Johnson: "So whizz kids, with PPEs, what would really distract from the Gray report next week?"
PPE Spad: "I dunno, maybe fly out to Kiev and face down Putin in the middle of winter?"
Johnson: "Works for me. But make sure we use the government plane and not some shitty RAF thing."
On the other hand, Maggie in Paris 1990 was one of the factors that led to her fall- hard to motivate the troops into backing you from abroad.
But really, it comes back to what it's always come back to. Do enough Conservative MPs have enough of a backbone to tell BoJo to go? And Boris anticipated that when he put all those heads on spikes in autumn 2019.
Just to encourage a bit of elevated thought (not my usual mo), watching Winterwatch and a big eff off sea eagle scaring off some corvids from a deer carcass. The Gaelic for sea eagle is Iolaire sùil na gréine – the eagle with the sunlit eye.
Some fucker better leak this or there is no God in the sky.
Johnson is absolutely taking the p*** out of us all. I can't recall a photograph that has ever made me more annoyed than the one of him thumbs up in the tracked CAT yesterday, when in reality he should be contritely applying to the Chiltern Hundreds.
Far be it for me to delve into Johnson's mind, but he's thinking to himself "I'm running rings around you dumb f****" isn't he?
Cummo seems somehow neutered, though. I wonder if the long arm of the law is frightening him. Not even any 'warnings' or slight intimations of anything, in particular.
If he's not frightened, though, he could do well with publicising a version that's not's full of "REDACTED" on Monday, if that's when it's coming out.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
Extraordinarily weak from Parris. First, he claims Blunt and Fabricant as "friends;" secondly a boring metaphor about Thames barges turning with the tide, which reads a bit different when you remember Parris nearly lost his life in the Thames because he can't read a set of tide tables. And, substantively, he is asking where are the tories to shame Johnson into resigning, when it is bloody obvious to everyone else that the problem is precisely that Johnson is impervious to shame.
Yes it wasn't his best but what else is there to say. It really feels like flogging a dead horse now. i hope he stays.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
Just to encourage a bit of elevated thought (not my usual mo), watching Winterwatch and a big eff off sea eagle scaring off some corvids from a deer carcass. The Gaelic for sea eagle is Iolaire sùil na gréine – the eagle with the sunlit eye.
Ooh yes, I remember being on Rum c. 1980 when they were frist being introduced - caged chicks. And more recently all on our own at the north end of Eigg with two of them soaring overhead like flying barn doors (it's surprisingly isolated, because of the high trap basalt cliffs behind where the eagles, presumably, nest).
All I can do to help Boris, Gray and Dick out is to offer the scent from our child's dirty nappy bin to help cover up the smell from this whole affair. A much improved aroma I can assure them.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
You mean, the fact that the Keystone Cops refused to intercede for months, and then (under the ultimate authority of a commissioner who owes her career to Johnson) miraculously stepped in just fast enough to block publication of anything in the Gray report that anybody might actually want to read?
No, I see nothing remotely suspicious in that whatsoever.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
You're risking a banning with that "off topic" Mr @Mexicanpete
On a personal note my 18 year old granddaughter has just phoned from Leeds University to say she has been awarded a place at Kyoto University in September, as part of her Italy and Japan languages and culture course.
She has learnt Japanese to a sufficient level in just 4 months
We are very proud of her
I have never achieved 14 likes and am overwhelmed how you have all reacted to our wonderful family news
As I said to my daughter just imagine the doors that will open with Kyoto University on your cv
In these days of depressing news it is a good news story and thank you to everyone
Kyoto's nice, some very nice shrines and temples all along the river. Congrats to her.
Johnson visiting Kiev next week suggested by C4 News.
Tank driving opportunities abound for Johnson.
Ambushed by Chicken Kiev!
The way the world has been in last two years I would not be surprised if he ends up in Kiev surrounded by Russians and effectively a hostage who Biden has to rescue.
Still, stops MPs reading too much of the Gray report eh? So it's a win.
I would start a crowdfunder to pay Biden not to rescue him.
* Boris Johnson will be handed a new redacted version of Sue Gray report in coming hours or days * This will be compliant with Met request nothing jeopardises their inquiry * This means it will be heavily redacted * Publication next week when the Commons is sitting
Might get him sweating like Peppa's dad, wondering what is in the gaps...
I suppose that the full report might leak?
