From what I understand the tories on the committee are the sort with a bit of decency and morals mainly.
But a Venn diagram of Tories who support Johnson (who to all but a handful of die hards is now a busted flush) and Tories who've volunteered to be on the parliamentary ethics committee is at best resembling a 60's spy film binocular vignette. In fact I'd put weight behind the idea that the party might want shot of him completely before the election.
In fact I’d put weight behind the idea that the party might want shot of him completely before the election.
Would be nice, but he still garners a lot of support within the general population who feel he was stitched up, as demonstrated by the absolute walloper of a caller to LBC yesterday who called him "a man of integrity".
in the words of the great Bullet Tooth Tony...."You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity."
My tory family members still think he is great and should be PM
Would be nice, but he still garners a lot of support within the general population who feel he was stitched up, as demonstrated by the absolute walloper of a caller to LBC yesterday who called him “a man of integrity”.
True, but when was the last time a level headed caller was put through the LBC switchboard 🤣
My tory family members still think he is great and should be PM
My Tory parents admit they knew he was an absolute lying, corrupt, idle imbecile, but at least he wasn't Corbyn 🤦♂️
They're saying that this hearing could last for 5 hours
Given that Johnson feels he has to answer to absolutely nobody and it is an afront to have to be questioned by mere mortals, how long are we going to get in before the mask slips and he gets really nasty with someone?
I'm going for just over the hour mark when he loses it and goes ballistic at Harriet Harman, because she's both female and clearly a lot cleverer than he is
I’m going for just over the hour mark when he loses it and goes ballistic at Harriet Harman, because she’s both female and clearly a lot cleverer than he is
I'm going for postponed due to him having Covid..... nice bit of ironing to delay procedures
How about...johnson's opening comment is 'I don't recognise this committee' followed by a flounce.
Its when he tells them the hourly rate for his "speeches" that its going to go downhill.
A gaffaw, a slouch, a couple of hesitances, a couple of "look here's" an "off the cuff" semi correct quote about Themistocles, and it's away for a pint in the Lobby Bar. Get a couple of your chums to write a piece tomorrow about how wronged and misunderstood you are.
Trebles all round and off the next speaking jolly.
How about…johnson’s opening comment is ‘I don’t recognise this committee’ followed by a flounce.
He's pretty much said that already, hasn't he? If he hasn't its been implied for about a year.
Unfortunately the tinfoil-helmet brigade that make up his remaining fanbase will all gleefully buy into his ridiculous conspiracy-theory nonsense
He really is a Poundshop Trump, and I expect he'll borrow all his moves on Wednesday. I'm sure the 'liberal elite' will be putting in quite a few appearances as our hero looks for scapegoats and set himself in the role of the victim
If they nail him down, then it’ll all be a “deep state conspiracy” with plenty of talk of “he should only have to answer to the electorate, this is anti-democratic” on the side. If he wriggles through on double speak and technicalities it’ll be “exonerated by a panel of his peers” and “a rigorous process has cleared him”.
Come to think of it, both of those will happen at once, no matter what the outcome, to see what people will swallow.
Shreaded Wheat head has published his defence which appears to be, somewhat predictably "I may have been at all these parties 'work events' but nobody told me that the rules were being broken, so how could I possibly have known?! Specifically, it was Dominic Cummings fault!
He's continued with his efforts to undermine the committee
What time does it kick off tomorrow? Might WFH to enjoy some background noise
liar or idiot.
or possibly both
It's meant to be 2 o clock, but I'm sure he'll continue his tradition of being tardy with his timekeeping fashionably late
I misled parliament as a jolly wheeze.
I misled parliament as a jolly wheeze
I did not intend to mislead Parliament but they are clearly too stupid to follow my brilliant speeches, laced as they are with sparkling wit and Latin phrases.
Reading in the Grauniad what Johnson is claiming its a very thin defense.
It seems to be as expected " I didn't know it was wrong" "no one told me" so he is going for - I'm too thick to understand the rules I made / told everyone
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edit: i hate image hosting... 🙁
"My brain insisted in telling me the gathering I attended was not a gathering, over-ruling the evidence of my senses, so it is clear, ipso facto, that I did not knowingly mislead when my mouth stated that there were no gatherings. Mortuum flagellum etc."
