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I'm with frankconway on this. I'm pretty sure that if either the ST or Channel 4 had been banned then they would have revealed it.
Was just about to post that eskay, the last time it only turned out to be an accident after the other journos threatened to walk out
Also Radio 4 today programmed Cummings has banned ministers from attending for asking tough questions
It's a creeping Orbanisation and it's really worrying , well it ought to be (genuine q. does it worry you @frankconway ?)
But Boris is a lad & he's 'getting Brexit done' so it's all fine
https://twitter.com/SimonBrodkin/status/1250089798024511493?s=09
Are you a journo with some inside information?
No, far from it, just another idiot relying on the journalists… direct your ire at the political editor for the Observer (Toby Helm).
kimbers - I would be very concerned if bona fide journos were banned from news briefings/pressers.
My point was that the New European article contained comments about the ST which had been neither confirmed nor denied by the ST; to me, that means the comments were unsubstantiated.
If the ST or gov have now confirmed, that would be of great concern.
I'm aware the gov has previous but would hope they would have learned from that botched performance; they need as much positive coverage as they can get.
Hope that's clear.
I posted something very similar to this on the Trump thread a couple of days ago. It was an observation of how this government is starting to attack our press more and more when they are criticised (very similar to Trumps administration).
It looks like we are heading a similar way, BBC news reporting on a story and quoting No 10 spokesman attacking the press presumably because they don’t like the criticism directed towards the government.
“He added: “‘Public confidence in the media has collapsed during this emergency partly because of ludicrous stories such as this.””
I think public confidence in the news is higher than public confidence in our politicians!
I’m aware the gov has previous but would hope they would have learned from that botched performance;
is the Today boycott still ongoing though?
The broad issue here, really, is trust.
In times gone by I would have erred on the side of not fully 'believing' the journalist until it has been officially confirmed via a separate source or the government themselves. A sort of GCSE history idealism, looking for corroboration and always assuming the government would behave with more moral rectitude than the journalists.
Well, sorry, but not any more. Not a chance. MPs expenses, Iraq, Hillsborough, Grenfell to name but a few but most of all (of course) Brexit.
is the Today boycott still ongoing though?
No. Jeremy Hunt was appearing on the programme on a near daily basis and making it clear what ministers should be doing, and how they could be communicating… the government then had little choice but to put ministers forward in response.
5ft 9 16st
BMI
Your result suggests you are
obese
33.1
I think he was too hungry to attend SAGE meetings. If you can't look after yourself.....
From Kelvin's link above:
The fact that the Tory administration felt emboldened enough to institute this blackout on such an influential news programme says a lot about its disdain for the proprieties of the democratic process, and borrows much from the Donald Trump playbook. That those who govern us have largely succeeded in discrediting and marginalising those who seek merely to hold them to account is one of the most perverted and distressing aspects of our current political settlement.
really? I think they (the government) concluded the general public (at the time) couldn't careless give a shit about accountability, they just elected, with a whopping majority, a party where their leader hid in a fridge rather than answer questions.
the country gets the government it deserves
hid in a fridge
QED
I can't see the governments previous with this as a botched performance or something they should have learned from. They don't care, they got exactly what they wanted. The strategy is attack the press, they see no downside.
The only thing separating Boris's administration with Trumps is the coarseness of the language. Not only does Boris want to remove us from Europe, he wants to remove us from our own democratic norms. With an opposition as weak as it is Boris has chosen to attack democracy itself.
Remember that he 'forgot' to install a deputy prime minister, he seeks to undermine the remits of his own cabinet offices. Like Trump, he is 'The Man Who Would Be King'. Lets hope it all ends like the film. Peachy (Michael Caine) can narrate it.
The only thing separating Boris’s administration with Trumps is the coarseness of the language.
Not sure Trump is the right yardstick in our current situation. In the US the media actually asks awkward questions of Trump, while we get this..
https://twitter.com/sturdyAlex/status/1255010891009085440?s=20
There's a lot of 'political blogs' doing the rounds on things like LinkedIn.
