TBH, it seems like there's one thing that reliably kills coronavirus- having a leader who's earned your trust and who trusts you back
There's now talk that he's going in the Spring because he can't pay for all his shag pile carpet moments on £150k. I am not surprised.
An avalanche of passion’ was the editors’ version of ‘like having a large wardrobe falling on you with a small key sticking out.’
That was Nicolas Soames.
Yep quite right, old Private Eye stuff. The newly booted out Soames was also told by his father 'to get his cock in the till fast and to keep it there'. Boris could have learned something from this.
So what's the consensus, do we think he's still playing brinkmanship or will he destroy what's left to save face with his business associates?
He will go no deal. He has backed himself into a corner whereby if he now takes a deal the brexiteer nutjobs will call him a turncoat and that he cannot cope with. So he will sacrifice the country to save face with the neonazis
Does anyone else find it increasingly difficult to listen to his verbal stumbling and bumbling?
A complete absence of fluency or conviction or coherence; truly a fact free zone.
An embarrassment in every possible way.
Looking forward to Starmer shredding him - again - at PMQs tomorrow.
TBH I never could stand him, about as false as they come, all that chummy stuff on HIGNFY was just an act.
Sadly most of the drones won't have a clue what happened during PMQs and even if you told them would say something like "it would be worse if Corbyn was in power"??
Banned from Twitter for calling him a moron. And wishing he stood on an upturned plug.
The more you see of him the more you realise he is just an utter dangleberry
Bit harsh on dangleberries.
I've not been able to watch/listen to him for ages - I have to leave the room or I start shouting at the TV. If I stay I'll end up throwing something heavy at it.
Horrible lying piece of crap. Spunks 40 million on plans for a bridge, spunks something else on some yank whilst mayor and now wants to stiff TfL because revenues have been destroyed by c19
“Johnson says Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, effectively bankrupted Transport for London before the crisis. If measures are needed to rescue it, that is Khan’s fault, he says.”
TfL was holding significant cash reserves, £2b before Covid hit, but he can’t miss the opportunity to take on another labour mayor.
Rather undermined by the letter from Grant Shapps to Sadiq Khan (seen by the Financial Times) telling him that the conditions of another Government bailout include widening the CC zone, increasing fares, pension reforms in TfL and fewer fare concessions.
All things that the Government is imposing, not SK.
It was nice of Boris to oversee the removal of the central grant of £700m / year to TfL as well. Any hole in TfL's finances happened on his watch, it was coming down under SK - although it had been strained somewhat by the long delays to CrossRail. Part of the funding plans relied on that being operational and bringing in substantial fare revenue by now.
Goldie's ace but a wee bit patronising about the other jobs to be fair, I'd be a bit annoyed if I was his cleaner!
Though, of course, the one thing he didn't say is that he already has a cleaner, and a window cleaner, etc, and right now they're not working because he's shut- so retraining people out of the arts into those "viable" industries isn't going to achieve a damn thing except exert wage pressure on those jobs.
Like seriously, Goldie retrains into Cyber, right? He's never going to get a job in the industry, because there's already people in those jobs and already training for those jobs, who'll come into it with perfect backgrounds and generally lower wage expectations/living costs. That seems like it's almost been lost in all the rightful ire about "viable" and "retrain"- it's not just that it's throwing real longterm careers in the bin for no good reason, it's that it's not going to help most of the people that need it.
He is completely bereft of ideas and so the dependence on Cummings, his madcap self-aggrandising garden bridge, water cannons, hospitals, moonshots and his emotional and intellectual shallows are borne out by his defensive-aggressive pops at the opposition and his insatiable need for instant gratification. It's all about HIM hence talking about resigning over HIS piss poor pay (£150k plus lots of exes) not over a principle or a failure of policy. He really is a ghastly, bloated but accurate reflection of the callous and narcissistic nature of his class and background. Whoever replaces him won't be much different but might be a bit more of a polished performer.
grauniad cryptic crossword getting in on the act
14 17(Baroness btw) accomplished nothing with firm and in government (4,7)
grauniad cryptic crossword getting in on the act
14 17(Baroness btw) accomplished nothing with firm and in government (4,7)
I dunno, her pockets are pretty well lined.
What about Boris buying crack?
Bill - is that a euphemism for his relationships with women?
