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Boris Johnson!

 dazh
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I think they’re looking for a proper full-on 80’s style fight with the unions

Good job the unions have the mighty labour party at their back then. Oh wait.. 😄


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:40 pm
 rone
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So much for the ‘High Wage, High Skill’ economy, eh?

No chance without strong Trade Unions. EU or Not.

Lol @DazH - I didn't copy your post honest.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:40 pm
 rone
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There used to be, but DazH would always pop out the cave to denounce Starmer again.

We're all entitled to our opinions. Something we have to live with.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:43 pm
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Tag team thread derailment... fun for a handful of people... is the death of this thread the intention? Because I predict that, even with you doing the filibustering thing, Johnson will continue to sink to new lows and keep this thread alive, simply with his bare face cheek. His corruption to funnel money to a mistress while Mayor will be coming up again now it looks like a pattern of behaviour... and maybe one day we'll have an enquiry into his corruption to funnel money to a mistress while Foreign Secretary... but I suspect that will have to wait till he's gone, and others start rebuilding our processes of democratic oversight... he's shutting them all down while PM.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:49 pm
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Good job the unions have the mighty labour party at their back then. Oh wait.. 😄

Interestingly enough, despite being one of the most potent unions, the RMT aren't affiliated with Labour...


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:51 pm
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Johnson and Starmer are two sides of the same coin.

Only a far distant leftie would think that. I'm further left than most of Westminster but even I can see this isn't really true. They might both be right of what I'd like, but in the context of the UK and when talking about them personally, they aren't related at all.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:52 pm
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Im still genuinely puzzled why/how the Carrie FCO job story got canned

Streisand effect that just makes the Times look bad


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 3:57 pm
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Ive no idea how represntative the hecklers are of voters in Tiverton

but I dont think this bodes well for Johnson

https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1538833137324670977


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:02 pm
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Industrial action has only ever been the way the working class makes advances. More strikes occur under Labour. You'd be mad to expect anything from Reeves and the Starmtroopers but vote Labour to raise people's expectations and aspirations.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:04 pm
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Im still genuinely puzzled why/how the Carrie FCO job story got canned

The weird bit is how late it was done after the physical papers were out there waiting for photos to be taken.
I can see why they would want it canning but it was too late to work.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:08 pm
 rone
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Only a far distant leftie would think that. I’m further left than most of Westminster but even I can see this isn’t really true.

Well think of it in these terms (And speaking broadly from the party) they were both offering very similar (stolen or otherwise windfall policies, by way of example.)

They're similar on economic policy - with Labour shifting to the rightwards on fiscal policy. And the Tories trying hard to not give tax cuts when it suits.

Neither party are particularly enthusiastic on trade unions, and neither party wanting to give state workers particularly good wage rises.

And neither party has a solution (or wants to offer a solution) to the cost of living crisis. It's the same neoliberal - let the market fix things approach until the state absolutely has to intervene.

The attitudes might be different but the core politics are within a limited framework and similar.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:11 pm
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The idea of being able to just replace striking workers with agency workers is bloody stupid. In this case there's (IIRC) 40,000 drivers, signallers, guards etc walking out. How many qualified agency workers do we think are available to fill the gaps? Very few I reckon. Even what would be considered unskilled jobs can't just be thrown in at the deep end on the day without inductions, familiarisation, support of other workers etc.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:15 pm
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Did anyone see the phone in with Nadine Dorres and Rachel Johnson on LBC?

Simply flabbergasted that something so moronic can be responsible for shaping policy

https://t.co/t4SqljqZhJ


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:17 pm
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Im not sure that Lib Dems will win tiverton, but the video of the Tory candidate and these numbers give me hope...

https://twitter.com/p_surridge/status/1538850731964485639


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:19 pm
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Just when will Starmer have his Colonel Nicholson moment - "what have I done..."


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:21 pm
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The REC are dead set against shapps' plan to replace strikers with agency staff.
Their chief exec was interviewed on Today prog and was very clear; he's also written to paul scully.
Here's the link... https://www.rec.uk.com/our-view/insights/government-and-campaigns/rec-writes-minister-ban-agency-staff-covering-strikes


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:23 pm
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The idea of being able to just replace striking workers with agency workers is bloody stupid

I doubt even the tories think it will work in this case but it is a)throwing some red meat to the hardcore and b)setting it up for other strikes where it might work better.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:24 pm
 dazh
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they aren’t related at all.