More likely it'll be set on fire and chucked down a mineshaft (along with poor Sue Gray's reputation,) which will be backfilled with quick-setting concrete.
Had anyone heard of Sue Gray before this, or knew anything of her reputation?
Smithson jnr seemed to know a fair bit about her. Wasn't terribly complimentary.
There's quite a lot of information out there for those who choose to dig. She is famously averse to putting things in writing, and hates both email and freedom of information requests.
If someone is up for a peerage, she gives a straight yes or no, without explanation over the phone, and her word is - apparently - final.
Very intriguing. I must say that Sue Gray is an excellent name for a civil servant.
On a personal note my 18 year old granddaughter has just phoned from Leeds University to say she has been awarded a place at Kyoto University in September, as part of her Italy and Japan languages and culture course.
She has learnt Japanese to a sufficient level in just 4 months
We are very proud of her
I have never achieved 14 likes and am overwhelmed how you have all reacted to our wonderful family news
As I said to my daughter just imagine the doors that will open with Kyoto University on your cv
In these days of depressing news it is a good news story and thank you to everyone
Kyoto's nice, some very nice shrines and temples all along the river. Congrats to her.
My wife and I have visited Japan twice and it is a fascinating country
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
You're risking a banning with that "off topic" Mr @Mexicanpete
I do apologise, I didn't realise I had off-topiced you. I didn't even read your post. Apologies for that too
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
My phone has locked Google safesearch on. Apparently I don't have the authority to unlock it. Can anyone help? And, yes I have searched to find out how. Nowt seems to work.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
You're risking a banning with that "off topic" Mr @Mexicanpete
I do apologise, I didn't realise I had off-topiced you. I didn't even read your post. Apologies for that too
I've read your post now, and was so impressed that I have removed the off topic
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
On a personal note my 18 year old granddaughter has just phoned from Leeds University to say she has been awarded a place at Kyoto University in September, as part of her Italy and Japan languages and culture course.
She has learnt Japanese to a sufficient level in just 4 months
We are very proud of her
I have never achieved 14 likes and am overwhelmed how you have all reacted to our wonderful family news
As I said to my daughter just imagine the doors that will open with Kyoto University on your cv
In these days of depressing news it is a good news story and thank you to everyone
Kyoto's nice, some very nice shrines and temples all along the river. Congrats to her.
My wife and I have visited Japan twice and it is a fascinating country
There's so much to do in Kyoto and surrounds. I have been to Japan five times since 2012 (and been to Tokyo, Kanazawa and pretty much all the main cities in western Honshu and northern Kyushu) although the Kyoto National Museum has been closed when ever I've been there. Also a good base for lots of day trips to places like Nara, Kobe, Himeji and so on.
Japan is surprisingly good value for money if you go there for up to two weeks and get the rail pass.
I had a great trip there in 2019 but it's a shame I cannot currently go there. I do know an Oxford student who is currently studying in Kobe.
It is a shame only students etc are only able to go to Japan at the moment. I want to go back there as soon as possible. I would like to go to Nagoya and Gifu next.
I have tried learning Japanese over the best part of 10 years but it takes a lot of motivation. I am nowhere near fluent but know a reasonable amount of basic and intermediate Japanese and can probably recognise a few hundred kanji but need to continually practice with flashcards.
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
All airlines have increased their prices, so no risk of that.
Same with many hotels which had to shut in the lockdown also increasing their prices now they can reopen to recoup losses
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
On a personal note my 18 year old granddaughter has just phoned from Leeds University to say she has been awarded a place at Kyoto University in September, as part of her Italy and Japan languages and culture course.
She has learnt Japanese to a sufficient level in just 4 months
We are very proud of her
I have never achieved 14 likes and am overwhelmed how you have all reacted to our wonderful family news
As I said to my daughter just imagine the doors that will open with Kyoto University on your cv
In these days of depressing news it is a good news story and thank you to everyone
Kyoto's nice, some very nice shrines and temples all along the river. Congrats to her.
My wife and I have visited Japan twice and it is a fascinating country
There's so much to do in Kyoto and surrounds. I have been to Japan five times since 2012 (and been to Tokyo, Kanazawa and pretty much all the main cities in western Honshu and northern Kyushu) although the Kyoto National Museum has been closed when ever I've been there. Also a good base for lots of day trips to places like Nara, Kobe, Himeji and so on.
Japan is surprisingly good value for money if you go there for up to two weeks and get the rail pass.