That public disapproval on Covid response is now at both ends of the scale - those of us who feel they've not done enough, early enough, and those who think it's a gross invasion of our civil liberties.
Even MrsMC, who tends to give everyone too much benefit of the doubt said they'd gone too late this time. Which worries me in case my 25 years of grace is running out.
Jnr can't believe they didn't plan a two week circuit break around this October half term - could have run it either side of the holiday week depending on numbers (so the week before would have been the option). The action in Wales may not show a dramatic drop in numbers, but it surely will slow the rate of increase?
He's totally messed up Christmas, be interesting to see if / when the numbers gets worse nationally he'll actually do something. People seem to forget cases doubling isn't an issue until it suddenly is, if cases double in 7 days, this week ITU is 25% full, great 75% capacity, next week 50% full, great loads of beds left, week after,100% full, week after that 100% over capacity. Trouble is with the three week incubation period you need to be fully locking down weeks before ITU overloads, or its too late.
He's killing us both ways, killing more people and working the economy. It's been said here before but personally I think he's completely against any further economic bailout and knows if he locks down he'll be expected to stump up. These halfway pseudo restrictions allow him to wiggle out of any meaningful cash support and go some way to keeping the freedom nuts in line, or at least that's his thinking, reality of course everyone has had enough of his appalling leadership.
be interesting to see if / when the numbers gets worse
nationallyin Surrey he’ll actually do something.
FTFY
Jnr can’t believe they didn’t plan a two week circuit break around this October half term
Same here. Golden opportunity, the schools are already off. Squandered.
Every time this thread gets updates, I'm metaphorically filled with dread about what harm has he done to our country now... I was a bit young for the early Thatcher years and her battle with Scargill, but no other UK PM has made me cringe like this PMuppet.
I think he’s completely against any further economic bailout and knows if he locks down he’ll be expected to stump up.
Is it because the disaster capitalist Brexit backers will miss out of the economy is already tanked before we leave, I wonder?
I've said it here before, I wasn't in a part of the country that suffered under Thatcher and despite my dad leaving the RAF in 1980, he cracked on and built a new and successful life for us under her rule. From where I was stood at the time - and to a degree, even now - she chose not to support old traditional industries that had been running down and closing for 20 years before she came to power. Obviously I now understand the wider social impacts of her policies, especially living in a former mining and steel town. But the sheer recklessness and incompetence of Boris's government seems to me way beyond what she did. Possibly because I'm closer to it now.
Say what you like about Thatcha (and as a northerner who left school into her economic and social scorched earth in 86, I absolutely despise her!), at least you knew what you were getting.
There was never any pretence that she remotely cared what happened to us. She, and those around her, wore their casual, callous cruelty like a badge of honour. Their contempt for us was open.
And, of course, she was terrifyingly competent in achieving her aims. She told you exactly what she was going to do, then she did it.
This lot are scheming, dishonest, corrupt and duplicitous. And utterly incompetent. They deal only in lies and disinformation. They say one thing, then do the opposite.
They were elected (Helped out by a completely useless opposition) by getting enough people in the north to believe the frankly laughable conceit of ‘levelling up’. That they actually cared what happened to the people of Barnsley and Sunderland. That freed from the EU the money trees would be rattled to help the ‘left behind’.
The way we’ve been treated since - ending lockdown too early just to suit the South East, putting most of the north back into lockdown 3 weeks later, then promptly forgetting about us, has exposed that whopper.
The stand off with Andy Burnham and the loose change they’ve tossed in our direction since just confirms it.
Then there’s Brexit, and the decimation that will deliver to the areas in the north that will be, surprise surprise, hardest hit.
These lot are far, far worse than Thatcher. And, tragically, their toxic legacy will be even more destructive
Completely agree regards Thatcher (she was widely hated in the north) but she was at least honest and done what she said she would. This lot are the worst of both worlds kidding on they are your pal whilst stabbing you in the back (TBH anyone with a bit going on between their ears didn't fall for it).
by getting enough people in the north to believe the frankly laughable conceit of ‘levelling up’.
No they didnt, they played to xenophobic and racist tendencies of many northern Labour voters, it was that simple.
