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Some are complaining that they aren’t about “small state government”, true, but others are complaining that policy after policy are hitting those on lower incomes, and the North, and doubly those on lower incomes in the North. There are now many different Tory MPs in the commons, relying on very different support in their constituencies, who were only ever unified by the “all things to all people” vague “get Brexit done” campaigning. The details of implementing actual policy, and the priorities of where government spending/cuts fall, will split them apart from each other, and the government, on the occasions where they find themselves scrutinising how Johnson governs, rather than how he campaigns.
When it is summed up like that it increases my amazement even more how some people, who claim to be to the left of the Tory Party, consider that Thatcher, Major, and Cameron premierships to have been more desirable than Johnson’s.
I can't claim to have been a fan of any Tory PM from the last 40 odd years, I've never voted for them (I'm willing to admit an ingrained bias against the Torys). I agree that crushing the Miners and needless "austerity" were all about slapping the proles down and keeping some version of the old class structures in place.
But those leaders are not in power today, Boris is having aligned with the Brexit propaganda machine and told a few wild lies. He has no more compunction about hurting the working classes than his predecessors. His wallpaper and Arcuri fiddling just illustrate the point that he's got sticky fingers and poor Impulse control, not exactly leadership qualities. The other stuff highlights the age old Tory habit of not seeing the rules as applicable to their lot. We've yet to see what other little wheezes Bozza and the gang have been up to in the background, everyone's attention has been focussed on some other pretty major issues for the last couple of years.
If you honestly believe pulling the plug on the northern part of a major national rail infrastructure upgrade doesn't send a message (Londoners will still be able to/from get to Brum quickly) then I'm not sure what will convince you that the Torys just don't care about the North... He's had your vote, he's got plenty of seats now. He's got another couple of years in power and is more than likely going to **** you over while telling you it's for your own good. It's ok to make mistakes, but you should be ready to learn from them.
Like I said let's revisit the list in a couple of years and see how things are stacking up, if Boris has suddenly become the magnanimous man of the people; will he be securing jobs and opportunities outside of the SE, or making last minute "spending announcements" having spent another couple of years awarding contracts to Chums, rigging the tax system and eroding employment rights and regulations.
Stop feeding the trolls
When all your economic policies have failed or been shown to be a ruse, the age-old tradition is to pull the race card as we see now with the migrants.
I can't believe it - another of Boris's bridges has been scrapped... 🤣
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59368707
Just watching him "perform" addressing the CBI Conference. I've seen some bad presenting but he is in a whole other league. An absolute total shambles, incoherent, stumbling, embarrassing to watch.
He is now on about "Pepper Pig"... WTF! This man has no ability at all.
Is he OK?
https://twitter.com/NathWiddowson/status/1462726687398010884?t=Mfhl8X5iQ1U9UFNPoR26vw&s=19
Imagine the press if that was Diane Abbot… or Kier Starmer come to think of it…
Care cap examples here
I think this shows very well how this has been tweaked to turn it into a “protect the assets of the rich” scheme…
Still pissed.
Pissed? It’s like he’s been snorting ketamine
https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1462734323652743173?s=21
F*** business indeed.
... and everyone else, for that matter.
It's like one of those nightmares you have about having to give a presentation to the entire school but you haven't done any research or preparation. Surprised he didn't look down and find he was naked as well.
And this is our leader on the global stage.
And on a day he needs his MPs to vote for a social care cap that will disproportionately hit the poorest over the richest
And on a day he needs his MPs to vote for a social care cap that will disproportionately hit the poorest over the richest
To be fair, I doubt many of them would need much encouragement to vote for something like that. Unless they think it isn't hard enough on the poor.
To be fair, I doubt many of them would need much encouragement to vote for something like that.
Its those red wall ones he hung out to dry after forcing through his paterson sleaze wheeze & then u-turning on it
the blue wall ones will be loving this one
Is it me, or are Labour getting a bit more aggressive with using this kind of stuff?
Just watched bits of this speech from twitter feeds; Too early to start drinking that heavily, even for the PM!
bants
Let's hope Labour's alternative PM doesn't lose his way! His speech is in half an hour. No pressure...
Let’s hope Labour’s alternative PM doesn’t lose his way! His speech is in half an hour. No pressure…
It was at 130, he made a dad joke at the start and then proceeded to talk about a new social contract; investing in skills; shared prosperity; industrial strategy; digital & tech focus; rights & responsibilities on employers to actively engage with workers
the exact opposite of Johnson
It’s like one of those nightmares you have about having to give a presentation to the entire school but you haven’t done any research or preparation. Surprised he didn’t look down and find he was naked as well.