I had a great trip there in 2019 but it's a shame I cannot currently go there. I do know an Oxford student who is currently studying in Kobe.
It is a shame only students etc are only able to go to Japan at the moment. I want to go back there as soon as possible. I would like to go to Nagoya and Gifu next.
I have tried learning Japanese over the best part of 10 years but it takes a lot of motivation. I am nowhere near fluent but know a reasonable amount of basic and intermediate Japanese and can probably recognise a few hundred kanji but need to continually practice with flashcards.
Chinese is so much easier. Well, Mandarin is anyways. You'd be fluent in a tenth of that time.
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
Some fucker better leak this or there is no God in the sky.
As mentioned, either Cummings will still leak something as promised when the 'report' is first published, or he's worried by the police aspect. I slightly lean towards the latter , but how can anyone really know.
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
Cressida Dick is, along with Amanda Spielman and Dido Harding, one of those people where you not merely take it as read they should resign for their lack of integrity and gross incompetence, but you wonder who they were sleeping with to ever be appointed to roles they were so manifestly unequal to in the first place.
In the case of Harding, we know. In the case of Spielman, everyone in education has a fair idea.
But Dick just baffles me. The worst decision Theresa May ever made, in no small and light field of competition. Surely she wasn't sleeping with May?
Some fucker better leak this or there is no God in the sky.
As mentioned, either Cummings will still leak something as promised when the 'report' is first published, or he's worried by the police aspect. I slightly lean towards the latter , but how can anyone really know.
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
I am 30 next week yes yuck
Nothing wrong with being 30.
Try being 60.
Try being 78
Bearing in mind the alternative, it is my firm intention to find out how that feels in 39 years, two months and nine days.
Fabulous news about your granddaughter, by the way. What a lady.
Here’s one for PB. The other night I had a dream that my heart was removed and subsequently I was on a waiting list for a transplant. I then proceeded to have a panic attack about not having a heart and then being unable to breathe. I then woke up and was relieved I did indeed still have my heart (to the best of my knowledge).
What could it mean??
You’re becoming a Tory as you get older?
I thought he was, relatively speaking, about 22.
Young Hague Mk 2. There's a thought.
Wasn’t he an engineer before being a lawyer? Closer to 30
I am 30 next week yes yuck
Nothing wrong with being 30.
Try being 60.
Try being 78
Bearing in mind the alternative, it is my firm intention to find out how that feels in 39 years, two months and nine days.
Fabulous news about your granddaughter, by the way. What a lady.
And exceed it by some distance hopefully
And thank you - my daughters facebook page has been overwhelmed with congratulations
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
Passenger numbers for international airline travel were still down 75% in 2021 on 2019 levels. The airlines had to recoup losses and have done it effectively as a cartel
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
Hyperbole post of the year to date.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
To be fair to @HYUFD he does have a point about Swansea. For instance you could rent a two bedroom, four bed family house near the centre for about £600, even in August. Leaving you a tidy £400 to spend on heroin, I mean food and transport
Most of the evening can be spent eating out and on the town or seeing a show at Swansea Theatre.
Indeed if even Benidorm becomes too expensive in the height of summer, I suspect more and more families will spend their summers at beach resorts in the UK and maybe only go to Spain in the autumn or winter when it is cheaper but still warmer than the UK
So, you're positing a world where wages in Southern Spain have outgrown the UK to such an extent that everyone is holidaying in Swansea?
Now, I might be wrong, but that doesn't sound exactly like a dream scenario.
It does if you own a restaurant or bar or cafe or b and b or hotel in Swansea.
However more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid and the extra paperwork needed to travel to the EU post Brexit, which I believe you voted for whilst you currently live in California!
"more to do with the increase in price of flights abroad post Covid" - just as a matter of interest, how has Covid increased flight prices? And why do you expect this to continue?
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
As airlines have increased ticket prices to recoup the losses from all the grounded flights during the global Covid lockdown of 2020 and early 2021
Business and economics doesn't work like that. Past losses mean nothing, only demand and the marginal cost of supply.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
Passenger numbers for international airline travel were still down 75% in 2021 on 2019 levels. The airlines had to recoup losses and have done it effectively as a cartel
Someone may correct me, but I was under the impression airlines were brutally competitive. At the very least an oligopoly.
You may find that an equilibrium was reached as no airline could remain solvent without boosting prices. That's different.