One of my fb friends from school days posted one by someone calling themselves Effie Deans. Cue lots of rage from the 'patriotic hard working upper middle class' types. "Bloody journalists" and "We wouldn't have won the war with journalists like this shouting down the government".
I pointed out a couple of examples of good and bad journalism from recent times and also pointed out that most journalists are held in check to a certain extent by their employers and not wanting to be sued for libel whilst 'bloggers' much less so.
I also pointed out that said blogger had strong links with Russia and had also done a nice line in pro-Trump propaganda under a slightly different name just after the giant skid mark was elected. Turns out this makes me unpatriotic.
The tories are engineering a fair bit of anti-journalism (at least ones they don't like) straight out of the Trump playbook.
So.....
Foreigners.....the judiciary......the press.....
Ring any bells?
It's quite easy to be hyperbolic at the moment but the thing I'm genuinely shocked and terrified by right now is the ease with which the general population has slipped into a cult of personality mindset regarding Johnson. Obviously it's helped by a pathetically sycophantic media, but the level of aggression I've seen towards anyone who dares question him is pretty scary. I guess the same happened during WW2 and Churchill? I'm really beginning to understand what it's like to live in a homogenous, unquestioning one party state. Even the bloody labour party are falling for it.
I guess the same happened during WW2 and Churchill
Right war.
Wrong leader.
Try Mussolini or (argh, I've Godwin-ed the thread) that man with the funny moustache.
@ Dannyh "Effie Deans" is the very definition of the phrase "two-bob rocket"
is the Today boycott still ongoing though?
Even him-who-must-be-obeyed Dominic Cummings has had to accept that it might not be a good look to be refusing to co-operate with one of the leading news programmes during a national crisis.
Mainly, as that would appear to most people as the petulant, toys-out-of-the-pram attempt to avoid scrutiny that it obviously is. I find it utterly depressing the totally corrosive effect on our national discourse that that toxic little weasel of a man is having. He's like a ****ing cancer!!
Anyway... Matt Hancock, the regimes chosen fall guy, has been torn to pieces on Today on a number of occasions. Emma Barnett on Five Live has also been bloody effective at holding Tory ministers to account and stopping them just endlessly repeating Cummings dictated soundbites
Mrmonkfinger,
Boris always reminded me of Herman Goering. Gove of Heinrich Himmler and it has been discussed here before how Jacob Lynch Mobb has inherited Joseph Goebells wardrobe.
Dazh + Danny,
This cult of personality thing is taking on scary proportions and as you say, even Labour seem cowered by it. The difference between now and WW2 is that the British public knew Churcill was a wrong un but recognised his usefulness in confronting the Nazis. They voted him out when peace came along. Boris is of no demonstrable use whatsoever in the current situation.
Boris is of no demonstrable use whatsoever in the current situation.
Indeed. But the world he was voted into is now ancient history. There was only one game in town at the time. It completely dominated the national discourse, to the total exclusion of pretty much everything else
When was the last time you heard anyone mention that?
He was also the beneficiary of having an opposition led (apparently) by the most unpopular leader of any political party in this country, ever.
His election campaign basically consisted of repeating three words and seeing if he could keep his dick in his pants for a month or two
Matt Hancock, the regimes chosen fall guy
He's up for taking-another-briefing-for-the-team today.
Note, I see this on the website of the Boris Broadcasting Corporation:
There will also be two questions from the public during the Q&A session with journalists
Good gracious, what a lucky public we are, to be allowed to have two carefully pre-written-by-the-government questions asked for us.
His election campaign basically consisted of repeating three words and seeing if he could keep his dick in his pants for a month or two
I think at the end they even dropped the three word phrase, and just got him to hold up a few bits of cardboard, didn't they?
Try Mussolini or (argh, I’ve Godwin-ed the thread) that man with the funny moustache.
