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Why not sail off into the sunset, telling himself he got Brexit done, write a newspaper column and enjoy drinking himself into oblivion
Because he is grifting. He is busy ensuring that both he, and his mates, profit from billions of pounds of procurement being awarded outside of all correct process. The longer he stays in power, the more money they all make.
I know Sky news is left-wing these days
Its really not you know. Its just not as cowed as BBC news
So now anyone can break the rules and just say “nobody told me” and it’s fine?
No, the correct defence is now "in a limited and specific way". This has parliamentary precedent.
Ive said it before but I still think his last option is to 'trigger' a VONC and win, thereby giving him another year. If he can get whats left of his loyal backbenches to get their letters in to the 1922, I am pretty confident he'd win the ensuing vote. It's a very narrow path out of the mess he's created, its not without risk but it would buy him 12 months.
Obviously it's underhand but it doesn't seem to be outhwith the rules.
i'd be really surprised if he actually resigns and goes on his own volition. He's not the resigning type, more a roll the dice kind of guy.
All things being equal, inflation will finish him one way or another.
Lol binners, I read this
“Some of you will lose your jobs. But that’s a sacrifice I am willing to take”
and before scrolling any further went off to find this
You're not going to lose your job, you're not going to lose your job, you know...you're not going to lose your job...
but you got there before me!
Because he is grifting. He is busy ensuring that both he, and his mates, profit from billions of pounds of procurement being awarded outside of all correct process. The longer he stays in power, the more money they all make.
I do worry that there are certain behind-the-scenes elements absolutely making the most of this - quick, the spotlight is off us, lets run through a few more multi-million pound contracts, grant/receive a few quick favours, do some more decorating, pass another draconian law...
He is psychologically incapable of believing he has done anything wrong IMO
I think he knows full well when he done wrong. I think it's that he feels he shouldn't have to bear the consequences like normal people
Labour must be praying hard now that they keep him on as PM
I doubt it. Whilst on the surface it may look like it's in labour's interests for him to stay, deposing a PM who only a couple of years ago had >50% poll ratings would be a massive victory. It will not only give Starmer a huge boost in his party and in the country, but it also destroys the aura of invincibility the tories have enjoyed under Johnson. The bubble will have burst and whoever his successor is will struggle to build the same level of unquestioning support in the media and public which Johnson had. If Johnson goes, the tories are f*****.
Northwind
Full MemberHow 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.
Couldn't agree more.
Ignorance or feigned ignorance will not get you off the hook in any walk of life, except maybe playgroup.
I know Sky news is left-wing these days
I can see how their endless calling for the proletariat to seize the means of production would lead someone to come to that conclusion 🙂
Calling a right wing government to account doesn't make them left wing, it just makes them journalists.
Marina Hyde continues to be the chronicler of our golden political age
How will the great wrecker Boris Johnson break himself out of this bind?
Johnson’s allies have reportedly gone with Operation Save Big Dog, a name that just underscores the impression of No 10 as a stag do gone badly wrong. You know the plot: some inadequate guys mount a desperate rearguard action to escape the problem of a dead stripper/missing groom/pub crawl that has somehow made them the target of Armenian gangsters.
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.
Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I think if that gets put in the report, Johnsons position will be untenable, even if he denies it. At some point its going to be one lie too many
Years ago we had a new manager at work who pretty quickly established himself as the type of person that treated rules as advisory. He was initially pretty popular, mistakes were forgiven, here for a good time, not a long time etc. etc. He seemed perpetually cheerful, although getting him to actually make any kind of decision was painful. We actually started calling him 'Brent'
The problem was, the industry I worked in was pretty heavily regulated and inevitably one of the Directors visited after 11 months and two weeks, calling him in for a meeting. He emerged after 15 minutes, visibly broken and started emptying his desk drawers. He simply could not grasp how this situation had occurred, his shock was palpable. I suppose he'd been blagging his way though life for years.
I've thought a lot about him over the last week or so.
Johnsons position will be untenable
It's already untenable. As with all compulsive liars they dig themselves a hole that they can't escape and then it collapses in on them. Johnson is only one more lie being exposed from that happening. He's finished and he knows it.
From her terms of reference
The primary purpose will be to establish swiftly a general understanding of the nature of the gatherings, including attendance, the setting and the purpose, with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time.