It's carefully calculated I'm sure. This article has been posted before but it is a good read:
https://reaction.life/jeremy-vine-my-boris-story/
Wait, that was actually the country's leader there? Someone visible on the world stage? And he messed up that badly??? Shit, I just did training for a small bunch of people and I prepared more than he appeared to.
What a total clown.
Is still find it astonishing the deference shown by some on here to Johnson - he is an incompetent dimwit just a useful idiot for the powers behind him
Am I the only one thinking BoJo, Gove & JRM have bets on who can say the stupidest stuff and not laugh during interviews and speeches? BoJo's certainly upped the ante by name dropping Peppa Pig into a speech to the CBI.
Or they could all just be out-of-touch coke heads playing at government.
Imagine the press if that was Diane Abbot… or Kier Starmer come to think of it…
Indeed.
Too similar really
It's an act. Whilst the media laugh at him his back room staff are about to shaft us with the health and social care bill.
You might not all be aware but the CBI absolutely Love Peppa Pig!
It just seems like BoJo is a bumbling ****wit, but He's actually playing 12 dimensional Mega-Chess.
Losing his place? Nah, it was deliberate a cunning manipulation of the coverage...
And perhaps that's partially true, The headlines won't be about anything Kier might say in his own speech or how the CBI received it, instead it's all going to be about the nations most beloved Buffoon getting in a muddle and blathering about a children's cartoon pig...
Lovable old Boris, what a character eh?
Lovable old Boris, what a character eh?
He's a something alright, and it starts with c, but it's not 'character'.
There may well be a few abstentions on tonights Social Care & NHS vote, but I suspect itll slip through
https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1462816525639995392
johnson is making things harder for himself tho
Just heard a couple of clips from johnson's embarrassing shambolic 'speech' to the CBI.
God almighty.
In a functioning democracy he would be managed out - and quickly.
It is looking more and more like the party will axe him before the next GE, the only issue being the timing.
BBC suggesting "sources at No10" are briefing against Boris and saying things need to change. Dom but not forgotten?
Much as I hate the bastard, but this speech fiasco sounds too painful to listen to.
In a functioning democracy he would be managed out – and quickly.
I think he's going to be 'managed out*', and we haven't even got one.
*knifed viciously by his party.
https://twitter.com/guardianheather/status/1462850590518689798?s=21
https://twitter.com/lisanandy/status/1462762303787524099?s=21
https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1462810703358840838?s=21
https://twitter.com/mattgreencomedy/status/1462810823697575943?s=21
Some context free pasting of Twitter posts.
Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me.
I'm starting to wonder, are the Tories more likely to win or lose if Boris is still PM at the next GE?
I'm starting to hope he stays PM as I can't but help think he could be a real negative to them by then.
Channel 4 news are leading with the bizarre ramblings of the fly-tipped sofa to the CBI and looking at him facing a full scale backbench rebellion particularly from the new ‘Red Wall’ intake.
Looks like any authority he inexplicably commanded is evaporating rapidly as the Tory WhatsApp groups are full of talk of him literally losing the script
can see why he had (or those around him encourage) the habit of going AWOL....
It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.
I thought that Boris at the CBI speech was quite good by his standards. Interesting how words are added to distort history. The first nuclear power station to provide power to a grid was built by the Soviets in 1954. However, Boris added the word "commercial" to claim a first for Britain even though Calder Hall opened 2 years later. Of course the Soviet one wasn't commercial, it was part of the Soviet command economy!
Much beating of the chest and talk about past glories. When Boris talks about "world beating", world leading" etc. take a closer look.
I’m starting to wonder, are the Tories more likely to win or lose if Boris is still PM at the next GE?
That is a thought - if they replace him with anyone half competent, there could be a big Tory bounce as everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Health & care bill passed by 26 votes
Which means more abstentions than I thought!
But still no real spine from tory rebels yet
WhatsApp groups are full of talk of him literally losing the script
I saw it on the news, spectacularly cringe-making!
Health & care bill passed by 26 votes
Bloody shameful, that is; another net gain for rich homeowners in posh neighbourhoods. #rollseyes
I think today has totally killed any lingering illusions for many that might still have thought leveling up was anything more than a nice little slogan.
The tories have been rotting from within for a long while but now its on very public display. I can't help think that the malignancy that is Brexit is actually showing contagion. Remember that all those around BJ that should be reigning him in/advising him are only their for their undying support of both it (Brexit) and him. In fact support of one is explicit support of the other.
