look at the words “it is not my understanding”…

This Government manages to not understand, not be aware of, not be briefed on and not have sight of pretty much everything it’s supposed to be managing. Impressive.

so the above quote could technically still be true

Although not the best excuse since if I had heard nonspecific claims about someone I was thinking of giving a senior job to, especially one relating to handling these sort of claims, I think I would have put a few minutes into trying to find out the specifics.
Or on the other hand I might have just gone “he is a grade a arsekisser who will help me out so sod it”.

He certainly seems to be that.
Correction: age has FA to do with it, cf Streeting and Corbyn.

look at the words “it is not my understanding”…

Exactly. Interviewers absolutely need to be pinning ministers down on specifics so there’s no weasel room later. I know using vague language is not a new phenomenon in politics, but we seem to be an era where this government in particular is a house of cards built upon lies.

“I think you overestimate how important the Oxford Union Society is in the University.”

I hadn’t so much thought about the societies effect on the University, rather the effect the debating style they nurture have on the country itself.

That adversarial and sophistic style is mirrored both in parliament and our press. It has also found a broader audience with the internet and the format has become widely duplicated by many other institutions.

It sees truth at one end or the other. With its “which is best: Rome or Greece?” type of positing. It disavowes nuance (which is obviously where truth lies) and doesn’t allow for concepts to exist concurrently. Winning is all that counts.

As you point out, the society is a training ground for toffs to go on and rule the country and the debating model established has a big role in shaping our political discourse.

According to Michael Fabricant Tory mp’s feel sorry for Pincher and he is also a victim.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chris-pincher-michael-fabricant-mp-b2115922.html

As you point out, the society is a training ground for toffs to go on and rule the country and the debating model established has a big role in shaping our political discourse.

And it’s exactly what PMQs is based on – a bit of theatre and charade where you don’t answer the question, you bray repeatedly about how good YOU are and how bad THEY are.
Divisive and combative and quite “showy” but not actually much use in policy or governance.

I was watching Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation” last night. It was the series that launched BBC2 (and is quite possibly the best TV documentary ever made).

This quote seemed rather prescient.

“Authoritarian governments don’t like dictionaries, they live by lies and by bamboozling abstractions. They can’t afford to have words accurately defined”

And it’s not just politicians who are murdering the language. Before watching Civilisations I watched Newsnight, where Kirsy Wark afforded Jacob Lynch Mobb a dozen opportunities to characterise something that his own party’s disciplinary committee has confirmed to be true as being ‘gossip’.

See also the media’s acquiescence with the government with their endless rolling out of the phrase ‘culture war’.

Looks more like a ‘special operation’ to me…

I imagine Raab’s “understanding” is what he was told. And McDonald has stated that most likely what he was told was untrue. Hence the two can be reconciled and Raab goes off to wonder how many more times he must defend a lying boss.

I see Tory MPs are once again at the end of their tether with Johnson

You can only hope that they remain unable to find their spines & depose him

he is a disaster for the Tories

After Partygate I thought it’d calm down and they’d tighten up a bit but this constant drip drip is going to continue for as long as this guys PM, he clearly doesn’t do details and wants to be liked so everyday there’s some decision being made without the full picture or ‘he’s a good egg, it’ll be fine’.

You know from what ever job your in it’s barely ever fine, this guy is continuing to set himself up for a fall every week, if not every day, long may it continue, I just hope the damage is limited to the people around him and the Party rather than the wider populace, but there’s always overspill.

Authoritarian governments don’t like dictionaries, they live by lies and by bamboozling abstractions. They can’t afford to have words accurately defined

Doublespeak

According to Michael Fabricant Tory mp’s feel sorry for Pincher and he is also a victim.

Even for an odious League of Gentlemen character, Fabricant never ceases to come up with new ways of being despicable. Is he just taking cues from the yanks – trying to troll ‘liberal snowflakes’?

Labour has been granted permission to ask an urgent question about this latest debacle in parliament and there’s also meant to be a press briefing now.

Boris is hiding in a fridge, obviously, and apparently they’re struggling to find anyone to volunteer to stand in for either the press or parliament. No surprise given that what the poor mug is briefed to say will be a pack of lies which is constantly subject to change/backtracking/screaming U-turn

Everyone has gone to ground, so expect some poor sacrificial junior bag-carrier who nobody has heard of

can someone dub Mad World by Tears for Fears over the top?

Huge mistake to let cameras into cabinet meeting today. Look at the grim faces around that table. Compare to previous occasions. Look at Javid, Coffey – one of the ministers sent out with a misleading briefing. Look at Gove! Even Dorries knows the gig is up. NOT a happy ship. ~AA pic.twitter.com/h5wK58NFOq

— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) July 5, 2022

New: frankly jaw-dropping No 10 briefing at which we are told Boris Johnson *was* briefed in 2019 that Chris Pincher had been found to have groped someone while a foreign office minister, but Johnson didn’t initially remember this. As much as I could follow things.

— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) July 5, 2022

I see Johnson’s selective memory is in full swing again.

No, I knew nothing of any allegations.
Well I knew there were allegations but not the specifics.
Oh wait HIM?! Oh yes, I do remember now…

🤔
Although when so many members of the party are sexpests and porn watchers, it might be difficult to keep track of the specifics…

Boris is hiding in a fridge, obviously

Not quite – he’s on the phone to Ukraine…

Not quite – he’s on the phone to Ukraine…

Tomato / Помидор

It’s great that the ‘defence’ they’ve now settled on is “how the hell am I supposed to remember every time one of this gaggle of deviants and perverts is accused of sexual assault?!! “

Amazingly 1/3rd of the electorate still want to vote tory!

This seems unsustainable to me

Fair to say that all of this is going down absolutely appallingly among Tory MPs.

A Government source says: "Backbenchers who went back to constituency surgeries at the weekend were being asked by voters how many boys they had touched up this week. The mood is not great."

— Tony Diver (@Tony_Diver) July 5, 2022

Oh wow just seen the Raab interview !!!!

Susanna Reid: How does someone who is found guilty by an internal investigation.. get to be deputy chief whip?

Dominic Raab: You say found guilty

SR: An investigation upheld the complaint

DR: Using the word guilty is wrong

SR: So what does an upheld investigation mean? #GMB pic.twitter.com/PkNdPA4AOu

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) July 5, 2022

talk about car crash

I am amazed they still go and put themselves through that. Aside from anything else its the probability that the u-turn ten minutes later will make them look even worse.

Therese Coffee certainly doesnt look enamoured of Johnson this morning

Every Single face around the Cabinet table this morning looks haunted pic.twitter.com/1KoCpAsTJI

— Chris Kimberley (@ChrisKimberley) July 5, 2022

@bruneep No tablets, but I wonder if there is a surgical option.

I think when your over-arching approach is ‘f you. What are you going to do about it?’ nothing very much at all matters apart from riding that train as far as it goes.

They all knew what they were doing when they hitched themselves to a lying, sexually incontinent charlatan like Johnson.

Now they know they’re all ****ed, they can’t get shut of him and he’s going to take all hands down with him

Shall we break out the worlds smallest violin?

Can anyone else remember former senior civil servants breaking the Omertà like this?
Usually, they’re so tight lipped about anything that happened/happens in briefings with ministers

I think GMB is probably assumed to be a ‘soft touch’ interview by politicians, but Reid is actually a proper journalist with lots of time served on Beeb Radio and TV News before getting her current gig…

Raab’s got form for this way of talking to the media too, every interview with him on R4 is just combative, semantic bullshitting to avoid actually saying whichever thing everyone knows to be true. Somewhere along the way he’s been told that trying to gaslight an interviewer is a great way to “win” and hasn’t twigged that it just makes him appear even more evasive and clueless…
Long may it continue, every time he’s shoved in front of the Mic/Camera (because Boris is in the fridge) it does a little more damage to the Tory government…

Well done Susanna Reid.
If itv isn’t careful they’ll be nationalised.

The degree of contempt this government has for the public is truly staggering.

Definite change of tone on the Beeb today. Effectively saying No10 are lying – again – and saying ministers are not wanting to come out and support the party line and then be shown to be lying

wish Marina would stop punching down! it’s wrong to mock the afflicted 😉

I can’t even remember what number of Downing Street reboots we’re on now, but every single scandal still plays out like an awayday exercise in which a team of Dadaist amateurs have been given a disaster scenario and told to wargame it.

genuine LOL

Couldnt decide if The End by the Doors or this worked better..

This seemed appropriate pic.twitter.com/2XJ4isHeHi

— Chris Kimberley (@ChrisKimberley) July 5, 2022

Sajid Javid resigned!
First domino to fall?

The Saj has just resigned to go and set up his leadership campaign

Johnson has just given the most blathering ‘dog ate my homework’ car crash interview I’ve ever seen to Chris Mason on the BBC

I have spoken to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Health & Social Care.

It has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience. pic.twitter.com/d5RBFGPqXp

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 5, 2022

He’ll no doubt be back shortly as the man to lead the Tories out of this mess…

Taxi for BJ! Sunak gone too.

Sunak gone too

Rishi’s just jumped ship tools

Can’t wait to see who he proposes for the jobs of chancellor and health secretary.

The remaining Chuckle Brother and the Downing Street dog?