhile, the shitey cushion on which Hound was seated is in driveway being an eyesore in my garden.
Husband commented that "it would need washing". I love his use of the passive tense. I have no intention of washing it myself of course. If the birds busily picking bits of branches and berries for their winter habitat were to take it away I'd be delighted.
How long will I have to wait before Husband decides to wash it himself or, better still, throw it away?
https://twitter.com/nadinebh_/status/1460955297246289922
Yep. He's throwing a lot of people under the bus today. Owen Paterson, Geoffrey Cox, Mark Spencer, Jacob Rees-Mogg...and now his No.10 press office.
https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1460997638493544449?s=20
The other two options in my view are:
1. No competition for transgender athletes (needs of the many outweighing needs of the few)
2. Creating new categories.
For one thing this Committee is crossparty so how is that going to work?
For another, this Committee is the head of each committee who scrutinise and hold to account the Cabinet and the PM, if this Committee became the Cabinet then who would hold the scrutiny role filled by this Committee? You'd need to reinvent this Committee and be back to square one.
Think of the Wizard of Oz.
Wonderfully projected image, which is why he wins national campaigns.
But behind the curtain, there's hardly anything.
He is wholly unsuitable and the sooner he goes the better
Is Boris the right person to clean it all up? Hmm. Not obviously so no. But then again he has little time for the parliamentary party so if he sees it as his only way of remaining world king then perhaps he’ll have a go. Conversely how willing would the shmoozers lining up to replace him be to finally muck out the stables?
Good to hear the pilot’s okay though.
Do you Mr Jones?"
We didn’t have to wear one in the maternity ward, or the post birth room, last month when our son was born. I did wear one when I got lost walking around the endless, identical corridors though
Remember all those “major speeches” that were trailed in the media that turned out to be half an hour of rambling, undigested, after-dinner shite?
Amazing that so many on this board were (maybe still are) hoodwinked by this shyster.
But it is understood DUP ministers voted against the move.
Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP all backed the proposals from Health Minister Robin Swann.
But it is understood DUP ministers voted against the move, with the result finishing six to four.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59325108
201 DEATHS
778 ADMITTED
To get Brexit "done" (sic), you needed to be dishonest and be prepared to tell bare-faced lies. Mrs May wasn't up to such a task.
It is a disgrace. Just as allowing men claiming to be women and convicted of sexual offences against women to be housed in womens' prisons is a disgrace. There was an interesting debate on this in the House of Lords yesterday where Ms Chakrabarti once again showed what an incoherent moron she is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nus_Ghani
Other than her government post, of course.
Aren't non execs supposed to challenge rather than questionably facilitate ?
Anyway, the guidelines at the time the PM went to Hexham are clear. Both from the DHSC and the Trust. He HAD to wear a mask. He didn't. And now he's saying sorry.
Are you suggesting that he was wrong to apologise for this error of judgement?
http://sonorouschocolate.com/covid19/extdata/logcasesbyage.png
Worth noting the current signal is that they're flat, so we'll get a few days of falls now but only because the denominator is going up rather than any chance in the numerator.
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1461003965177516035?s=20
I'm now almost certain that we are either at or very close to herd immunity. If we weren't then there would be no chance of this case rise petering out and the R value dropping back to 1.
Given the very many downsides historically enforced on people who were different it's understandable they'd want to struggle against them.
But the issue of fair competition is one where they create a downside for others, that isn't created by having equal rights to LGBT people in almost every other conceivable situation.
https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2021/11/how-the-uk-sleepwalked-into-another-covid-disaster
Perhaps he did a lot of pills back in the Ministry of Sound days
Heck you only have to look back to last December to see how desperate Boris was to avoid making a decision.