The Sun is now leading with a comment piece in support of Cummings, "Dominic Cummings has emerged triumphant — leaving his political enemies & media critics floundering". Comments are mixed. Some people are definitely buying the bullshit.
I really hoped this wouldn’t just go away, but it seems I’ll be disappointed again.
It really needs some high profile figures to come out and state the obvious, that the government are protecting their staff at the expense of public health.
It's astounding and genuinely a bit frightening what we've seen from the current government under Boris Johnson. I'm not sure there's been anything like it before? Certainly not in my lifetime. And even more frightening that people not only buy into it, but readily defend it, like they want more of it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52802057
Tory resignations begin....
Edit - posted earlier by numbers.
It's time for Starmer to stand up and get ripped into this lot, the Cummings issue is a deflection away from the rising tide of questions regarding the government's handling of this, the Times double page spread was bang on, this has been pushed into the background.
The Tories have a large majority and it's over 4 years before the next general election. The public and the news media don't have the attention span for this issue to last long enough for it to be a real problem for the government. Trump will do or say yet another egregious thing in a day or two and that'll grab everyone's attention, or something banal will happen involving a celebrity or a TV show or something.
The only way it'll affect Dominic Cummings in the long run is that it'll be remembered when he makes a mistake that pisses off the Tories, in which case his behaviour during lockdown will be used as another piece of pressure to get him sacked. But that won't happen until internal pressures within the Tory party start pushing against him, not because of what the public thinks.
Good for Douglas Ross, must be a very difficult decision.
@butcher not surprised at The Sun, absolute scum publication.
First domino? I guess this is partly a Scottish dimension to all this. The tories in Scotland were absolutely strident about Calderwood and made a huge fuss. They are now under attack for hypocrisy over this.
This is not going to go away. Commons in recess may actually make it go on longer as there will be fuss in the house over this once it returns
I fully expect a greater drip drip drip effect over this including action over the second visit
I applaud any MP or official who hands in their resignation over this.
It always concerns me too though, that in the long-term they will only be replaced by someone who is willing to accept it, tipping the balance and reinforcing the government's position.
I’m disappointed to see that (with the exception of this thread) the media (and social media) seem to have gone quiet and forgotten about it already. That’s exactly what the Tories wanted us to do. I feel very disheartened 😕
edit: hadn't refreshed the thread.
respect to Douglas, how unusual to have a minister with a spine and a conscience.
It really needs some high profile figures to come out and state the obvious, that the government are protecting their staff at the expense of public health.
You mean like the various scientific advisors who have? 20 Tory MPs? Virtually all the broadcast media?
Best thing my MP (Douglas Ross) has ever done. Good on him!
Rats deserting the ship springs to mind though, I can't see Boris lasting long 😆
Gove (arsehole) on R4 earlier repeating the 'some aspects of the story are palpably untrue' line without being specific which ones.
The reason for that is obvious. Cummings is lying. Gove know Cummings is lying. Gove is trying to avoid specifics that could trap him.
The refusal of the interviewer to go after his and ask 'which specific allegations are untrue?' means the beeb have been told to let it go. Probably via Keunssberg.
Death of democracy.
First domino?
Christ no. Did enjoy the Stalin-esque quality of all the top cabinet members tweeting almost exactly the same message this morning, obeying orders no doubt, and having the text pre-prepared for them as they clearly can't be trusted to write their own version of the message.
Edit: there was a member of the 1922 committee on the radio yesterday hinting darkly that they're not massively impressed. Whether it amounts of anything other than a private ticking off remains to be seen though, as annoyed as they might be, it's not really in their best interests to do anything other than help it go away...
Oh, the beeb news team are letting it go… the LK voiceover (it didn’t sound like reporting to me) on the piece about him last night was deeply creepy.
Anyway, he comes forward, admits that he did break all the rules as accused… and offers up an unrelated story about taking his child to a hospital 250 miles from home to gain sympathy.
[good Twitter thread]
https://twitter.com/sturdyalex/status/1264974282905587712?s=21
More Tory MPs calling for him to resign. Its still rumbling on and will continue.
