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Cummings is earning more now on the outside. His blog subscriptions bring in @£250k/yr.
And that isnt overly important anyway when you look at the family he married into. Only reason they arent counted as part of the London elite is they own half of the north as well as their London homes.
Re his running kit, mufti I think they call it. But yeah, with BJ, it's definitely done for a purpose.
Dominic Cummings says he will "swear under oath" ...
The trouble is, he's an odious liar, too.*
(*IMHO)
He may be a liar… but the whole “this is just remoaners who never really backed Johnson anyway” narrative falls apart whenever he and many key Eurosceptic Tory MPs join in with the stabbing Johnson in the front thing.
Doesn’t Alexander Boris dePfeffel live in the No.11 flat as it’s bigger? If so https://w3w.co/slurs.this.shark seems appropriate.
Re his running kit, mufti I think they call it.
Mufti is non- uniform, used by Army, from the days where officers would be in slippers and dressing gown, when off duty and in Mess and thus, look like an Arab, or Mufti (Islamic Scholar).
The thing is, that it's important to know when to dress properly and when not, which is why you often see these sorts in tweeds for shooting or hunting - where one is expected to dress properly and when one is doing sports that "non-U" would be seen doing, and thus you must dress incorrectly and shabbily and either 1. still win, or 2. have a handy excuse and a subtle dig..."well of course you beat me, you have all the gear"
Read Mitford, she explains it better, but not a lot has changed for these folks. It's why JRM (like Charles) insists on wearing a double breasted for instance
Apparently, according to the Guardian, Cummings final words to Johnson on leaving Downing Street were “I’ve never briefed against you, but when I do you’ll ****ing know about it!”
I think he’s probably got more to come yet. He’s hinted today that he has photos of the Downing Street ‘work gatherings’
Boris must know what he’s got on him. No wonder he’s conveniently gone into hiding
Scary thought:
What if all of these schemes and distractions work?
I think we’re well past that point now
I hope Boris stays in situ and limps on, looking more desperate and discredited by the day. The scales appear to have belatedly fallen from a lot of people’s eyes
By saying his Implicit understanding of the Parties was that they were work events means his Implicit view was understood though not put clearly into words.
"I implicitly thought" can be viewed two ways. The above - "I did not express that thought but others would have understood that was what I thought from all the circumstances" and the reverse "I was not explicitly told what it was, but I formed the view from all the circumstances that it was..."
I had imagined he meant the latter way round, but I can see now that the former might be intended.
Anyhow, Dangerous Dom has now made it clear that it was discussed explicitly. So implicit it wasn't.
The fact that the Big Dog’s only remaining defence is semantics tells you everything you need to know
I'm going to wait until he 'considers the matter closed'. That will be good enough for me, obviously. 🙂
Arguably, showing loyalty to ‘the boss’ is a desirable trait in these career politicians who are unlikely to ever get the top job. It doesn’t matter who the boss is, the next one will understand that they can be loyal puppets. It’s only the few with leadership ambitions that will feel the need to detach themselves from Boris.
Just like working at a corporate.
I'm no good at it, probably why I've been "let go" 6 times - but I am good at been "let go" 🙂
Newsnight interview with andrew bridgen now - noises off and placards behind him; hilarious.
Comedy Gold. But the guy behind seems to be ignoring the message from Bridgen that supports his demonstration. Inconvenient.
Well, yes but as you say...Comedy Gold.
nick ^^^ up there; what's the problem with DB suits?
I love them and couldn't be further removed from charles or the moggster.
It was Steve Bray wasn't it? Max respect
The Peter bone interview after was insane. Complete fiction and delivered in an uncharacteristically upbeat way. Like a cult member
nick ^^^ up there; what’s the problem with DB suits?
I love them and couldn’t be further removed from charles or the moggster.
they're part of thier uniform, dictated by custom and protocol.
it's not a taste or fashion thing
Yes, it was Steve Bray.
As for peter bone - weird interview with very weird individual.
Anyone watch mad nad in parliament today?
Nadine Dorries, culture secretary; contradiction in terms.
What’s the problem with DB suits?
Wearing double-breasted suits is very much like making love to a beautiful woman…
Aah binners, it's what you've always wanted - DB tonik in silver grey; working cuffs, pleated trousers, brace buttons.
Own up.
Thought Johnson was meant to be isolating, not jogging?
Those may be the rules for _normal_ people…
He doesn't have to isolate under the rules, he chose to. He can to out whenever he wants.
Nadine Dorries, culture secretary; contradiction in terms.