Well, quite, but I didn't want to go there. There are many similarities though, and it's getting worse. FFS we've got people being shamed by their neighbours into clapping on a thursday evening (are they clapping the NHS or Johnson?), people being bullied if they dare to ride a bike or go for a walk for longer than a completely made up period of time, and the BBC and ITV acting like some tinpot communist state tv channels, with simpering journalists grovelling at the feet of the Dear Leader. And then there's the sloganeering. They'll be inventing a new salute next.
There will also be two questions from the public during the Q&A session with journalists
What a waste of time. No way ‘the public’ can ask a follow up question, or in any way challenge the waffle that constitutes an ‘answer’ to their questions. And asking those two questions first pushes more questions from journalists into the dead zone where listeners/viewers have switched off/over once bored (or the broadcasters do so for them). A successful diminution of the role of questioning journalism.
In the end, hiding in a fridge was all he had to do to win the election, slogans and cardboard proved to be surplus to requirements given the job in hand (say nothing, hide away, give Corbyn all the space he needs to defeat himself)
dazh
Subscriber
and the BBC and ITV acting like some tinpot communist state tv channels, with simpering journalists grovelling at the feet of the Dear Leader.
Please don't go on the BBC News pages and look at the HYS bits that only happen on something slightly questioning anything Bozo or his clowns have done!
They come out of the woodwork with their arguments that the BBC is just a commie organisation and only ever make bad news about their beloved Bozo and his troupe of clowns!
Worth noting they #wheresboris? has been trending on Twitter since Matt Handjobs press conference
He’s been hiding for weeks? He’s still hiding now.
He’s always been a ****ing coward
Hancock is the fall guy. He looks too much like the nice but dim sixth form prefect from a minor public school who has had an accidental Marty McFly moment and been fast forwarded twenty years into a job he was comically under prepared for.
The Young Hannibal Lecter aka Raab has got him lined up for some chianti and fava beans.
Meanwhile the blonde buffoon carries on, kidding himself he, Churchill II, will be able to stand up to the forces he has unleashed when the crunch comes.
But he won't and he can't. He is totally in hock to the shady backers and their laundered Russian cash. He is theirs. And so are we.
dannyh - you and others continue referring to shady backers, paymasters, dirty money etcetera.
For those of us - me, specifically - who don't buy into that conspiracy theory why don't you.....convince me - with facts.
To repeat the mantra of an old boss of mine - it's all about the 4 F's; First Find the ******* (first letter F) Facts.
Anything which cannot be supported by facts is, to quote a different boss, a bag of bollocks.
the Russia report cleared all those allegations up, which is why johnson released it like he said he would....
which is Johnsons problem, because he lies so often, you'd be a fool to trust him on literally anything
Ooh, the Russia report! Must have missed it; where can I find it?
Frank - look at who pays the bribes ( sorry consultancy fees, non exec directorships, payment for newspaper columns etc)
Ooh, the Russia report! Must have missed it; where can I find it?
In a pile of ashes in the back garden of Number Ten. That is never going to see the light of day and you know it. If it was 'clean' it would have been released long ago to strains of Land of Hope and Glory.
which is Johnsons problem, because he lies so often, you’d be a fool to trust him on literally anything
But basically this. Carry on doing the credulous 'man on the Clapham omnibus' routine if it makes you feel safe.
With a liar and opportunist like Johnson you have to start looking at what he isn't saying or doing because his bluster is just that, bluster.
Shady backers, paymasters etc. If it were Jezza we’d never have heard the end of it
https://theferret.scot/russian-donors-conservative-party/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Friends_of_Israel
A successful diminution of the role of questioning journalism.
One of those ideas that sounds egalitarian (to many) while simultaneously reducing scrutiny and punishing the press. Classic Dom.
It's not like you can doorstep ministers any more - these pressers are the only way to put one on the spot and stop them hiding behind their comms teams.
Frank – look at who pays the bribes ( sorry consultancy fees, non exec directorships, payment for newspaper columns etc)
As they say, Just follow the money 🙂
When you’ve got the facts it’s usually too late.
In a pile of ashes in the back garden of Number Ten. That is never going to see the light of day and you know it. If it was ‘clean’ it would have been released long ago to strains of Land of Hope and Glory.
