What’s truly incredible is that that display was obviously little Matty’s idea of redemption and what he sees as the resurrection of his career.
I mean, how detached from reality can one person get?
I’m sure that in Tory Central they were just saying “please stop talking”
Can’t wait to see him getting a grilling when the public inquiry starts. I’m sure there are going to many many twitchy bums regarding that upcoming performance
Not the performance the Tories would’ve wanted on the eve of a byelection?
Who else could they get to go on and make fools of themselves though?
The honest ones really wouldnt want to go out and defend this behaviour so you end up with just those who think its fine.
Meanwhile; Liz does her best cosplay ‘look at me, I’m just like Maggie, honest!’ thing in preparation for her leadership bid
Dear god! Spare us this! Apparently its to ‘send a message’ to Putin. It’s just embarrassing
What is Frosty/ Boris to do?
Be all shouty in public, bang the drum, wave the flag then quietly accept a compromise that still damages the UK, but not quite as much as a total rift whilst sounding off about 'devious foreigners punishing the UK for Brexit'.
It's worked like a charm every time so far, why would they do any different now?
The Express are backing Sunak, they ran with "Rishi I'm a low tax Tory" front page 2 days ago.
Whoever it is, it looks like the knives are most definitely out for Boris. No doubt he’ll be despatched with the customary ruthlessness when the time is right
I’m sure they’re just waiting for him to be forced into ‘cancelling Christmas’ and other inevitable stuff that will have the Desmond Swaynes foaming at the mouth,
before moving against him some time in the new year
Re the Jess Phillips interview above.
I have an acquaintance that works for Arco in a reasonably senior sales role. He unequivocally told me that Arco (as an established provider of PPE) called the 'number' for the government, but found themselves being messed about and ultimately frozen out of discussions. He also told me that (I don't know how they found out) a mysterious new supplier that no one at Arco had ever heard of was in pole position to get the contract for that PPE and that they had insisted on exclusivity as a prerequisite.
Now I understand that normal procurement rules probably had to be suspended in the rush, but that kind of rigging and influence smacks of corruption, plain and simple. My acquaintance hinted that the mysterious new startup with the plum contract was someone with connections to ministers.
They weren’t even jumping in on a free for all - they were actively trying to rig the market to compete against pukka suppliers of PPE.
It stinks to high heaven, but the voters the New Tories appeal to won't care.
Private Eye has an article about this in the "Profits of Doom" article I am reading at the moment.
I've said this before, but the thing about the PPE scandal isn't even the money. I mean, the money's a massive deal and should be enough to bring down governments. But even that is pretty trivial because while they were stealing money from everyone in the country they were also failing to provide PPE to people who needed it.
I wonder what the total death toll is. From the opportunity costs of not having that money to spend on services etc, and from the direct effect of people in frontline roles not having the PPE they needed.
Absolutely. And from the reaction of Matt Hancock on Peston last night - and I’d say his attitude is no different to the rest of them - he genuinely couldn’t give a flying ****!
When that point was put to him, he may as well have shrugged and said ‘meh’.
The collective mindset of this lot is sociopathic, bordering on psychopathic.
There was an interview of a woman in the Old Bexley & Sidcup by-election who yesterday said that despite knowing that Johnson is a clown she's still going to vote Tory because "Better the devil you know"
I somehow doubt that even given the contract rigging that clearly Matt and his mate from the pub very obviously did to hide from scrutiny, folks just really don't care enough about it to change their vote
It stinks to high heaven, but the voters the New Tories appeal to won’t care.
That's because they'd act the same way if they were in a position of power/influence.
That’s because they’d act the same way if they were in a position of power/influence.
So much this.
"Cash in hand here, cut corners there, bish bash bosh, look at all that dosh."
Apparently its to ‘send a message’ to Putin.
It does. It says "we so want to be like you, but we're even shit at trying to imitate a tinpot dictator".
He will barely bother to laugh, he's won. He won on June 23rd 2016.
Sunaktion man
https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1466745796699860992?t=5ZyJLMiTg2xa4BiZvQbBSA&s=19
Why was the Chancellor visiting Catterick in the first place? No issue with it, just wondering.
Because leadership rival Liz had her photo taken in a tank.
So he needs to show he’s all rufty tufty too and that he’ll buy lots of the shooty, bangy things with Union jacks on them, that Tory voters all love
I think Liz Truss would make a good primary school teacher. She looks quite nice. I'd be happy for her to show my kids how to make circles and squares out of playdoh
WAIT A MINUTE, SHE'S THE FOREIGN SECRETARY!!!
SHITTING HELL!!!!
Why was the Chancellor visiting Catterick in the first place? No issue with it, just wondering.
Because he is a local MP who has a long association with the Gurkhas at Catterick which predate him becoming Chancellor.
As a Hindu Sunka has worshipped at the Gurkha temple there :
Upvote for Doris5000
Just wait 'till Truss is Prime Minister. That'll be even more of a "is the universe just shitting with us now" moment.
Look, I had a conversation with my missus in about 2015 about the possible cosmic joke of having Trump and Boris running things at the same time. If we get a Truss/Trump combo in 2024, that has to be definitive proof of a higher being with a creative sense of humour.
intheborders
Free MemberThat’s because they’d act the same way if they were in a position of power/influence.