Hell, even the Express is a bit half hearted in their support for him on the front page. The fact they even acknowledge the verbal train wreck says something.
Interesting how words are added to distort history. The first nuclear power station to provide power to a grid was built by the Soviets in 1954. However, Boris added the word “commercial” to claim a first for Britain even though Calder Hall opened 2 years later. Of course the Soviet one wasn’t commercial, it was part of the Soviet command economy!
Obninsk was a single 5MW reactor, that's not commercial scaling by any measure. Calder Hall had four 60MW reactors, for comparison. It is also internationally recognised as the first commercial scale station, nothing to do with communism.
The Russians were still the first though and you join in with those wishing to change history with your own criteria.
The Russian one was the first nuclear power station to provide power to the grid. Period. Anything about size or "commercial" is rewriting history. You've turned Boris' "comerical" into "Commercial scale". It was still second. 🙂 Clutching at straws to claim to be "world beating", that's a Conservative party speciality right now. When the reality isn't so glorious.
Back to Johnson…
No! Back to Sunak…
The chancellor is tightening up spending plans, and making sure that the least well off, and those in less well off areas, and doubly the least well off in the less well of areas, bear the brunt of that. He’s cancelled rail infrastructure in the North and changed the care cap so that those with modest homes aren’t protected in the same way as those with average or high value homes. Policy wise, it is Sunak with his fingerprints on the knife…
Reactors need a lot of electricity. You probably missed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
It almost certainly was connected as it needed to be able to "pull" power from the grid.
Being shot out of a canon would only be considered a valid incidence of "powered flight" if you are a clown.
Health and care bill passed despite rebels, everyone is talking about Peppa Pig. Job done.
Being shot out of a canon would only be considered a valid incidence of “powered flight” if you are a clown.
We have a clown, have you got the cannon? Could be a big NHS fundraiser if it was live streamed. Pretty sure Sunak would get behind it.
Calder Hall had four 60MW reactors
I've just finished the DC electrical side of the installation on some solar panels, sat quietly in a few fields in Worcestershire and South Wales - between them, they generate 125MW
Just for the record, as STW's resident far right nutter - I cannot abide Boris and this current govenment either
I’m starting to hope he stays PM as I can’t but help think he could be a real negative to them by then.
Replacing him with Sunak has it own problems for a lot of Tory voters as he is "one of those types we are trying to keep out"
In all seriousness I think Johnson needs to see a doctor.
Health & care bill passed by 26 votes
Don't forget that's a first pass- it's off to HoL now, who'll be bouncing it back with amendments I expect. After that we'll really see which way the wind's blowing.
I’m starting to hope he stays PM as I can’t but help think he could be a real negative to them by then.
Boris's at the wheel...
It is also internationally recognised as the first commercial scale station, nothing to do with communism.
Its purpose was to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. That it also produced a small amount of electricity for domestic consumption was a side benefit.
I’m starting to wonder, are the Tories more likely to win or lose if Boris is still PM at the next GE?
I’m starting to hope he stays PM as I can’t but help think he could be a real negative to them by then.
I was wondering this today after waking to all the news about his performance at the CBI.
I think with Boris gone the Tories might lose. So many of the northern Tory voters that I know and work with voted Tory purely because of Boris - "He's a laugh, int he? Not like the rest of them", etc. Maybe a condescending take that simplifies their voting intentions too much but it's the genuine feeling I've got from a solid cross section of typically Labour voting north-east folk.
With him gone and the party unable to hide its war on the poors behind the Johnson clown act I think a lot of the northen voters will come to their senses. Starmer/Rayner vs Sunak/Gove/Raab/whoever is a completely different vote compared to Boris vs Corbyn.
As useless as he is I cant see him being gone yet
Tory polls have fallen, but not collapsed
If he can keep his head down between now & xmas & not make too many more fk ups he'll be fine
Winning the upcoming byelections will give him a boost, even on a reduced majority, itll still be seen as a win
I think today has totally killed any lingering illusions for many that might still have thought leveling up was anything more than a nice little slogan.
I dunno, a 'wobble' from Boris can be explained away by the faithful and the absence of any actual "levelling up" can still be blamed on Covid for at least another 6 months. like any other sort of faith New-wave Torys can probably insulate their minds from facts with repetition of the various slogans for a good while yet...
In a functioning democracy he would be managed out – and quickly.
Another "Night of the long knives"?
It is the conservative way, but they need to get the next preferred candidate lined up properly first. My money would be on Lil-Rishi. But I think there's still some work to do there yet; Some of the blue wall voters might need persuading and he will need to put some political distance between himself and Boris without getting dropped from the cabinet...