Culture here refers to what happens on agar plates.
nick ^^^ up there; what’s the problem with DB suits?
I love them and couldn’t be further removed from charles or the moggster.
Ordinary folk had stopped wearing them by the early 90's, the more smartly dressed of us had moved on to 3 piece 🙂
Wearing a DB now is as others have said, a 'uniform', much like wearing badly fitting ones (on purpose). I use to work for an company where the Partners (Big Six) never wore belts, it was just a part of the 'uniform'. Shabby fold back cuffs on tailored shirts are another 'sign'.
Get some literature in ya heathens ; you have to learn how to wear your clothes.
George Orwell on Belonging to England's Lower Upper Middle Class in the 1920s
George Orwell:George Orwell - The Road to Wigan Pier - Chapter 8:
I was born into what you might describe as the lower-upper-middle class. The upper-middle class... the layer of society lying between L2000 and L300 a year: my own family was not far from the bottom....
Before the war you were either a gentleman or not a gentleman, and if you were a gentleman you struggled to behave as such, whatever your income might be....
People in this class owned no land, but they felt that they were landowners in the sight of God and kept up a semi-aristocratic outlook by going into the professions and the fighting services rather than into trade. Small boys used to count the plum stones on their plates and foretell their destiny by chanting, 'Army, Navy, Church, Medicine, Law'....
To belong to this class when you were at the L400 a year level was a queer business, for it meant that your gentility was almost purely theoretical. You lived, so to speak, at two levels simultaneously. Theoretically you knew all about servants and how to tip them, although in practice you had one, at most, two resident servants. Theoretically you knew how to wear your clothes and how to order a dinner, although in practice you could never afford to go to a decent tailor or a decent restaurant. Theoretically you knew how to shoot and ride, although in practice you had no horses to ride and not an inch of ground to shoot over. It was this that explained the attraction of India (more recently Kenya, Nigeria, etc.) for the lower-upper-middle class. The people who went there as soldiers and officials did not go there to make money...
they went there because in India, with cheap horses, free shooting, and hordes of black servants, it was so easy to play at being a gentleman.
they went there because in India, with cheap horses, free shooting, and hordes of black servants, it was so easy to play at being a gentleman.
And now they drive around in SUV's on PCP...
Aah binners, it’s what you’ve always wanted – DB tonik in silver grey; working cuffs, pleated trousers, brace buttons.
Own up.
Curses! Busters again! 😃
Raabs turn as human shield on this mornings media rounds. He’s being even more evasive than Zahawi yesterday.
Or he’s trying to, at least
The trouble is that he’s not very bright
https://twitter.com/peterstefanovi2/status/1483342171696734208?s=21
So it’s pretty obvious by now that Big Dog is planning to brazen it out, no matter what the report says
No surprises there then?
To be honest this is great, it really shows the greater electorate what a bunch of lying cheating tossers that they are... I don't know why people are in such a rush to replace Boris, because the longer he stays in power the worse it is for the Conservatives come the next election.
JeZ
My sentiments exactly.
The ideal scenario is for him to be challenged for the leadership, win the vote by a whisker after a viscous campaign where they fight like rats in a sack, then he’s ‘safe’ for a year
A fat, impotent lump, universally derided and mistrusted by all but a few, hunkered down in the number ten bunker with no authority to do anything, as the Tory’s vote share heads south and the internal civil war rumbles on
It'd be a year of total chaos, no doubt, but it would be anyway with this shower at the helm and at least we'll likely have a non-Tory government at the end of it
I love them and couldn’t be further removed from charles or the moggster.
Sure, but presumably you're Non-U? So what you wear is irrelevant. That you may get it right, but don't understand why, leads one into jokes about talking dogs.
I heard 'errmm urrr ummmm errr' Raab on R4, it wasn't as bad as that Sky one earlier but he got cornered into admitting that if the PM has lied he'll have to resign.
I could feel his forehead vein bulging on the radio
I know the cabinet must be desperate not to do this interviews but was Raab the best they could do?
https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1483352842480066562?t=AnqdTOLDszQtJMAbUn625Q&s=19
I know the cabinet must be desperate not to do this interviews but was Raab the best they could do?
I think it is definitely a catch 22.
If you are good enough to be able to handle the interview then you are going to be good enough to be busy washing your hair/get the lft test and a red marker pen/deliberately infect yourself with ebola.
