Boris Johnson!

Anyone getting any work done today?

Between this and what looks like a cracker of a tour stage later my productivity today is gone

Reading the news and watching Boris squirm is great! Unfortunately my mind then turns to who/what next and I remember how few quality politicians of any party exist at the moment. The sad fact is I can’t see anyone able to steer the country out of the mess we are in. 😞
Still, a Tory party implosion and clown performance is always fun watching!

How many’s that now?

The sad fact is I can’t see anyone able to steer the country out of the mess we are in. 😞
Still, a Tory party implosion and clown performance is always fun watching!

Yep, we might as well enjoy the show before the conflagration swallows us.

The sad fact is Johnson isn’t the worst option here, not by a long way and even if they pluck some miracle worker out of obscurity the transfer is going to hurt at a time when there’s no room for it.

The sad fact is Johnson isn’t the worst option here, not by a long way and even if they pluck some miracle worker out of obscurity the transfer is going to hurt at a time when there’s no room for it.

The logical and inescapable culmination of Brexit – the country is literally on it’s knees now. Asset stripped, soaring inflation, worsening standards of living, zero political leadership from anywhere.
Tories are mired in sleaze, squalor and corruption. Labour are blinkered to anything that goes against The Sacred Referendum That Must Be Obeyed. Who knows what policies the Lib Dems have? And up in Scotland, SNP are tearing themselves to bits over whatever IndyRef number they’re on now plus the minor loss of £billions.

And now we’re faced with a complete overhaul in Government, new ministers (most of whom are only in post cos they’re rabid Brexiteers or Johnson loyalists and therefore thick as shit) and a PM who’s only policy is to lurch from one scandal to another and who’s days are probably numbered anyway.

PMQ’s are going to be awesome. Never have I tuned in so much in the last few months after each now scandal.

He’s still not going to resign though.

He’s going to get a visit from the men in grey suits telling him it’s time to go.  The Tories don’t half make regicide entertaining!

another

Vicky Atkins (via insta) I have given you the benefit of the doubt at each turn but now the govt cannot provide focus country needs pic.twitter.com/xvPHeysva2

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 6, 2022

men in grey suits

One senior figure on the '22 tells me that they now favour a delegation going to tell Boris Johnson that it is over, and that they'll change the rules if he won't resign

— James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) July 6, 2022

He’ll threaten a general election and they’ll back off. He’s quoted in the Times: ‘F*** that.’

EXC: The 1922 Committee will meet at 5 pm and if it's quorate in favour of changing the leadership rules it will do so and there could be a ballot on Johnson's leadership next week.

Read our live blog: https://t.co/Z8aTAiTTsk

— Kitty Donaldson (@kitty_donaldson) July 6, 2022

Shall we have a charity sweep stake on which incompetent we get next then?

No one should forget that, once the panto at the top of the Conservative Party is over (at least this episode), the UK’s stupid nationalist/populist posturing is going to be exposed for what it is over the NI protocol.

The UK is about to find out what a political red line truly is – unless we change course.

It doesn’t matter what Zahawi or anyone else does if we embark on another step-change to prices as a result of a futile trade war with the EU. Sooner or later we’re going to have to co-operate with the EU in a spirit of actual co-operation. Then the question will be “why did we leave in the first place?”

It is a good question and, like all good and pointed questions, it cannot be answered truthfully by those who campaigned for it.

EDIT: I guess my point is that only a small part of this current circus is Johnson himself. It is symptomatic of the fix the UK put itself in back in 2016 – the impossible task of squaring Leave Lies with international reality. UK politics will be unstable and ineffective until we go cap in hand back to the EU. That is just the way it is. Anything else is delaying (or hastening) that moment of ‘surrender’.

He’ll threaten a general election and they’ll back off.

As I understand it he’d need a majority vote for that, can’t see him getting more than a few cabinet loyalists to vote in favour given the significant risk they’ll be out on their arses if it goes to a GE. So despite the fact that the entire of the rest of the house would, the tory rebellion would see it fail.

It is a good question and, like all good and pointed questions, it cannot be answered truthfully by those who campaigned for it.

And if Brexit taught you one thing I would hope its that they don’t need to.

I’m afraid if you think it will make a difference you’re on the wrong side of history.

And if Brexit taught you one thing I would hope its that they don’t need to.

I’m afraid if you think it will make a difference you’re on the wrong side of history.

Sooner or later the damage caused will have to be addressed. You can’t throw away 3-4% of your GDP, permanently, and expect not to have to do something about it. The only route (if it remains open) is to go back to where we started.

easy job, but Starmers first question neatly filleted blohard

This is wonderful viewing. So much for the hallowed Oxford Union training 😃

The sad fact is Johnson isn’t the worst option here, not by a long way

The problem with threads like this one is that the constant focus on demonising Johnson loses sight of this very fact.

One example of this is the accusations that Johnson is a racist, well he’s a Tory what would you expect?

There isn’t however any evidence that Johnson is particularly racist, in fact the complete opposite.

It all seems to be based on his use of the words pickaninny and watermelon smiles (none of which is particularly racist) some 20 odd years ago when he had to write entertaining waffle for spectator readers who enjoyed his pompous eccentric style.

Contrast that with David Cameron who made outrageous racist comments whilst he was actually Prime Minister. Examples include

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33945402

The idea that migrants are “breaking in” suggests that they thieves, criminals, that probably deserve to be locked up.

Another example of inflammatory language from Cameron as Prime Minister

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33716501

Describing migrants as a “swarm” is comparing them as insects, pests, which need to be dealt with.