Even if a small, challenger airline (think Norwegian or something) was able to keep prices low, their market power is small as their supply is rather sticky. They can't magic 1000 planes out of nowhere.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Some of them will peel off - its already started with the Wakeford defection. I would guess it will be a bit like Labour in the Corbyn years. Won't be significant enough to change overall direction.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
Hyperbole post of the year to date.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Not exactly Idi Amin’s Uganda is it
Another one who doesn't see the point. It's the lying to parliament and the Queen and the British people is the issue not fpn. Involving the police effectively strings this out so long that any opposition in the Tories is snuffed out.
Here's one possible reason for a conquest of the Ukraine: to top Russia's population back up. The country is literally dying. From AFP, via Yahoo:
Russia's population declined by more than one million people in 2021, the statistics agency Rosstat reported Friday, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ongoing demographic woes have been exacerbated by the pandemic with Rosstat figures showing more than 660,000 had died with coronavirus since health officials recorded the first case in the country.
The new figures continue a downward trend from the previous year when Russia's population fell by more than half a million.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
Hyperbole post of the year to date.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Not exactly Idi Amin’s Uganda is it
Do you physically enjoy being fucked in the arse by Big Men?
Don't answer if you find the question in any way offensive. I only ask because it's so clear from your Trump and Johnson position that it is metaphorically your favoured position
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
You know what happened to the Titans? They got imprisoned in Tartarus after they were defeated by things one them had spawned but could not control.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
Hyperbole post of the year to date.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Not exactly Idi Amin’s Uganda is it
There has been much debate from legal types today suggesting that it is very unusual for redaction of a report that has no bearing on a simple penalty charge issue. I also find it bizarre that the Met have announced that they have no intention of looking at any perverting the course of justice issues. Surely if that is where the evidence takes them they should pursue it, but no not interested. The pursuance of that lead would make sense however, for the report to be redacted.
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
But if the SCUP split they've lost half the battle in pretending that the UK is a single polity.They havce basically admitted, in the most brutal fashion, that that is simply not true.
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
Fortunately, perhaps, Mogg isn't eligible and while the government can veto nominees they can't nominate their own candidates.
You had me baffled on your first paragraph. I was wondering what California State Uni had to do with Douglas Ross...
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
There are rare occasions on here when you come across a contribution that hits the nail firmly on the head and this is one of those said occasions.
In truth, Johnson has redefined the party through his victory as much as Margaret Thatcher did through hers. Ultimately, of course, that didn't save her when the headwinds became personal and the Party knew she would drag them all to disaster (obviously, no one foresaw the true catastrophe waiting down the road).
The other truth is pale imitations get nowhere - a change of leader isn't just in name only. The next Conservative leader will likely be the polar opposite of Boris Johnson in terms of character and temperament if not necessarily policy. Trying to out-Boris Boris is a non-starter.
Longer term, what is the Conservative Party going to look like post-Boris? It's clear Sunak is in the mould of watered down Thatcherism and he clearly worships at the altar of the Laffer Curve even if public services will do badly under him. I don't know (genuinely) what Truss represents but if I listen to some of the 2019 intake, I don't hear the zeal of the Johnsonian convert - what I hear is One Nation Conservatism which never seems to go out of fashion and will make another comeback once this lot have gone.
Here's one possible reason for a conquest of the Ukraine: to top Russia's population back up. The country is literally dying. From AFP, via Yahoo:
Russia's population declined by more than one million people in 2021, the statistics agency Rosstat reported Friday, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ongoing demographic woes have been exacerbated by the pandemic with Rosstat figures showing more than 660,000 had died with coronavirus since health officials recorded the first case in the country.
The new figures continue a downward trend from the previous year when Russia's population fell by more than half a million.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
I hold out some vague hope that the Scottish Tories will throw their hands up in the air and sue for divorce from the Westminster party, although admittedly this still seems highly unlikely.
I mean, Boris Johnson has decided to call himself the Minister for the Union, after all. He doesn't care about the Union, so this wouldn't bother him in the slightest: he does an excellent impression of a narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing and nobody except himself, after all. But all the same, it would be amusing, in a grimly ironic kind of a way, if he succeeded in ripping another hole in the state AND smashing up his own party in such a fashion.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
There are rare occasions on here when you come across a contribution that hits the nail firmly on the head and this is one of those said occasions.