Thatcher believed what she'd was doing was right, she probably was broadly right, the old industries were dying and the unions were horrendous. Unfortunately she had no empathy and implemented the policies in the worst possible way. Selling off council houses being a great example. Brilliant policy if done right, people who had initially needed help could buy their family home with consideration to the fact they had already paid something, reinvest themoney directly into new social housing, if done right it allowed the social housing stock to grow and move as the need changed in different areas, she failed spectacularly by forbidding the councils from reinvesting the money.
Thatcher believed what she’d was doing was right, she probably was broadly right, the old industries were dying, the management and the unions were horrendous.
FTFY it takes two to make a crisis. Failing to address the management class' failings are why we are where we are now. Leaders need to consider all sides of the problem and then navigate a path that benefits all. This has been lacking since the 60's.
No they didnt, they played to xenophobic and racist tendencies of many northern Labour voters, it was that simple.
Nail on head.
Thatcher also wasted the North Sea Oil revenues by giving it away as tax breaks rather than investing it for/in the country.
Thatcher also wasted the North Sea Oil revenues by giving it away as tax breaks rather than investing it for/in the country.
This is true. She was doubly lucky. The main spoils of North Sea oil and gas fell in her lap and a tinpot dictator decided to make his name by grabbing back the Falklands.
The economic stuff was a travesty. The roots of the current housing crisis lay in Right To Buy and pissing away North Sea oil/gas revenues was unforgivable. Again, short term economic appearances were deemed politically expedient ahead of investing in 'society' - something Thatcher didn't believe existed.
tinpot dictator decided to make his name by grabbing back the Falkland
Which, incidentally, was in large part down to her cutting of the military to the bare bones.
The Argentinians have been negotiating/threatening around the Falklands for several years and saw their chance when she cut back the military in that area of the world.
If they had waited another year they would have got away with it since key ships would have gone.
But the sheer recklessness and incompetence of Boris’s government seems to me way beyond what she did. Possibly because I’m closer to it now.
Most folk only react to a fire as it begins to singe them...
Selling off council houses being a great example. Brilliant policy if done right, people who had initially needed help could buy their family home with consideration to the fact they had already paid something, reinvest themoney directly into new social housing, if done right it allowed the social housing stock to grow and move as the need changed in different areas, she failed spectacularly by forbidding the councils from reinvesting the money
Disagree, mostly.
Were you aware that before that policy folk could always buy their council house (at the market rate) and the only real change was to give them a discount? Gerrymandering. No more, no less and paid for by me, you and all future citizens.
stolen from the comments on the latest Steve Bell....
While stitching a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Durham
Farmer, whose hand was caught in a gate while working
cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old
man. Eventually the topic got around to politics and politicians.
The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Johnson is a
"post turtle".
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what
a "post turtle" was. The old rancher said,
"When you're driving down a country road and you
come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top,
that's a "post turtle".
The old Farmer saw a puzzled look on the doctor's
face, so he continued to explain. You know he didn't get
up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he
doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you
just wonder what kind of a dumb bastard put him up there in the
first place.
After his correct appraisal of Brexit and David Cameron a couple of years ago, our nations sage has once again articulated the thoughts of a nation about our glorious leader and his ilk
https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1321376033220759554?s=20
Maybe people will actually listen to and believe a character from their favourite TV programme.
Marina Hyde again. Worth it for the pics of Hancock playing footie.
At Rashford’s age – 22 – Johnson’s chief interest in food distribution was limited to which bread roll to chuck first at a pleading restaurant owner. As a member of a university dining club that routinely trashed eating establishments for the fun of it, Johnson was arrested along with other Bullingdon inadequates over the smashing of a restaurant window with a pot plant. You can only imagine the condemnation – probably at a ministerial level – that would these days be headed the way of football if a 22-year-old player was found to have done the same. And yet, this and many other incidents like it have proved absolutely no impediment to becoming prime minister.
Loved the line:
Matt Hancock says he’s “inspired” by Marcus Rashford. Which is nice. I mean, Charles Manson was inspired by the Beatles.
He's undoubtedly correct in that the current government is drawn from a very narrow part of society.
He’s undoubtedly correct in that the current government is drawn from a very narrow part of society.
They're bred from an even narrower section of the gene pool as well,
Look at Jacob Rees Moog.........
Maybe people will actually listen to and believe a character from their favourite TV programme.
Are you referring to Boris on Have I Got News For You?