The only thing that will remove Johnson from his position for lying to parliament is his conservative MP colleagues. There is no legal or judicial process that can remove him. The body of eccentric tradition that passes for our Constitution is wide open to be ignored by a leader prepared to do it..so long as he has enough folk near him prepared to back him up.
The body of eccentric tradition that passes for our Constitution is wide open to be ignored by a leader prepared to do it..so long as he has enough folk near him prepared to back him up.
And that's the rub. Everyones getting excited about a leadership challenge, but that would merely require 54 letters to the 1922 committee, so only needs 54 disgruntled Tory MP's. Thats the easy bit. Theres a good number of backbenchers who appear to exist in a state of permanent apoplectic anger anyway, no matter whats going on.
But to then actually remove Johnson would require 182(?) Tory MP's to vote against him in that leadership election and transfer their votes to somebody else. That would require a 'unity' candidate to galvanise a vote for someone they think would do a better job. There is absolutely no sign of that.
So far, the Tory MPS who are, according to the press, already apparently mobilising for an upcoming leadership election are:
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Penny Mordaunt
Dominic Raab
Tom Tugendhat
Jeremy Hunt
Sajid Javid
Priti Patel
Michael Gove
Nadhim Zahawi
Does any of that look like 'unity' to you?
Me neither. It'd certainly be entertaining, in a car crash sort of way, watching that horrific lot fight like rats in a sack, all while Boris digs in. I can't imagine its going to be very beneficial for the rest of us.
Once again we'll have to sit impotently at the mercy of a power struggle in the Tory party, then have a PM imposed on us by a few thousand racist pensioners from Surrey. And that PM could well be the one we've already got. Boris clearly knows that, hence the usual Johnsonite approach of brazening it out. I doubt thats going to change.
..and he'll add 'triumphed in a leadership challenge' to the Got Brexit Done, Got Covid Beat delusional entries on his CV
it's funny, Cummings has set the perfect trap for Boris, watching him fall headlong into it the Tory party have dived in after him.
and he’ll add ‘triumphed in a leadership challenge’ to the Got Brexit Done, Got Covid Beat delusional entries on his CV
Much like Trump got off two impeachments and therefore regards himself as innocent / victim of a witch-hunt. If you're going to take someone down, best be sure that they're going to fall. Not just rock back and forth on the pedestal a bit before settling back upright.
So... they've being lying (covering up) about all the traveling between the Downing Street flat and Chequers during lockdowns... 🤷🏻 ...I mean, if they'd been transparent about it all before, people would no doubt be more understanding of their "one rule for us" attitude... it's the cover up that's going to feed into the steady decline of the liar in chief.
Operation Red Meat is starting to look decidedly vegan 🤣
https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1483392255809531908?s=20
Ahh not using the sonic weapons after all then 🙂
Cummings is relentless and, no doubt, a smarter operative than Johnson. There will only be one winner here and my money is on Cummings
Binners - you have not quite understood the way tories elect leader or perhaps expressed it properly
If the 54 letters go in its a "vote of no confidence" and he needs to get more than the 182 mps to back him
If he loses then it goes to a contest whee the tory MPs vote on a successor which is a "devil take the hindmost" vote - so if 6 candidates the one with the lowest vote drops out then they vote again on the 5 and lowest drops out until its down to two - then those two go to a vote of the membership
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=609672880122761
Led By Donkeys nailing it.
I have had a bit of a re-think. I do feel sorry for him existing in the way he does because it can't be much fun. But I feel far more sorry for the millions of people whose lives he has affected and will effect for years to come.
I don't really care about Downing Street staff holding a party the night before DofE's funeral and I expect politicians to lie and be hypocrites but this is getting a bit much now. I had kind of forgotten about Brexit too! It's all we heard at one time and now it's all CV. Not that there's not lots of consequences to come as a result of it of course.
I just wish BJ had never come into existence. I mean, I wish people would think if they are likely to produce decent offspring before they breed. Don't suppose that will ever happen.
Looking forward to all the Downfall memes.
It now appear that the warning to Reynolds was done via email so there is a record - and it is inconceivable that Reynolds did not check with Johnson after the warning and I would very much doubt that Reynolds will lie to Gray especially as he is clearly being set up as the fall guy
and it is inconceivable that Reynolds did not check with Johnson after the warning and I would very much doubt that Reynolds will lie to Gray especially as he is clearly being set up as the fall guy
This brings to mind the phone hacking scandal. The idea that any editor of a national newspaper would publish a sensitive story without first checking where the journalist was getting their information from was always absolutely preposterous. It would simply never, ever happen.