In truth, Johnson has redefined the party through his victory as much as Margaret Thatcher did through hers. Ultimately, of course, that didn't save her when the headwinds became personal and the Party knew she would drag them all to disaster (obviously, no one foresaw the true catastrophe waiting down the road).
The other truth is pale imitations get nowhere - a change of leader isn't just in name only. The next Conservative leader will likely be the polar opposite of Boris Johnson in terms of character and temperament if not necessarily policy. Trying to out-Boris Boris is a non-starter.
Longer term, what is the Conservative Party going to look like post-Boris? It's clear Sunak is in the mould of watered down Thatcherism and he clearly worships at the altar of the Laffer Curve even if public services will do badly under him. I don't know (genuinely) what Truss represents but if I listen to some of the 2019 intake, I don't hear the zeal of the Johnsonian convert - what I hear is One Nation Conservatism which never seems to go out of fashion and will make another comeback once this lot have gone.
At this rate, it will look something like the Liberal Democrats. At least in terms of numbers of seats...
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
They should be damn grateful it is Boris still refusing indyref2 and under Boris they still have the second highest number of Tory MPs from Scotland since 1992
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
Fortunately, perhaps, Mogg isn't eligible and while the government can veto nominees they can't nominate their own candidates.
You had me baffled on your first paragraph. I was wondering what California State Uni had to do with Douglas Ross...
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
That's like claiming that Anthony Eden was a global tital for Suez. And a brain-dead swede with its leaves cut off would recognide Mr Johnson. He's taken so much care over his image that of course anyone would recognise him. Doesn't mean they rate him.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
Brexit was done the moment Theresa triggered Article 50. Boris merely cobbled together a crap trade deal.
What do me make of the Met coming in at the moment that it looked like the Gray report was about to be published. Of course these things can happen but it does feel fishy.
I suspect even Johnson apologists are scratching their heads and wondering how, what happened, just happened.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
Hyperbole post of the year to date.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Not exactly Idi Amin’s Uganda is it
This is very similar to the line that it's all about cake. It's not about cake or penalty notices, but basic principles of governmental accountability, the consent of the governed during a pandemic lockdown, and the rule of law.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
Yes, the Tories have sold their souls to Johnsonian kleptocracy and populism, and will stick with him until the Election. It is going to be an uncomfortable couple of years for them.
Everything we know about his private behaviour suggests he is lazy, sloppy, disorganised and indecisive.
However, his hollering walrus impression gives the suggestion that he is doing something, and that seems to be enough for Tory backbenchers and appeasers of corruption like @HYUFD and @Sandpit.
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
But if the SCUP split they've lost half the battle in pretending that the UK is a single polity.They havce basically admitted, in the most brutal fashion, that that is simply not true.
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
You're right. It's interesting that Murdo Fraser is so keen though, he's a proper old fashioned Tory (or at least sounds/looks like one).
I noticed that Sturgeon went along with Met corruption on twitter. Feeling very confident, particularly given her past as solicitor and the record Police Scotland.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
I hold out some vague hope that the Scottish Tories will throw their hands up in the air and sue for divorce from the Westminster party, although admittedly this still seems highly unlikely.
I mean, Boris Johnson has decided to call himself the Minister for the Union, after all. He doesn't care about the Union, so this wouldn't bother him in the slightest: he does an excellent impression of a narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing and nobody except himself, after all. But all the same, it would be amusing, in a grimly ironic kind of a way, if he succeeded in ripping another hole in the state AND smashing up his own party in such a fashion.
Well, quite. The SCUP are currently damned whatever they do.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
There are rare occasions on here when you come across a contribution that hits the nail firmly on the head and this is one of those said occasions.
In truth, Johnson has redefined the party through his victory as much as Margaret Thatcher did through hers. Ultimately, of course, that didn't save her when the headwinds became personal and the Party knew she would drag them all to disaster (obviously, no one foresaw the true catastrophe waiting down the road).
The other truth is pale imitations get nowhere - a change of leader isn't just in name only. The next Conservative leader will likely be the polar opposite of Boris Johnson in terms of character and temperament if not necessarily policy. Trying to out-Boris Boris is a non-starter.
Longer term, what is the Conservative Party going to look like post-Boris? It's clear Sunak is in the mould of watered down Thatcherism and he clearly worships at the altar of the Laffer Curve even if public services will do badly under him. I don't know (genuinely) what Truss represents but if I listen to some of the 2019 intake, I don't hear the zeal of the Johnsonian convert - what I hear is One Nation Conservatism which never seems to go out of fashion and will make another comeback once this lot have gone.