Becoming PM is still a much more poisoned chalice right now, the pandemic certainly isn't over, ongoing Brexit fallout, a likely (probably global TBF) recession on the horizon, corruption and gaffes from your own party and still a fair while until the next GE. The last thing you want to do is pull a Theresa and "Carpe the wrong diem"...
The smarter move for any aspiring PM right now would be to keep your head down, let Boris carry on making a hash of things and for some of the current nonsense (corruption especially) to run it's course. Let the other stooges field the tricky press conferences and stick to your brief, until at least the summer, possibly next Autumn and then let the knife wielders do their thing...
Sunak can swoop in and frame himself as a Tory saviour in late 2022 or early 2023 with a clear 18-20 months in office. None of the new red-wall would vote for the likes of Priti/Gove/Raab or any other member of the Cabinet that might think they have the public profile to be leader.
I reckon Boris will still be in No 10 in 6 months (just).
It’s an act. Whilst the media laugh at him his back room staff are about to shaft us with the health and social care bill.
Losing his place? Nah, it was deliberate a cunning manipulation of the coverage…
And perhaps that’s partially true, The headlines won’t be about anything Kier might say in his own speech or how the CBI received it, instead it’s all going to be about the nations most beloved Buffoon getting in a muddle and blathering about a children’s cartoon pig…
You've both hit the nail on the head.
Similar to when the "fuel shortages" started. It was when the Labour Party Conference was on , so what were the headlines full of......
Ooh look, a squirrel...
I was waiting for this:
Oof!
Johnson approval doing worse than it was over last years winter lockdown u-turn
and gone negative even amongst leavers
https://twitter.com/DrAlanWager/status/1463098508655878147
No.10 having to deny that he's unwell? Is that euphemism for "No, he wasn't pissed"
Michael Spicer - 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
and gone negative even amongst leavers
Holy s***! That's like burning their messiah.
Of course its all an act from him - and act to cover his lackadaisical incompetence
Others may ( IMO are) using him as cover and managing the news but the idea that Johnson is some sort of manipulative genius is balderdash and piffle.
he acts the buffoon to cover up his incompetence
Hadn't he vowed to give up booze until his new kid is born (December?). He just needs a big glass of wine and suddenly everyone will think he's brilliant again.
I’m sure this has been shared many times before but anyway.
Boris Johnson, people always ask me the same question, they say, 'Is Boris a very very clever man pretending to be an idiot?' And I always say, 'No.'
Ian hislop
Of course its all an act from him – and act to cover his lackadaisical incompetence
I would argue its a mix. Sometimes he deliberately acts up in order to be that cool non elite rebel with a handy secondary bonus of when he just screws up like yesterday people will claim he is playing 14d chess as opposed to pigeon chess.
And so it begins
(still don't think he's done yet)
12 apparently
https://twitter.com/electpoliticsuk/status/1463262377273606152?t=bphislucRYC8Fak0929Fxg&s=19
Nothing in the universe as ruthless as a bunch of Tories scared of losing the next election. Do we have the names of the 12 yet?
I'm hoping he'll hang on long enough to bury their party for a while and expose Brexit for the sham it is.
There will always be a Tory party of course as there will always be a party to represent our baser human instincts. It's a shame but that's the truth.
I wonder how Carrie will feel about being married to a failed pm , I bet she is giving him hell. All her scummy mummy pals must be laughing their heads off.
^^ Also knowing he has buyer's remorse.
I'd almost feel sorry for her but she absolutely knew what she was marrying.
Following on from nickc's post ^^^ how long before the first reference to johnson being 'tired and emotional'?
I can't see Starmer using it but Rayner would, I think, relish the opportunity.
Yes, we know it's code but if it was used, for example, at PMQs would the speaker challenge it's use and demand a retraction?
Here's hoping Starmer pulls a sickie for PMQs and Rayner puts the boot in.
It's known that johnson can't handle forceful women - he might like to handle them, same as his father...
Johnson has been lagging Starmer for a while so you can see why they're worried
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1463165937142714371?t=mIZmqmAavSuKMwyiTVmiOA&s=19
Also remember May survived her first no confidence vote, from arguably a weaker position
Here’s hoping Starmer pulls a sickie for PMQs and Rayner puts the boot in.
I'd pay to see that.
Off topic slightly, is anyone else surprised he hasn't come down with a second dose of Covid yet?
He blatantly still doesn't give a crap about masks/distancing/shaking hands etc.
Matter of time, surely?