Another example of Prime Minister Cameron.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/27/david-cameron-bunch-of-migrants-jibe-pmqs-callous-dehumanising

Dismissing refugees “a bunch of migrants” is designed to dismiss them as worthless.

And yet despite all that, and the fact that Johnson has had a remarkable amount of black and asians in his Cabinet, more than any other UK PM ever, and the fact that he has never as PM used inflammatory language even approaching that of Cameron, Johnson is vilified in a way that other more deserving Tory politicians haven’t been.

Gove & Truss both to busy to attemd PMQs

Gove & Truss both to busy to attemd PMQs

Too clever. And that’s not something I say lightly about Truss.

Edit, actually no Gove particularly is quite possibly too busy preparing his bid for the leadership to risk getting covered in the poo which will undoubtedly be flying about there today.

Gove & Truss both to busy to attemd PMQs

Watching the front bench, Zahawi and Dorries are precisely the nodding dogs that Starmer said. But Raab to the right of BoJo looks completely nauseated.

Gove & Truss both to busy to attemd PMQs

Got knives to sharpen.

Had to turn off pmq’s after 5mins – Boris is doing my nut in…

But Raab to the right of BoJo looks completely nauseated

Dead man walking – no way he keeps his seat at the next GE now

How noisy are the govt benches?

‘A Z list of nodding dogs’ was a good line from Starmer

Johnson’s rejection of reality is now total. The only question is how long he can carry on in his little fantasy world

Johnson’s rejection of reality is now total. The only question is how long he can carry on in his little fantasy world

You could easily have said this at any time in the last 2 and a bit years, yet here we are.

A [not so] great man once called him Britain Trump and its turning out to be quite prophetic, even once he’s pushed it’ll be

I want to provide an update on our ongoing efforts to expose the tremendous voter fraud and irregularities which took place during the … Conservative leadership election in July

The other problem is there are plenty who will believe its some sort of remoaner coup unless we get someone a bit more brexity than Boris. Maybe one of the ones who actually believes in the project rather than just believing its their ticket to greater things.

The only question is how long he can carry on in his little fantasy world

There are levels of fantasy world at play.

There’s the one where Johnson in his own head thinks he can turn this around and be a latter day Churchill.

Ranging through to…

The one where Britain still has an empire, can sail a gunboat up a river to gain concessions and is seen as a heavyweight on the global stage.

All need to be addressed before we can get out of this rut.

Saj sticking the knife in and giving it a twist

Is May doing a passable impression of Gru by the way?

Yes, quite a damning statement from Javid

Javid putting shit on the Cabinet too!! 🥊

I’ve seen some bad PMQs but I’ve never seen anything like that. Conservative benches looking on in disbelief. He’ll be doing well if he makes it until the end of the day.

Saj sticking the knife in and giving it a twist

That was Javid setting out his stall for his leadership campaign. “We need to come together as a nation”, bring unity from both sides of the house etc, start again. He didn’t do too badly IMHO, but it was pretty obvious and cynical.

I wonder why he wanted / was permitted a speech when Sunak said nothing.

Javid putting shit on the Cabinet too!! 🥊

That was good though.

Saj sticking the knife in and giving it a twist

That was Javid setting out his stall for his leadership campaign. “We need to come together as a nation”, bring unity from both sides of the house etc, start again. He didn’t do too badly IMHO, but it was pretty obvious and cynical.

Only reading the highlights on the BBC but I can’t disagree that wasn’t a resignation speech, it was a stall setting,

Javid putting shit on the Cabinet too!! 🥊

That was good though.

“a team is only as good as its captain captain is only as good as his team”

Sounds to me more like “trust in me and be saved, I will rehabilitate you” or “you can all keep your jobs if you ditch him and support me” rather than sticking the knife in.

A little like with Trump, I see Johnson’s current situation as a consequence as much as he is the cause. He is a failed human being. A deeply unpleasant person. A proven liar with a poor work ethic and a wonky moral compass. But he still hangs on. And he can do that because there are enough sycophants, career politicians looking out for themselves and plain nasty or stupid individuals who can still stomach standing by him. He is just the fluffer; they are the true scum that the tory party is built upon. If this was happening on a battlefield, they would be the ones you’d run through, leaving Johnson as a toothless inept fool staggering around without consequence.

Gawd help us, but we are lumbered with tory governance for the next…forever…..whilst we have who we have doing the voting. The best we can possibly hope for is a tory with some vestige of a conscience getting the job; and whoever they are having a little black book right now with all the Johnson hangers on written in ready to ensure they never get a sniff of a government job ever again. If it’s someone who is yet to resign – well, we are truly ****.

and another

It is with sadness that I am resigning as Housing Minister.

I pay tribute to all my ministerial colleagues, officials, and civil servants in the Department and the wider sector.

I look forward to continuing to serve my constituents in Pudsey, Horsforth, and Aireborough. pic.twitter.com/wTnrr9rcSu

— Stuart Andrew (@StuartAndrew) July 6, 2022

Nice drive-by shooting by Saj.

This is going to get really interesting now. Apart from the thicko’s in the cabinet, who as Jess Phillips pointed out ‘have dipped their hands in his blood’, it looks like everyone wants him gone. 18 resignations so far?

But I don’t doubt he meant it when he says he is determined to carry on. He’ll be digging in, for sure

So, what now?

That NI minister, Conor Burns, on BBC politics program is a bit sociopathic. Gone from “calm down” to jaw clenching finger pointer in fractions of a second. But glad to know he’s guilty of loyalty to his friend. Put his name on the list for an office in the basement.