You misunderstand. I'm not saying they're the same, although as rone has pointed out there's very little between them on policy (I think, because we don't actually have a clue what Starmer's policies are on the whole), I'm saying they're inextricably linked. Johnson's ability to hang on to the job is due largely to Starmer being unwilling or unable to challenge him, and Starmer's weakness is due to his obsession with Johnson as a personality and reactivity to whatever Johnson does or says (like the stupid speech on immigration). So everyone here wailing about how terrrible Johnson is but not wanting to discuss Starmer are missing the point completely and it's ridiculous for them to protest if the subject of Starmer comes up on this thread. It's not me and others who are shutting down debate, it's the opposite.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:25 pm
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There is a whole other thread for discussing Starmer. No one is shutting down debate.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:28 pm
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There is a whole other thread for discussing Starmer. No one is shutting down debate.

The point is that in many cases, you can't discuss one without the other. There are two threads so it's going to be in one of them.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:32 pm
 dazh
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No one is shutting down debate.

There is no debate. As with most other threads if you don't agree you get shut down. It's infantile.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:34 pm
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you can’t discuss one without the other

Certainly true of a few obsessives. Can we get this thread back on Johnson, please?


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:36 pm
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Certainly true of a few obsessives. Can we get this thread back on Johnson, please?

Not just a few obsessives, as should be obvious with more than a moment's thought. Can you either sign up as a mod or quit the forum policing?


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:37 pm
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Certainly true of a few obsessives. Can we get this thread back on Johnson, please?

If you want to get the thread back onto Johnson why did you post that? ^^


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:40 pm
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The idea of being able to just replace striking workers with agency workers is bloody stupid. In this case there’s (IIRC) 40,000 drivers, signallers, guards etc walking out. How many qualified agency workers do we think are available to fill the gaps?

Some angry gammon on Twitter was saying that he could be a train driver, and reckoned he'd need 2 weeks training cos "it's just sitting there pushing buttons".

Various train drivers popped up to show him the 12-24 month training period after the extensive recruitment process and that wasn't counting the massive backlog of training that TOCs have at the moment anyway due to high levels of sickness, Covid, availability of rolling stock and actual time to train people.

TransPennine Express have a backlog of 7000 training days at the moment.

Same with airlines - so many staff (from pilots to air and ground crew to airport staff / baggage handlers / security etc) were furloughed during Covid and there were no opportunities for training due to social distancing that LOADS of staff lost all their certification and security clearances and it takes months to fire that back up.

Comments about bringing in agency staff (from the same moron that promised after the P&O debacle to make it illegal to fire workers and replace them with agency staff...) is just more dead cat appeals to the gammons who have no idea how the country is run (but would rather it was run by white British folk).

I see Boris' "last ditch plea" to avert the strikes went as well as could be expected...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/jun/20/uk-inflation-rail-strike-boris-johnson-latest-updates-live


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:51 pm
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And with murmurings of dissatisfaction with the leader within the Labour establishment, and still the possibility of Durham police issuing fines, Johnson could well panic that he might face someone other than Starmer in a general election.

I'm not sure that's his worry

https://twitter.com/keiranpedley/status/1537025031829610496?t=vKqjMFjhyFV79Fq_mMK1SQ&s=19

Tory MPs kept Johnson in power not because they think he's better/ more popular than Starmer, but because all the other potential Tory candidates are so much worse


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 4:54 pm
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The whole agency thing is about being able to prevent strikes having any real threat in the future, not to diffuse the current one. Under current rules you need to give notice of any strike action so allowing agency workers to fill the empty slots will work in the future. It also allows the Tories to claim that they are fixing the issue when you've got the likes of the Daily Mail running headlines like this:

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/FsW7p9sT/20220620-155220.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/FsW7p9sT/20220620-155220.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

The weird bit is how late it was done after the physical papers were out there waiting for photos to be taken.
I can see why they would want it canning but it was too late to work.

My thoughts is that someone in the media has upset the Tories and been blacklisted so can't do their job. They've then threatened to run the Carrie story only for Tory HQ to call their bluff but the story then gets run anyway. It's only when the physical papers hit the shelves that the Tory press office start to do things so later editions don't have it. It really wouldn't surprise me if a few years down the line we hear about how this little leaked story is a small part of something bigger.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:00 pm
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I’m not sure that’s his worry

The “good in a crisis” polling just fits in with the idea that Johnson is all about not only allowing but creating crises, so that people turn to him to deal with them. A great way to feel important, if that’s your main aim. It has worked. Not sure how many times it can keep on working.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:04 pm
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I’m not sure that’s his worry

I beg to differ. Labour is currently leading by 6% which must be rather satisfying for Johnson under the current circumstances. A big Labour lead would have sealed his fate in the recent no confidence vote.

What traits people like in politicians is irrelevant. The question which needs to be asked is "how will you vote", not "who do you think has nice traits?"