Who in the top tier of the current Tory Cabinet is more One Nation than Boris economically? Nobody. Sunak and Patel and Zahawi and Raab and Rees Mogg were all Leavers, Truss was a Remainer but is going hard to show she is even more of a Brexiteer than the Brexiteers.
Of the other leadership contenders Hunt and Tugendhat were both Remainers and are unlikely to ever win the party membership vote. So expect the Tories to move even further to the right once Boris goes
Brexit is still the turd in the toilet bowl. I see though that at least Brexiters have moved on from sunlit uplands to “the negative effects are small”.
Reminds me of how global warming is no longer denied, and that skeptics have moved on to criticise various carbon reduction policies.
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
But if the SCUP split they've lost half the battle in pretending that the UK is a single polity.They havce basically admitted, in the most brutal fashion, that that is simply not true.
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
You're right. It's interesting that Murdo Fraser is so keen though, he's a proper old fashioned Tory (or at least sounds/looks like one).
I noticed that Sturgeon went along with Met corruption on twitter. Feeling very confident, particularly given her past as solicitor and the record Police Scotland.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
Quite a fascinating definition of global titan
Mussolini was very recognisable and had all sorts of unlikely admirers, for a period.
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
But if the SCUP split they've lost half the battle in pretending that the UK is a single polity.They havce basically admitted, in the most brutal fashion, that that is simply not true.
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
You're right. It's interesting that Murdo Fraser is so keen though, he's a proper old fashioned Tory (or at least sounds/looks like one).
I noticed that Sturgeon went along with Met corruption on twitter. Feeling very confident, particularly given her past as solicitor and the record Police Scotland.
Mr Fraser is certainly an old fashioned one in such things as this tweet:
And more seriously he did want to go back to the old days of the Unionist Party being independent of London. Only to get a knee in the goolies in the leadership election when Ms Davidson won.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
I hold out some vague hope that the Scottish Tories will throw their hands up in the air and sue for divorce from the Westminster party, although admittedly this still seems highly unlikely.
I mean, Boris Johnson has decided to call himself the Minister for the Union, after all. He doesn't care about the Union, so this wouldn't bother him in the slightest: he does an excellent impression of a narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing and nobody except himself, after all. But all the same, it would be amusing, in a grimly ironic kind of a way, if he succeeded in ripping another hole in the state AND smashing up his own party in such a fashion.
Well, quite. The SCUP are currently damned whatever they do.
They should announce some sort of temporary suspension and sit separately in Parliament.
I believe that we have learned something about the psychology of the Parliamentary Conservative Party this week. They have realised that their fate is tied to Boris, however much they hate him and however absurd he becomes. They are unlikely to depose him for the following reasons.
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate is, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
So we're back, amongst other things, to a question I asked a few weeks ago. If most of the Tory Party won't move against him, what happens to pretty much the whole of the Scottish branch (plus a few other MPs) who have already publicly stated that they want his head on a plate?
Well, quite. Bit of a contradiction there in the Scottish CUP. I mean, they've been so scathing about him (except for a few MPs) that it's not entirely convincing of them to then turn round and tell us, "Yes, this chap knows so much better than you Jocks how to rule Scotland because he's British and London-based and automatically understands how to rule you plebs". No wonder they are tearing their collective hair out.
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
I hold out some vague hope that the Scottish Tories will throw their hands up in the air and sue for divorce from the Westminster party, although admittedly this still seems highly unlikely.
I mean, Boris Johnson has decided to call himself the Minister for the Union, after all. He doesn't care about the Union, so this wouldn't bother him in the slightest: he does an excellent impression of a narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing and nobody except himself, after all. But all the same, it would be amusing, in a grimly ironic kind of a way, if he succeeded in ripping another hole in the state AND smashing up his own party in such a fashion.
Well, quite. The SCUP are currently damned whatever they do.
They should announce some sort of temporary suspension and sit separately in Parliament.
About as credible as the "Labour" councillors in Aberdeen ... I still wonder who owns the money and teh assets.
For all the clown image, the one thing that Boris has always understood- intuitively and brilliantly- is power. How to gain it and how to keep it. It's why some hate and fear him, and why others are happy to be the Number 2 to his Number 1.