Very much this.
I'd be astonished if the Russia report contained a proper, dead cert smoking gun, but the very fact that it hasn't been released - and wasn't released ahead of the last election when all those involved seemed to think it should have been, makes me assume it isn't favourable to the government.
When you’ve got the facts it’s usually too late.
Fundamentally that is what all frauds and cons depend on.
What do we reckon the chances of Joris 'I'm back!!' Bohnson actually turning up to face Kier Starmer at PMQ's today then?
Slim?
non-existent?
We're going to get Patrick Bateman again, aren't we? While Joris carries on hiding
The news is just anouncing that his other half has given birth to Johnson offspring number 5? 6? Does anybody know? Does he even know?
So that'll be back off to the country retreat for a few weeks paternity leave
So the ship is rudderless for another two weeks. Great.
Dominic Cummings is certainly earning his pieces of silver.
I know he had no idea that another kid would be born during a global pandemic but, **** me he's politically bulletproof
If he disappears on paternity for a fortnight and leaves Raab to make zero decisions again, I feel Sturgeon and Drakeford will use that time to diverge on lockdown exit strategy. By doing it.
Does anyone want to figure out just how much time he's actually spent doing the job since the pandemic started? I'd wager a guess at less than 50% of his time has been in the job let alone actually doing something! Paternity won't be long enough to let everything settle out without him doing anything so what is he going to come up with next to get out of any responsibility for the rest of the year? Second infection?
Oh well - it might mean Russia report gets published today or tomorrow :). Papers will be spaffing all over another scion of the Johnson dynasty.
I know he had no idea that another kid would be born during a global pandemic but, **** me he’s politically bulletproof
Combination of priveleged upbringing, opportunism, luck, bullshit, outright lying, skillful handling by his masters and a cynical realisation by them that his 'public' are largely thick or disinterested and have a strong undercurrent of xenophobia and racism.
He's like Mr Toad meets Arthur Daley meets Donald Trump.
His 'contribution' as Prime Minister in 2020 amounts to going on holiday, contracting Coronavirus through his own stupidity, then swanning off on paternity leave?
Brilliant! When Jeremy Corbyn referred to him as a 'Part-time Prime Minister' I think he was being a bit generous. He's actually the Completely Absent Prime Minister.
Even before all this his premiership always had an atmosphere of 'the dog ate my homework, sir' about it
The bone idle, over-privileged ****!
Unbelievable, how dare he!!
Off work for 3 weeks due the virus - slacker!!
Now off on paternity leave for 2 weeks - shameful!!
Oh, hang on, there has been no mention in the press, that i can find, of him stating that he's about to take 2 weeks off to be with his partner and baby (like you and i would most likely want to do).
Some people on here are shameless, I'm not a Boris fanboy, but give the guy a break instead of creating headlines that have no substance.
Give the guy a break?? Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has had breaks all his life so let's not upset the apple cart now?
If Boris works, and I mean actually undertakes the role of Prime Minister in the next couple of weeks then he can have a small break, but until then he has to earn his right not to be called out for being a work shy nodding dog (that's as close to Churchill that he'll ever get).
FWIW I doubt he'll go on paternity leave now. It is much more Churchillian image if 'pushes on regardless in Britain's hour of need'.
The point being made above is not that having his sixth, seventh, eighth (who knows) child will give him two weeks off, but that the Daily Heil can go all 'celebratory mugs and teatowels' and make him the darling of the blue rinsed forelock tuggers. Again.
But giving him a 'break'?
**** off!
Give Boris a break. No, sorry - I don't think so.
Lying gobshites don't 'deserve a break'.
As to going on paternity - it isn't like he has had much to do with his other random offspring so I don't actually expect him to take any time off. As dannyh says - Boris will pull the 'selfless hero pushing on regardless' bullshit.
And if he is back at work what skills, abilities and talent will he bring to the table? Nothing positive that I can think of.
And if he is back at work what skills, abilities and talent will he bring to the table? Nothing positive that I can think of.