Note also he has been caught lying over edited blog posts
Tory MP William Wragg, chairman of the influential Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs select committee, has added his name of to a growing list of Conservatives revolting against Dominic Cummings.
From the grauniad
they are prising his fingers loose one at a time
This is a slight coincidence, out of all the parts of the country to have a multi national pharma company.....
I disappear from STW for 3 days and the poison dwarf spawns near 1200 posts over his antics.
He's made himself distinctly unpopular, that's for sure.
Thing is, if he does get pushed, Boris promptly collapses like a flan in a cupboard, and then what steps into the (4 more years of this awful party) vacuum?
Gove
This is a slight coincidence, out of all the parts of the country to have a multi national pharma company…..
GSK have bits and pieces dotted all over the shop. So you get the possibility of living in a gorgeous area (Upper Teesdale) with a high-tech, well paid job just down the road in your sleepy market town.
Bit precarious if the company decides to up sticks though - not many pharma jobs to walk into in that area.
I used to live up that way. If you can make it work, quality of life is through the roof.
Apparently the bit in the guidance aboout special circumstances involving children was put in so that children in danger of abuse could be removed from the home, but DC pretends it is for the übermensch to make whatever choice they want.
I know GSK has facilities all over the place, making it more of a coincidence, along with the date of the article being published a day or two after Cummings visit to the same town....
This is a slight coincidence...
Already discussed. GSK HQ is in Brentford. Barnard Castle is a manufacturing site. A teleconference is a lot easier than driving to the other end of the country if you want to organise a conspiracy...
Cummings has broken the rules for his own convenience, lied about it, and is getting away with it by spreading a confusing mess of outright deceit, half truths and dead-cat distraction nonsense (the eye test). We don't need to help him by adding more noise.
I wonder if Gove is doing any stealth scheming with an eye on the top job?
eskay
Subscriber
I wonder if Gove is doing any stealth scheming with an eye on the top job?
Ive no doubt that every day he wakes up & considers who he has to backstab/suck up to, to further that goal
I wonder if bears shit in heavily tree-covered areas?
During that press conference on Monday, Dominic Cummings claimed that he had been worried about a pandemic for some time and that last year he had written about the possible threat of coronaviruses and the urgent need for planning.
Jens Wiechers, a data scientist, put Cummings’ blog post mentioning coronaviruses through the Wayback Machine – a digital archive – and found that the relevant paragraphs had been added on 14 April – the day Cummings returned to work after the trip to Durham.
Ive just written a letter to my MP
Im still pretty angry
what is really getting to me is the unbridled ****ing narcissism of the man
he went & changed his own blog (the day after returning from Durham) to say that he forewarned about a pandemic
his boss was in ICU, he himself had been very ill
the country was skyrocketing to the top of the list of deaths in Europe
and first thing he does when he gets back is alter his blog to make himself look smarter than he is and whilst spinning out a load of lies yesterday when millions were watching he felt the need to slip that untruth in with all the rest
FFS!
I'm hearing that Starmer is having to lie low because the press know Stephen Kinnock was been playing the same game.
I’m hearing that Starmer is having to lie low because the press know Stephen Kinnock was been playing the same game.
If thats true, the best thing he could do is fire Kinnock immediate and set the precedent.
Kryton. Agree.
NeilOxfords amazing document below shows CV cases/100000 population per day.
When Cummings took his kid to Hospital in Durham it shows County Durham was at it peak.
One of the whole points about not travelling to second homes was not overwhelming healthcare if you got sick. That is EXACTLY what happened. His CV riddled wife took a child to hospital.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49937937797_83d9046351_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49937937797_83d9046351_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2j5QZ6x ]Screenshot 2020-05-26 at 11.30.18[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76248110@N06/ ]danthomassw13[/url], on Flickr
I’m hearing that Starmer is having to lie low because the press know Stephen Kinnock was been playing the same game.
Kinnock is positive for covid?
If thats true, the best thing he could do is fire Kinnock immediate and set the precedent.
Kinnock doesn't work for him so that would be tricky.