That last bit I take to mean that Gray must try to cast her findings in terms of the requirements of the guidelines, ie specifically finding out how far apart people were, whether they were from the same household etc. Thus even if she doesn't actually say whether they were complied with, it should be obvious from the findings whether they were or not.
But she cannot make recommendations or draw inferences from the facts
Nothing in the terms of reference says she cannot find facts by inferring them from other facts.
you cannot infer a fact. If its inferred its an inference 🙂
https://twitter.com/GhanaMFA/status/1483467010612903937?s=20
Particularly good is the perhaps unintentional switch of red to dead in the operation name.
Variosu twitter muttering that the required number of letters is nearly there, and that some are waiting for PMQs - will he duck it and have a "positive lft" or other excuse?
That Ghana letter is brilliant - is it genuine?
I reckon if you used the pictures of BJ in his different work outfits you’d have a mental happy families deck.
Or perhaps they could reboot mr Ben as Mr Johnson, gotta be a fair few episodes there.
And that tie thing of tucking it in your shirt, like a 6th former, what’s that all about.
you cannot infer a fact. If its inferred its an inference 🙂
I think we are using the language differently. For me an inference is a particular type of process (of logic or whatever goes on in our brains) which leads us to conclude that an alleged or proposed fact is true. The thing is still a fact (or not, if you take the view that only true things can be facts). There are any number of ways we can go about finding what it true, different shades of evidence we can draw on. Inferring them is one way. In legal speak it means where there is no first-hand evidence of the fact, no witness who saw it with their own eyes sort of thing. So some important facts, such as the fact that human CO2 emissions have contributed to global warming, can only be found by inference. But they are still facts.
What is his exit strategy?
I reckon he will have a "heart attack" brought on by the nasty press hounding him. He will step down for his health and to spend time with various young ladies ,sorry his family.
That way it's someone else's fault and he can be a hero.
I don;t think he has one and I don't think he will resign. He will have to be sacked and will slink away hiding lying down in a car
https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1483400025581531136?t=aeHbeUZDX7_2uG_oWjK0Hg&s=19
7 minutes but worth a listen.
That Ghana letter is brilliant – is it genuine?
Looks to be an official account from what I know of twitter.
Since it mentions that its already been tried once before I reckon the "dead meat" is one of those "oops how did we make that mistake" two fingers.
7 minutes but worth a listen.
Worth a listen just for the way he says Dominic Raab. 😂
Presumably Labour calling a VONC now will force Tories to back Johnson and so wallow in his cesspool or dissolve house for a GE, which many won't want so it will make 1922 shenanigans to replace Tory party leader look more ridiculous.
singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/boris-johnson-2/page/203/#post-12198845
Nice!
Sooner rather than later now, it seems
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1483544039555321864?t=pTWT46EoMXbxSqt1ilRGow&s=19
I do hope he clings on just to drag the Tories even lower
7 minutes but worth a listen.
That really is an excellent summary.
Even if its not happening, Johnson will be worried tonight
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1483550603997597702?t=Mx8h19SdtHLKsYFYFmtdBQ&s=19
What is his exit strategy?
I'm anticipating a rally of his supporters in Trafalgar Square followed by a "peaceful" march on Parliament to "Make Boris Great Again"
hopefully Nick Watt on Newsnight will have some sweary quotes from unnamed MPs.
And almost certainly the word 'febrile' will be used
So what's the deal with PMQs tomorrow if Johnson is already facing a leadership challenge?
Will he even show up, Would it be Raab?
I too hppe that Ghana press release is for real, it wouldn't surprise me. Last year the UK re-routed the flight from Accra from Heathrow to Gatwick (which is less prestigious).
So Ghana immediately responded by re-routing their end from Accra to the middle of nowhere over 100 miles from the capitol.
Funnily enough, the flight was moved back to Heathrow immediately.
If he loses the leadership, he’ll resign his seat too, won’t he?
he’ll resign his seat too, won’t he?
Johnson the Wilderness Years ?
If he loses the leadership, he’ll resign his seat too, won’t he?
Why would he? He can still collect his huge salary, take bribes - I mean take side jobs, and grift away. NO restictions on what a back bench MP does on the side adn no need for him ever to attend the house.