Keeping up appearances, dear boy, keeping up appearances.
"fac fortia et patere"
They love a bit of cod Latin out in the Shires, you know....
Give Boris a break?
For years he's schemed and lied and backstabbed his way to the top, considering it his birthright.
Since he got there, he's treated it like some type of ceremonial role, like he's the queen and all he has to do is turn up and wave occasionally
He can **** right off!
Alliteration. That's what Boris can bring to the table. There's simply not a situation he can't alliterate himself out of.
His ability to follow one word after the other, each beginning with the same letter, or his ability to match syllables in consecutive words is simply unparalleled, It turns otherwise pretty useless journalists into gibbering wrecks and holds the country enthralled.
His ability to alliterate reminds me of the Monty python 'most deadly joke in the world' sketch.
Although in this instance, Boris is only the second most deadly joke in the world.
"Boris Johnson has previously indicated he will take paternity leave but it is not known if his plans have changed, in light of the coronavirus emergency."
So we don't know for sure one way or the other
Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52469079
but give the guy a break
Give him a break, he'll take a mile. He can **** off.
I'm not really one for political conspiracy theories: but it really is quite remarkable how he's managed to co -inside his return to the daily briefing just as he feels it's time to announce that we've past peak infection...
He'll not take paternity leave. Because, you know, that'd mean he'd have to take a little time with his offspring. Not something he's known for.
He's had a good number of holidays (in addition to cv and black eye absence) since entering No 10 and he's stated that he doesn't work at weekends. He seems to think if he surrounds himself with these 'clever chaps' from the Brexit campaign (who've never been elected or accountable) then they will come up with 'radical' (in contrast to the rest of the world) and cheap solutions to major problems (even if it does cost lives). They then use obfuscation and deceit to convince the electorate they'v done/doing a great job and the rest of the world is looking to us (even though international comparisons are 'very, very difficult').
The fascinating thing is people believe it, Starmer is biting like a dead sheep and the rest of the world looks on in horror.
It really is as blatant as "the others do the 'bad' news and Big Bouncy Brilliant Boris does the 'good' news".
It is to the eternal shame of our standing in the world that Poundshop Trumpism can take such a hold here.
Music Hall meets Standup meets far right wing populism. ****ing hell.
Oh nooooooo!
I've just realised......
There will be some kind of lockdown lifting to coincide with the 'VE' bank holiday next friday.
It really is going to be that blatant, isn't it?
"75 years since we got the war 'done' and now we've beaten the coronavirus..... parump, parump, parumpety boom-tish".
With Blohard wrapped in the Union Jack and Spitfires overhead.
They're going to, aren't they?
Oh, dear god, you may be right!
V.V. day. Heard it here first!
Parental Leave? That’s what he does isn’t it? Becomes a parent. Then leaves.
Oh nooooooo!
I’ve just realised……
There will be some kind of lockdown lifting to coincide with the ‘VE’ bank holiday next friday.
It really is going to be that blatant, isn’t it?
“75 years since we got the war ‘done’ and now we’ve beaten the coronavirus….. parump, parump, parumpety boom-tish”.
With Blohard wrapped in the Union Jack and Spitfires overhead.
They’re going to, aren’t they?
Can't they drag it out to V.J day?
There will be some kind of lockdown lifting to coincide with the ‘VE’ bank holiday next friday.
That leaves a week to organise a last ditch attempt at an old fashioned ww2 bombing campaign to rid us of the ****er
Some interesting parallels drawn in the Guardian. Hadn't realised quite how close we have been before
Will Law Nick Johnson?
That was well thought out.
Like what you’ve done there ^
Can’t they drag it out to V.J day?
Aye and that's when the no deal with Europe will be announced along with our great deal with orange lunatic. The tories will want it a bank holiday and thereafter be called Boris day.
I wonder if the happy couple would have done the baby naming thing if the doctors who treated BloHard were both called Mohammed....
Surprised BJ hasn't arranged to be furloughed.... With the gov topping the pay up to 100% obvs.
It's not like he does **** all in number 10 anyway.