This is exactly the same. Its absolutely laughable that they're even thinking of running with this as a defence
Boris Johnson has "categorically" denied he was warned a drinks party in the No 10 garden risked breaking lockdown rules.
"Nobody warned me that it was against the rules," the prime minister said, adding: "I would have remembered that."
This does feel a bit like the end of decent game of chess. Johnson has been steered right in to a trap. Someone just needs to produce an email and it would be checkmate. The question then is whether or not Johnson sees it like that and quits.
Johnson looked awful in that interview, cant decide if hes deliberately trying to look contrite or just in a complete shambles
https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1483439540056567812
You do wonder whether he's always on the lash when 'at work'. It might be especially hard for him to make the distinction.
it's all gone a bit....
I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people.
“Nobody warned me that it was against the rules,” the prime minister said, adding: “I would have remembered that.”
This does feel a bit like the end of decent game of chess. Johnson has been steered right in to a trap. Someone just needs to produce an email and it would be checkmate. The question then is whether or not Johnson sees it like that and quits.
It seems unlikely that if there's an email/whatsapp chain he's not checked that himself before talking today. So my prediction is that when it does come to the surface it says something like "Borris, Have you seen this proposed gathering in the garden next week? I think you need to consider the optics of that if it gets into the public domain - people making sacrifices and we are celebrating successes, Dom".
Dom warned him. Boris will say, "see nobody said it was against the rules".
The damage is done, its catch 22 now.
The storms on the Horizon are multiple and will arrive in succession
Truss EU negotiating approach
Local elections
NI Brexit Trade problem
Customs checks
US trade deal/steel tariffs
India trade deal free movement
Fishing
Farming subsidy
Cost of living
Pissed off redwall
Ukraine
Taiwan
Putin in general
An EU that does not give a ****
An election not very far away...
No respite this year, better to leave Boris the shit magnet in place?
Get shot now and try and salvage the core vote?
Hobsons choice
I don’t really care about Downing Street staff holding a party the night before DofE’s funeral and I expect politicians to lie and be hypocrites but this is getting a bit much now
And that's our part of the problem. We've become do immune to this crap in the last 20-30 years - and I'm not solely referring to the Tories here - that we've let our standards drop.
We should expect better to deserve better (at a societal level, before you all point out that you didn't vote for him)
“Nobody warned me that it was against the rules,” the prime minister said, adding: “I would have remembered that.”
On the one hand, he shouldn't need warning - he was the one standing there reading out all the restrictions on TV so the idea that he didn't know or that "work events" were somehow exempt should be bollocks
Having said that... I can actually believe that he paid so little attention to any of the details and/or believed that the rules shouldn't apply to him anyway that he just did what he wanted. There is of course the argument that everyone else should have refused / warned him etc but if the culture in No.10 is that of a toxic bullying workplace (or, equally likely, a bunch of chancers who also believe they're above the law), who's going to stand up and tell him he's wrong?
It now appear that the warning to Reynolds was done via email so there is a record
Is there a link to that? I didnt see it in a quick scan of news updates just now
I don’t really care about Downing Street staff holding a party the night before DofE’s funeral
I do. I had to stand in the road outside my friend's house for his funeral. Socially distancing from all but Mrs TiRed as his body was driven away. I don't expect better, just the same.
It seems unlikely that if there’s an email/whatsapp chain he’s not checked that himself before talking today.
I think it's highly likely he hasn't checked the emails. Given everything we know about him and the anecdotal descriptions of him from the likes of Cummings, he is notorious for not being bothered about process or detail. It's pretty obvious what's happened, he will have arrogantly brushed aside any concerns about the parties because he wanted to be seen as the good-time guy and in the process handed all the ammunition they need to people like Cummings who can use it later if/when the need arises.
In that interview he says "I take full responsibility". Be interesting to see that one squared with him getting his staff to resign.
re
But to then actually remove Johnson would require 182(?) Tory MP’s to vote against him in that leadership election and transfer their votes to somebody else. That would require a ‘unity’ candidate to galvanise a vote for someone they think would do a better job. There is absolutely no sign of that.
If Johnston loses the no confidence vote he is not allowed to stand in the subsequent leadership election, but if he wins another vote is not allowed for 12 months.
I expect politicians to lie and be hypocrites but this is getting a bit much now.
Usually said by right-wing voters when it finally dawns on them that they've been voting against their own (and other ordinary folks) interest.