No incentive for him to resign his seat. He is skint and needs every penny
I'm reading that new web site as "In Liz Wet Truss."
Yuk.
Wet her spoons.
The hits just keep cumming
https://twitter.com/steven_Swinford/status/1483567333474017281?t=0kSJyeZkVI3F9mAU-ajs0g&s=19
He can still collect his huge salary, take bribes – I mean take side jobs, and grift away.
TBH, what sane business would use Alexander to promote, well, anything?
Its the paybacks for the favours done - they have to follow thru or else future PMs and ministers will not do their bidding in return for money once they leave cabinet office
He will be on the board of companies or paid huge sums for non jobs - thats his payback for doing their bidding
He won't actually have to do anything for this payoff
So - Truss for PM? certainly the members choice.
TBH, what sane business would use Alexander to promote, well, anything?
telegraph would likely lob money at him as a columnist (barclays family feud not withstanding) and then plenty of money from giving after dinner speeches.
So – Truss for PM? certainly the members choice.
Unless the MPs stop her getting through. That said though I think it would depend on how the campaigns go. I think like most people I am baffled by how highly she is rated so who knows what would happen once the papers get started on her.
I dont think there is anything comparing how the ranking prior to the leadership converts into actual votes.
Truss would be entertaining for sure and I'd sooner her than Sunak if we are ever to get rid of this lot.
She would also be a fitting successor if the great Pork Pie Plot succeeds.😉
TBH, what sane business would use Alexander to promote, well, anything?
You could equally have said exactly that about Dave too, but he’s trousered millions from his out and out corruption with all his old chums in Westminster lobbying activities on behalf of corporate clients
then plenty of money from giving after dinner speeches.
He would be too pissed before dinner was finished to say anything coherent or intelligible and that would be before a round of pass the port.
I can't keep up with The Mail! One minute it's against him and he must go... now its poor little Boris being plotted against by those pesky pork pie eating red wall Tories.
I'm finding the Red Wall Tories being blamed rather fantastic to be honest.😁
He would be too pissed before dinner was finished to say anything coherent or intelligible and that would be before a round of pass the port.
That's been the way he's always operated in public speaking. Never stopped him getting lucrative hugs before. It's all an act.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-boris-johnson-story
If Cummings' Kompromat does for Boris with his former allies and ministers queuing up for a go with the dagger, any chance when he goes he'll retaliate (from behind a newspaper column for example) against everyone else that was complicit in these parties, PPE and so on, that he has dirt on?
I know the tories have always had a vindictive streak, but this is the first time in my memory that they've been able to attack on so many media fronts, in the time of Thatcher and Major there weren't the same options. And I know it would damage the tories massively but Boris has never been in it for them, only Boris.
Just want to know how much popcorn to order in.
I’m finding the Red Wall Tories being blamed rather fantastic to be honest.😁
Well when you’ve spent two years telling them that they owe their jobs to your supposed genius, then that cuts both ways.
They may have won these seats, but not by much. My own new Tory MP has a majority of just 100 votes. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see that off.
Like a lot of jobs when things get tough, they’re looking at the old adage ‘last in, first out’
How do we think PMQs will go, today?
I'm aware that it's all a bit of a pantomime, but last week was very satisfying/entertaining to watch - is today likely to be similar, or is Alexander just a busted flush now...?
Perhaps the reason the red wallers are behind the coup is that the whips haven't accumulated enough dirt on the 2019 intake yet.
They may have won these seats, but not by much. My own new Tory MP has a majority of just 100 votes. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see that off.
Same here @binners - our Tory MP has a majority of 590, which given the previous majorities up in the 4 or 5 thousands is absolutely nothing. The constituency has lost out a fair bit in the "levelling up" promises too so the current incumbent must be on very thin ice!
I know Sky news is left-wing these days
Seems P-Jay still hasn't worked out what is going in the UK, probably also thinks Brexit is done and the Tories are competent with the economy...
How do we think PMQs will go, today?
Johnson will still be "isolating" or the dog ate his homework or some other excuse not to attend is my bet
The isolating excuse won't wash TJ, he was bumbling about hospital/vacc centres yesterday looking contrite and humble
Get BERKXIT done
If Starmer doesn't nail him to the wall over "I didn't know!"gate with the label 'Captain Hindsight' at every possible opportunity, I'll be gutted.