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Indeed, only 3 Tory leaders and Tory PMs since WW2 have been global titans, Churchill, Thatcher and Boris.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
Mr Johnson a global titan?! You mean, competing with Mr Chaplin and Monsieur Hulot?
He got Brexit done, the biggest policy change of any Tory PM after Thatcher's economic reforms and winning the Cold War and Churchill's winning world war 2.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
Brexit was done the moment Theresa triggered Article 50. Boris merely cobbled together a crap trade deal.
Nope, it was only done when Boris got the majority needed to get Brexit through Parliament
After making such a fuss over all the Crown Office/Salmond stuff, and sticking the head above the parapet on Johnson, Ross is going to have CSU the Tories up here.
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
But if the SCUP split they've lost half the battle in pretending that the UK is a single polity.They havce basically admitted, in the most brutal fashion, that that is simply not true.
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
You're right. It's interesting that Murdo Fraser is so keen though, he's a proper old fashioned Tory (or at least sounds/looks like one).
I noticed that Sturgeon went along with Met corruption on twitter. Feeling very confident, particularly given her past as solicitor and the record Police Scotland.
Mr Fraser is certainly an old fashioned one in such things as this tweet:
And more seriously he did want to go back to the old days of the Unionist Party being independent of London. Only to get a knee in the goolies in the leadership election when Ms Davidson won.
Comments
But really, it comes back to what it's always come back to. Do enough Conservative MPs have enough of a backbone to tell BoJo to go? And Boris anticipated that when he put all those heads on spikes in autumn 2019.
https://twitter.com/peatworrier/status/1486466881603133445?s=21
Far be it for me to delve into Johnson's mind, but he's thinking to himself "I'm running rings around you dumb f****" isn't he?
If he's not frightened, though, he could do well with publicising a version that's not's full of "REDACTED" on Monday, if that's when it's coming out.
I mean, I get that there's (marginally) more paperwork involved due to Brexit - but that hasn't stopped Brits from travelling without problems to Morocco, Switzerland, Norway and - oh yes - the United States.
We are in the realms of Idi Amin's Uganda.
No, I see nothing remotely suspicious in that whatsoever.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QrM39m22jH4
https://twitter.com/EuroGuido/status/1487036670352502785?s=20&t=QKAHDRNJPw0nkMy08IXqUg
And, yes I have searched to find out how. Nowt seems to work.
Japan is surprisingly good value for money if you go there for up to two weeks and get the rail pass.
I had a great trip there in 2019 but it's a shame I cannot currently go there. I do know an Oxford student who is currently studying in Kobe.
It is a shame only students etc are only able to go to Japan at the moment. I want to go back there as soon as possible. I would like to go to Nagoya and Gifu next.
I have tried learning Japanese over the best part of 10 years but it takes a lot of motivation. I am nowhere near fluent but know a reasonable amount of basic and intermediate Japanese and can probably recognise a few hundred kanji but need to continually practice with flashcards.
If one airline increased prices to 'recoup losses' the other would leave their price flat and run at 100% capacity utilisation, while the one who increased their prices would have half empty planes.
Same with many hotels which had to shut in the lockdown also increasing their prices now they can reopen to recoup losses
NO GUIDO. NO COMMENT
In the case of Harding, we know. In the case of Spielman, everyone in education has a fair idea.
But Dick just baffles me. The worst decision Theresa May ever made, in no small and light field of competition. Surely she wasn't sleeping with May?
Fabulous news about your granddaughter, by the way. What a lady.
And thank you - my daughters facebook page has been overwhelmed with congratulations
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2022-releases/2022-01-25-02/
Firstly, there is no successor with anything like Boris's charisma. It is easy to forget in the fog of events that Johnson reinvented the conservative party. The alliance on which his 2019 majority is based - the wealthy southern base and the 'red wall' was largely a product of his political style. There would be no credible 'continuity Boris' option in any leadership election. And no obvious alternative strategy to sustain a parliamentary majority, at present at least.
Secondly, the party descended in to freefall in early 2019 due to uncertainty of direction leading to catastrophic election results. This was an existential crisis that is haunting MPs to a greater degree than we perhaps acknowledge. Something they want to avoid repeating. However bad partygate and cakegate get, it is not an existential crisis such that would prompt the type of action that bought Boris in to power in the first place.
All the lies etc are just priced in. As he has probably got away with partygate, he can get away with anything he wants; just as long as he doesn't stray in to serious criminality. It will be the voters who ultimately decide the fate of him, and his version of the conservative party.