Yeah, thing is, I'm not sure how I'd act if I was in a position of power- I like to think I'm a pretty moral, fairminded person but then I've never been in a position to steal billions of pounds with no consequences and give it to my mates.
This is just one of the reasons I'm definitely not a good choice for bloody Prime Minister. I don't want someone who's probably just like me, I want someone that's better than me, same as when I get a decorator in, I want them to be better at painting than I am. It just seems like the only bloody thing that makes any sense.
I assumed Sunak just wanted a photo op with the shortest regiment possible
I assumed Sunak just wanted a photo op with the shortest regiment possible
Why, is Sunak known to have issues about his height? He seems reasonably tall to me for someone with South Asian heritage.
Are we taking bets on tomorrow’s photo op being Boris in a fighter jet then? Priti Patel with a rocket launcher? The Saj in a helicopter gunship?
I'm no fan of Sunak and detest the tories but have to back Ernie up with this one, Catterick is in his constituency so it's no great surprise that he rocks up there for passing our parades etc.
Are we taking bets on tomorrow’s photo op being Boris in a fighter jet then? Priti Patel with a rocket launcher? The Saj in a helicopter gunship?
Yeah Tory voters love all that, although Sunak got a head start a few years ago.
Why, is Sunak known to have issues about his height? He seems reasonably tall to me for someone with South Asian heritage.
Didn't he hire a photographer to make him look taller?
Didn’t he hire a photographer to make him look taller?
I don't know. I can't say I have ever heard any talk about his height.
Edit : Your photo does indeed emphasis how short South Asian people can be when compared to white British, so perhaps he is self-conscious about his height as you suggest.
Are we taking bets on tomorrow’s photo op being Boris in a fighter jet then?
Cant see fatboy fitting into a fighter cockpit
No I can't either but more importantly I can't see a leadership challenge at the present time, especially after a rather satisfactory result in the by-election yesterday and the latest two opinion polls giving the Tories a lead.
So I suspect that posing on military hardware will have to be deferred to another day.
Are we taking bets on tomorrow’s photo op being Boris in a fighter jet then? Priti Patel with a rocket launcher? The Saj in a helicopter gunship?
Are we totally sure Boris wasn't trying out an F35 recently for a photo op?
He has history with fly by wire systems after all.
It reminds me of peak Ruth Davidson, before the westminster party decided to destroy her. But she did it well, Truss looks like the victim of a prank. "It'll be great Liz, we'll put you in a tank, everyone'll love it"
Yeah Tory voters love all that.
I give you Ruth "tank commander*" Davidson although she at lest did join the territorials so had some excuse but she didn't half enjoy a photo op with the military and more than pushed her luck with when and where she could get into uniform!
*A reference to a Scottish TV character - I just realised many of you will not get it
rather satisfactory result
Ernie is much better at this political fluffing than Allegra Stratton was ever going to be. There has to be an opening for him in Johnson’s team.
I am beginning to think Ernie is no lefty at all with his obvious admiration for and strong defense of the tories. Weird
Not all Tories, just the "new" ones running the country right now... (leopards/spots).
There has to be an opening for him in Johnson’s team.
Not losing a safe Tory seat in a by-election, as the Tories did a few months ago, is clearly a satisfactory result for Johnson, losing it might have put his position more in doubt.
Although I do accept Kelvin that in your self-appointed role of policing political threads to ensure that only completely negative comments are ever made about Tories you would much rather yesterday's by-election was described as a total disaster for the Tories. Despite the fact that it clearly wasn't.
You are only interested in pitchfork politics, anything that deviates from that is completely unacceptable to you.
So consequenctly you have to repeatedly make puerile suggestions that I am a Tory in the vague hope that I will only post things which cast Tories in one hundred percent negative light.
My comment about Sunak undoubtedly pissed you off because I should be attacking rather than providing a logical explanation as to why he attended the Gurkhas passing out parade.
You are only interested in pitchfork politics
I’m interested in lots of things. Including why you always jump in to defend Johnson, and talk him up so much. It’s a fascinating trend.
Actually Johnson already in Shropshire campaigning at a chemist today
Owen Patersons seat obviously much more of a worry for the Tories
https://twitter.com/LongsightedOwl/status/1466817649032237056?t=Z4F9cVz3QUp56aiUZAadTQ&s=19
Cheers for the info @ernielynch
I did have a bit of cynicism due to the Lizz Truss picture and the timing of this one but as there is more to it, fair enough.
why you always jump in to defend Johnson, and talk him up so much. It’s a fascinating trend.
I genuinely don't intend to be rude, but I can't think of any other way of saying this..... it's like having a discussion with a child.
I suggest that yesterday's by-election result was satisfactory for Johnson and you instantly interpret that as 'defending' Johnson, and 'talking him up'.
This is what the Friday Briefing in today's Guardian said, quote :
"The result will help calm jitters within the party about Boris Johnson’s leadership."
So are going to also accuse the Guardian of being Tory because they didn't describe it as a disaster?
Frankly I couldn't give a toss if you think I'm a Tory, but ffs grow up.