Ferrals - only indierctly but Peston has seen it and has a copy apparantly
Peston, who like Cummings has not named the second official, says:
<div class="quoted__contents">
[Gray] has also told the sender of the dynamite email she would like to speak with him but has not yet. When she does, he will both point her to the email and he will tell her that Reynolds immediately came to his office after receipt of the email and asked him why the party should be cancelled.
Reynolds was told by the email sender – ‘in the nicest possible way’ – that the party was a kind sentiment but it should be cancelled because it broke the rules. Reynolds allegedly said he feared it could be more embarrassing to cancel.
from the guardian and confirmed on twitter
</div>
If Johnston loses the no confidence vote he is not allowed to stand in the subsequent leadership election, but if he wins another vote is not allowed for 12 months.
^^^^ This is key. The rules are written to help the party move on fast once MPs have rejected their leader (take note Labour).
Johnson always has the nuclear option of resigning as leader (not PM) and then standing in the subsequent leadership election. A "put up or shut up" game of hardball. He could still come out as the winner in that, if he can be ahead when it comes to the final two (the parliamentary party wouldn't allow that to then continue to a membership vote). I can see him doing that if he thinks it'll stop some of the main potential candidates (those wanting to stay in the cabinet) from running, and he can come out on top, and he can keep his title for a few more years. That would be the ideal scenario for Labour, the LibDems... and perhaps even the Green Party, in preparing for elections. 🤞🏻
Surely he must be tempted to resign, just to avoid the shit show coming down the line. Inflation, fuel costs, continued Brexit costs, disruption and negotiations.
Why not sail off into the sunset, telling himself he got Brexit done, write a newspaper column and enjoy drinking himself into oblivion.
For him to resign means admitting to himself he did something wrong. He is psychologically incapable of believing he has done anything wrong IMO
Once he does that his whole facade crumbles and his self worth / self image is gone
But he must also know the game is up. Its obiously torture for him - good 🙂
Be interesting to see that one squared with him getting his staff to resign.
"Some of you will lose your jobs. But that's a sacrifice I am willing to take"
Why not sail off into the sunset, telling himself he got Brexit done, write a newspaper column and enjoy drinking himself into oblivion
Because of his clearly documented, Trump-esque personality flaws.
Boris must win. He's so insecure and inadequate (just like Trump) that they simply can't deal with the idea of their perceived enemies getting a 'victory' over them
It's tragic really. For him and us
“Some of you will lose your jobs. But that’s a sacrifice I am willing to take”
Boris shares so many traits with David Brent
thanks @tjagain - based on that I found the article by Peston in the Spectator.
I've a feeling with all this going around, the Gray report may not be as toothless as expected.
How the "nobody told me" defence can play well with anyone I don't know. So now anyone can break the rules and just say "nobody told me" and it's fine? Anybody can break the law and just say "nobody told me" and it's fine? Even the people that made the rules, that make the law, that stand on a stage in front of 43 union jacks and tell everyone what the rules are.
At this point, thinking that's an acceptable excuse must be pretty close to a mental illness.
That Sky News video was stunning really, not just because I think it's the first time we've seen him in a week, and talking about it and not just because the Interviewer was so wonderfully Brutal, I know Sky news is left-wing these days, but She didn't hold back at all, but mostly because just how broken Johnson looks. He's not coming back from this, yeah 'Downfall' the film that spawned a million memes, but that's exactly what it looks like, a broken Man, who just isn't quiet ready to accept he's lost yet.
Labour must be praying hard now that they keep him on as PM, if they head into a GE with Johnson in charge Labour will brutalise him with this, and more than just bad press, I think it will have a meaningful affect on him personally, every time it comes up, he'll feel crushed again.
the Gray report may not be as toothless as expected
The Gray report will result in civil servants being given new jobs. No one expects any more direct actions from it (because it is the PM who decides on those actions). It just buys time for the PM to try and butter up enough of his MPs. The Mail will go full in with the ... "culprits have been sacked" line (they won't be jobless, and won't include Johnson), but it honestly feels like the rest of the press might push on with bouncing Johnson of the ropes a few more times. Will he hit the floor...? Who knows, but it's going to be another knackering experience for a guy who really doesn't seem up to it... the fake boosterism isn't going to wash any more after all this... and the "cake tomorrow" promises will get less and less effective the longer he is in office anyway.
Gray can only report on what she finds - facts. She does not make recommendations
So she will be able to say Reynolds was warned by email and in person. If Reynolds tells her that he checked with Johnson she can also say that. But she cannot make recommendations or draw inferences from the facts - thats my understanding. It could come to Reynolds say he checked with Johnson, Johnson denies this.