How many times do we think Johnson will say "playing politics" today?
I know Sky news is left-wing these days
Seems P-Jay still hasn’t worked out what is going in the UK, probably also thinks Brexit is done and the Tories are competent with the economy…
Come at me Bro!
myopic - he will be desperately fumbling for an excuse. It doesn't have to be plausible. i would put the chances of him appearing at less than 50/50
Mleh PMQ is a minor distraction. Nobody outside of political nerds pay any real attention to it. Starmer can say what he wants, it'll be forgotten tomorrow.
Johnson will wait it out until the report, depending on how that looks he'll either tough it out or be hung out to dry by his party. This musical chairs will carry on until then.
If he loses the leadership, he’ll resign his seat too, won’t he?
Perhaps its all part of the plan to emulate ‘his hero’ he’ll be back as a Labour MP
TBH, what sane business would use Alexander to promote, well, anything?
Good Will ambassador for the Daily Mail/Express? (Ok I know that is an oxymoron but oxymoron is what he does best)
myopic – he will be desperately fumbling for an excuse.
He will turn up. If anyone is having a "work meeting" and wants to get truly hammered go for a drinking game using "wait for report", "Sue Grey" as the key to drink.
Actually on reflection only if you are drinking low alcohol beer since otherwise you would be comatose about 2 minutes in.
Probably the only interesting thing for PMQ though will be looking at the tory benches. If they are half empty or even just quiet then it wont be looking good for him.
He will turn up
On reflection, I agree. I think if he doesnt turn up the media reporting will be much much worse than if he just fumbles through.
Also expect lengthy babbling sycophantic Qs from those MPs deluded enough to back him
TBH, what sane business would use Alexander to promote, well, anything?
You know the Telegraph used to pay him £250,000 just to write a column?
well i can only describe my household as having a 'carnival type atmosphere' waiting for PMQs.
a level of anticipation similar to FA cup final day, but in the eighties when it was good and we could watch the players leave the hotel for wembley and check out their suits for the pitch inspection.
I can recommend watching PMQs with LBC's James O Brien on the audio as he does a snarky commentary as it happens
Mleh PMQ is a minor distraction.
Normally I'd agree that PMQs is a sideshow but in this case it's a lot more than that. Combined with disastrous media appearances like that sky interview yesterday, PMQs is the one place where Johnson can't hide, and the voters can see his dishonesty and incompetence very clearly in one 30 second soundbite. If it wasn't for his pathetic performances at PMQs and media interviews none of this would be happening.
Its not about using Johnson to promote anything. Its about the payment for services rendered. they will do it because if not how will they be able to buy the next intake?
How many times do we think Johnson will say “playing politics” today?
I detest that accusation when it's levelled. Amongst a great deal of other things I destest about Johnson and the tory party it has to be said.
Don't understand though why Starmer doesn't come back with 'Of course I'm playing politics you idiot, this is the highest level of politics in the country!' Sometimes there's nothing so disarming as being agreed with.
Its the media interviews which have done the majority of the damage. He can ride out PMQs by just sticking to his prewritten script "independent", "wait for inquiry","Sue Grey", "Vaccines", "boosters". Starmer only gets a few questions and unless the speaker actually starts doing his job and insists he answers then he should get through it.
Its when he tried to improvise like yesterday it all went pearshaped.
IMO, Johnson's only hope now is to pray for war in the Ukraine- a new crisis that will make it too difficult to switch horses mid stream.
I did think that the Tories might try and hold off until conference or something, but I think that it's far too late for that, even if the downward poll trajectory flattens off the government has lost all credibility, and there's no wins at all available to them to recover public support, let alone belief in the government.
Last week we had questions about washing machines and such like, I'm looking forward to the deflection questions before Blackford gets his chance to jump in.
Sometimes bozo struggles with the questions he's expecting as much as he does with the hits from opposition which just exemplifies his uselessness
Well, if some of his backers are truly being steered by the Kremlin, that may actually come to fruition.
The one universal truth is that, for a man with such a disastrous record in crisis management (and with such an incompetent cabinet), is he really who we want leading the country in the face of a conflict with a superpower? (I know the answer, it's rhetorical)