According to the head of the specialist unit investigating the matter, it’s the sort of thing that would result in a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Not exactly Idi Amin’s Uganda is it
Of course one of his first acts was to get rid of anyone with the potential to depose him.
Boris in 2019 also won the third biggest Tory majority after Thatcher and Macmillan in the last 70 years
You may find that an equilibrium was reached as no airline could remain solvent without boosting prices. That's different.
Even if a small, challenger airline (think Norwegian or something) was able to keep prices low, their market power is small as their supply is rather sticky. They can't magic 1000 planes out of nowhere.
Russia's population declined by more than one million people in 2021, the statistics agency Rosstat reported Friday, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ongoing demographic woes have been exacerbated by the pandemic with Rosstat figures showing more than 660,000 had died with coronavirus since health officials recorded the first case in the country.
The new figures continue a downward trend from the previous year when Russia's population fell by more than half a million.
https://news.yahoo.com/russia-loses-million-people-historic-210102808.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Don't answer if you find the question in any way offensive. I only ask because it's so clear from your Trump and Johnson position that it is metaphorically your favoured position
And even the Unionist and elderly right wing Scots really, really hate his style. I well remember one when he was elected, staring despairingly into space and asking "What's this clown doing being prime minister??"
It's been a catastrophic few weeks for Whitehall/Westminster/UK establishment. It's basically Washington down there; just need them to appoint JRM to the Supreme Court and it's over.
(Labour have to be careful over the boundary changes. If they claim gerrymandering on them then the UK is finished as a sane democracy)
Labour, in contrast, remain a single GB-wide party (possibly UK wide, tecnnically) and will be left as the sole true Unionists, Ms Ballantyne's lot aside.
You had me baffled on your first paragraph. I was wondering what California State Uni had to do with Douglas Ross...
In truth, Johnson has redefined the party through his victory as much as Margaret Thatcher did through hers. Ultimately, of course, that didn't save her when the headwinds became personal and the Party knew she would drag them all to disaster (obviously, no one foresaw the true catastrophe waiting down the road).
The other truth is pale imitations get nowhere - a change of leader isn't just in name only. The next Conservative leader will likely be the polar opposite of Boris Johnson in terms of character and temperament if not necessarily policy. Trying to out-Boris Boris is a non-starter.
Longer term, what is the Conservative Party going to look like post-Boris? It's clear Sunak is in the mould of watered down Thatcherism and he clearly worships at the altar of the Laffer Curve even if public services will do badly under him. I don't know (genuinely) what Truss represents but if I listen to some of the 2019 intake, I don't hear the zeal of the Johnsonian convert - what I hear is One Nation Conservatism which never seems to go out of fashion and will make another comeback once this lot have gone.
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1487156727900483590?t=AJLaMEo1kC5VNyUQDKu6YA&s=19
Full of Scots and one of the fastest growing bits of England. We'll knock out @HYUFD's tank division just after sacking York (again).
I mean, Boris Johnson has decided to call himself the Minister for the Union, after all. He doesn't care about the Union, so this wouldn't bother him in the slightest: he does an excellent impression of a narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing and nobody except himself, after all. But all the same, it would be amusing, in a grimly ironic kind of a way, if he succeeded in ripping another hole in the state AND smashing up his own party in such a fashion.
Boris is also probably the most recognised western world leader after the POTUS and he is still far more charismatic and dynamic than Biden
Everything we know about his private behaviour suggests he is lazy, sloppy, disorganised and indecisive.
However, his hollering walrus impression gives the suggestion that he is doing something, and that seems to be enough for Tory backbenchers and appeasers of corruption like @HYUFD and @Sandpit.
I noticed that Sturgeon went along with Met corruption on twitter. Feeling very confident, particularly given her past as solicitor and the record Police Scotland.
Of the other leadership contenders Hunt and Tugendhat were both Remainers and are unlikely to ever win the party membership vote. So expect the Tories to move even further to the right once Boris goes
I see though that at least Brexiters have moved on from sunlit uplands to “the negative effects are small”.
Reminds me of how global warming is no longer denied, and that skeptics have moved on to criticise various carbon reduction policies.
https://twitter.com/murdo_fraser/status/721694551770034176
And more seriously he did want to go back to the old days of the Unionist Party being independent of London. Only to get a knee in the goolies in the leadership election when Ms Davidson won.