Looks like the government message is reaching the Epsilons.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-lockdown-wales-gwynedd-beach-england-boris-johnson-a9531271.html
Only the Torygraph seems to be floating the poo of a story so far, naming
Stephen Kinnock seeing elderly parents (providing care for vulnerable ?).
Kevan Jones going to a birthday party.
Vaugh Gething picnic in park when picnics in parks were verboten.
Plus the sob story about Cummings uncle dying while Cummings was "isolating" in Durham (and not london).
It's been mooted that KS is lying low because the Tories are making a fine enough fist of cocking it up as it is. No point sticking his oar in and giving the Tory press opportunity to deflect attention to him when BJ/DC are causing enough of a car crash.
Starmer is hosting a meeting of opposition parties this morning.
I think he is also busy " not interrupting an enemy while they are making a mistake"
I have no doubt all all he will use this opportunity well. He is a barrister - this sort of thing is what they do. Unpicking holes in stories and skewering liars
Cummings has broken the rules for his own convenience, lied about it, and is getting away with it
Spot on kcr, this is pretty much the start middle and finish of this story. Most of the outrage has turned into parody, comedy and satire, it's already running out of steam. Most folk understand, there's one rule for them and another for us, It's rarely as blatant at this, but it's still true. This has run it's course.
Jens Wiechers, a data scientist, put Cummings’ blog post mentioning coronaviruses through the Wayback Machine – a digital archive – and found that the relevant paragraphs had been added on 14 April – the day Cummings returned to work after the trip to Durham.
Cummings narcissism extends to rewriting the internet. I thought he had smart mates who knew how this stuff worked.
Did the Civil Service I'm Spartacus moment happen yet over the short-lived but insightful twitter post? I see JK Rowling is offering to 'cover personal damages'.
nickc - its not run its course yet by any means - it will continue for weeks.
Another tory MP has come out and said "Cummings should be sacked" the tories in Scotland are running really scared of this as it makes their attacks on Sturgeon look even more hypocritical and many of them are on shoogly pegs.
Conservative home chair is calling for Cummings to resign - this is a real fan of Cummings and an arch brexiteer who chairs it.
Polls are showing a huge negative effect.
Edit - the letter writing to tory MPs is having a huge effect
Tory resignations begin….
This MP resigns over something that happened in the "south"? (Durham is north east but ...)
What is he going to do now?
He must be so rich or he must have something in the pipeline to suddenly resign during this uncertain time. A 2nd or 3rd job (footie referee) or living on wife's income? (wife must be very rich)
The reason I ask these practical questions is because I cannot afford to resign so young as I wish, I always wonder these people must be very rich or have some very strong safety nets.
At 37 year old isn't this the prime of one's career?
Another question is that he must be a rich 37 year old?
He joined the council at 27 year old within 10 years became an MP.
I have always been suspicious of politicians regardless so this MP's weird action makes me think more ...
Oh ya, for those splinters Tories please throw you name into the hat. Let the public decide.
I got a bland reply from my well and truly whipped local MP (John Lamont). Despite the content of my email and the explicit questions I asked of him, he has helpfully pointed out that the only thing that I am everyone else in the country is actually angry and frustrated about is the fact that "the focus of the government has been pulled away from the important task of keeping local communities safe and defeating coronavirus". He wants to put the matter behind us. Ahh, how nice.
So apparently I am not furious about Dominic Cummings lying over and over again. I am not angry of the sacrifices and stress my family went through whilst I was in hospital and my wife was at home with three kids, terrified that she too would get ill with no local support for childcare. I am not cross about hypocrisy, No, I am not cross about Boris not being in charge of his own adviser. I do not deserve answers about explicit lock down questions and I certainly am wrong about British people being patronised by a Government that applies different rules to its own. I do not deserve to know if my MP supports Cummings/BoJo stance. How silly of me to be mistaken with my anger. He has corrected me to point out that I am just angry that the Government has been distracted by this. Silly pleb that I am.
Spineless.
jeez, chewy is lockdown getting to you?
chewkw
Memberhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52802057
Tory resignations begin….This MP resigns over something that happened in the “south”? (Durham is north east but …)
What is he going to do now?
*Sigh* He's still an MP. He resigned from his post as a Scottish Office minister.