Telling someone you totally lied to their face in “good faith” is a new one fo’shure
Privileges Committee have said that johnson's defence statement contains '...no new documentary
evidence' and the delay in making it public was due to '...errors and typos'.
As reported by BBC.
Not an auspicious start for the odious lying moptop.
I hope that Harman takes him apart. a nice quiet dignified sticking of the knife in like lady Hale did over the prorogation of parliament. that was a thing of beauty
The Piglet will need to dig deep into the family tub of (special edition) escape grease.
What can actually happen tomorrow if it all goes against him?
Small fine,slap on the wrist,told to apologise to the whole country,or mounted in a pillory outside Westminster and pelted with old fruit and potatoes.
If it was the pillory option,I would get the train down for the day.
the committee can find him guilty. IIRC punishment is a matter for the whole house. They can order a suspension from parliament. A suspension of more than 10 days makes him possibly subject to a recall petition forcing a by election which he would lose.
I don't know if I have that quite right
I think the committee can save time by simply recycling his school report and changing the odd word.
Boris really has adopted a disgracefully cavalier attitude to his classical studies. He sometimes seems affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility (and surprised at the same time that he was not appointed Captain of the school for the next half).
I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation that binds everyone else.
IIRC punishment is a matter for the whole house.
That appears to be the case. Any punishment must be voted on. Sunak has already said it will be a free vote. He's probably done that as a useful ticklist for his own reference, more than anything else
You could probably write a list now of all the delusional idiots MP's who won't vote for any sanction on the flytipped sofa
He's spent £100,000 on legal fees apparently.
Like plenty of other things these days - we are all aware of how bad this is and that he should be getting suitably punished...but as seems to be the way, he is going to be walking away the winner, isn't he? Same with Trump...a real shame as a lot of sensible people are aware they have done wrong, but when it comes down to the decision it seems to be the complete opposite.
I’m as bad as his supporters in that I’ve already made my mind up - he is a lying bastard of the highest order.
Tuning in could be bad for my demeanour.
frankconway
Full Member
Poops – he isn’t paying his own legal fees.
Yeah, sorry, lazy sentence from me. He doesn't pay for anything in any sense of the word.
He’s spent £100,000 on legal fees apparently.
For some inexplicable reason it's us mugs who are paying his legal fees
According to todays Guardian they're presently standing at just shy of quarter of a million quid
Apparently the NAO are considering an investigation into his legal fees
I just see why "we" are paying them? Is there a precedent for it?
He’s spent £100,000 on legal fees apparently.
No mate, it's me & you.
So if he does get found guilty will he still be able to ship all the assholes into the house of lords to log jam future governments?
Even if he loses his seat, like Truss he still gets £110k in perpetuity from us mugs.
he is a lying bastard of the highest order.
Is there some sort of meta-state where he's lying about his lying?
Even the Torygraph are wading in and sticking the boot into him. Leaving out the glaring hypocrisy of that, he really is done now!
https://twitter.com/thatcymraes/status/1638115578215792640?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
That Telegraph article must have been signed off by the de-facto editor, Suella Braverman
Nothing seems to get published in that paper these days without her prior approval.
So the 'I'm an idiot' defence was the only one he could really run with. Probably with enough realisation (probably from his lawyers) that he's going to be found guilty and as long as he just gets a telling off or less than 10 days recommended suspension then he won't actually care and can convince himself he's just been hard done by.
Maybe the ego thinks even if he's gets the book thrown at him from the inquiry then all his jolly MP mates will just vote against anything anyway.
I did hear something that I couldn't really understand with my limited brainpower that potentially his defence may rest on definitiions of 'guidance' against 'law' etc. so guessing he'll be going for some kind of technical issue in the wording of the inquiry rather than the fact theres a boatload of photos of him quaffing wine at gatherings.
That torygraph article is a real kick in johnson's nuts.
Not long until tomorrow's front pages will be online; express and mail are likely to be delusional.
If johnson doesn't flounce, how long before he raises questions about what a party is and attempts to rebrand these events as gatherings?
I would guess within the first 15 minutes.
Have just increased my popcorn order - was double, have now re-doubled so...quadruple popcorn!
potentially his defence may rest on definitiions of ‘guidance’ against ‘law’ etc.
That'll please those who were fines for gatherings.