The personality poll is clearly useful for strategists to build on their strengths and exploit their opponents weaknesses, but ultimately the only question that matters is how will voters vote.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:23 pm
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The amusing thing about the Carrie Johnson article is the line about who the journo went to for confirmation of the story (the allegation orginally came from some book by that weasel Lord Ashcroft) - it says of the three people who confirmed it, two of them were appointed as senior ministers by Johnson post 2019. A little bit of paranoia fuel for him. 🙂


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:29 pm
 dazh
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Some angry gammon on Twitter was saying that he could be a train driver, and reckoned he’d need 2 weeks training cos “it’s just sitting there pushing buttons”.

Surely this should be on a Grant Shapps thread?


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:34 pm
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The whole agency thing is about being able to prevent strikes having any real threat in the future, not to diffuse the current one. Under current rules you need to give notice of any strike action so allowing agency workers to fill the empty slots will work in the future.

There's no way you can train enough skilled workers in the time between a strike being announced and them being needed, as pointed out above, the train companies, (in this case, but would equally apply to any sector) can't even manage to keep up with current staff competencies.

Not financially achievable either.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:35 pm
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They won't worry about the agency staff being trained, it'll be all about having people visible. The fact that the trains/buses/nuclear power station isn't running safely will just be blamed on the unions with the Tories just shrugging their shoulders and claiming to have done their best. A lot of their supporters will believe it too.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 5:38 pm
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Surely this should be on a Grant Shapps thread?

Should he have multiple threads? A Michael Green thread? A Corinne Stockheath thread? A Sebastian Fox thread?

A cabinet full of integrity, thanks to Boris Johnson.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 6:16 pm
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So Johnson has had his sinuses bored for chronic sinusitis. Wonder what caused that? What has he been putting up his nose
?


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 7:13 pm
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The fact that the trains/buses/nuclear power station isn’t running safely will just be blamed on the unions with the Tories

Have you ever worked around a railway? The inspectorate takes no prisoners and a big accident with untrained staff will see directors at a risk doing time at Her Majesty's Pleasure.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 7:27 pm
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Coming up next... Agency postal workers who nick your mail and parcels during the postie strike, instead of delivering it. Or posting it back into post boxes, because they are shocked at how physical the job is and the pace many posties work at.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 7:40 pm
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The story he tried to get shut down now most viewed item on BBC 😂😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61869650


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 8:50 pm
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now most viewed item on BBC 😂😂

We should make this a sticky for a few days, and get everyone to just keep clicking on it...


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 9:13 pm
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The idea of being able to just replace striking workers with agency workers is bloody stupid

Every idea* they come up with is bloody stupid. Don't worry though. Think of it as mood music as they serenade their unhinged racist pensioner core vote in the run up to a by-election and then instigate a culture war with the trade unions through the summer

None of this is intended to make it into actual reality. Its hardly like its ever had more thought than the initial three word soundbite they fart out into the press. They're simply too lazy to put the hard yards in to make anything happen. Its just picking the right fights to keep their unhinged backbenchers onside, who are too stupid to realise that like the Rwanda policy, none of this stuff ever actually materialises.

You do have to wonder why they're even that bothered about being in power. Other than handing their mates corrupt contracts, there doesn't seem an awful lot of point to any of it

* the word is used figuratively in this instance and does not suggest any actual thinking taking place


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 9:54 pm
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The story he tried to get shut down now most viewed item on BBC 😂😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61869650/blockquote >

It's interesting how they don't mention he was married to someone else at the time and she was his bit on the side.


 
Posted : 20/06/2022 10:52 pm
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After a day of hearing Johnson’s ministers repeating the call for “pay discipline” across all tv and radio channels… I come across this…

https://inews.co.uk/news/no-10-planning-tear-up-restrictions-city-bosses-pay-cost-of-living-crisis-1696695

Downing Street has asked ministers to ease restrictions on City bosses’ pay in a bid to show overseas companies the “benefits of Brexit”

Kerching!


 
Posted : 21/06/2022 12:07 am
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tthew
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The idea of being able to just replace striking workers with agency workers is bloody stupid.

I'm amazed they've not declared they're sending in the army yet.


 
Posted : 21/06/2022 12:22 am
 ctk
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crazy-legs
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Apparently he’s now recovering from an op on his nose. Hmmmm.

Reverse Pinocchio.

LOL


 
Posted : 21/06/2022 12:23 am
 ctk
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Also its the same people on both threads so what is the problem?

The amount of posts trying to police the thread outnumbers the supposed OT posts.

Could just have a politics thread...


 
Posted : 21/06/2022 12:26 am
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