On the surface this should be seen as a good thing. My concern is what he does next and which dangerous individuals see an opportunity to fill the power void created by Cain and Cummings leaving.

What is a gammon?

Well, here in Germany its something that attracts LadyPeople. Probably won”t sell too much in the UK… when brands don’t transfer across cultures too well…

SFW
https://www.gammon.de

He’s said he’ll resign before and hasnt

He should have gone 6months ago

The vote leave narcissists rode the Populist wave & got elevated way above their abilities

Cause the mayhem but make sure you are not around for the fallout?

At first glance this seems like good news, but it must be tempered by the realities:

1. He is only going because it is ‘job done’ from his point of view. He has delivered an irreversible shock to the economy. The aftermath of which will be erosion of workers rights and the sell off of large parts of the public sector. He will be counting the billions in kickbacks and retainers from the people who really back him.

2. He is doing it to be out of the public eye when it all goes tits up early next year. He will continue to manipulate and influence from behind the scenes.

3. It is of his own volition. I’d much rather have seen him being chased down Whitehall in his socks by a pitchfork wielding mob. But he’s too cunning to be publicly visible when people’s lives are trashed by Brexit.

To be honest, I’d like to see him in court charged with treason. Money given to Leave was from dubious foreign sources. In effect he has acted against the interests of his own country and been partly paid by malicious state actors to do so. If they’re looking for a judge or jury member I’d like to put my name forward now.

dannyh +1

It’s like watching an episode of the thick of it. In the office Dom is shouting at his PA.
‘Right get onto the PM, tell him in that case I’m resigning.
Call comes back 10 minutes later
‘PM says that’s fine’

The vote leave narcissists ride the Populist wave & got elevated way above their abilities

Sums it up nicely for me, Lee Cain used to dress up as a chicken and follow Cameron about, that’s probably the limit of his ability. Cummings writes a wordy blog that no-one reads, he should probably go back to that.

So far the best Friday 13th ever on the face of it, with Sutcliffe dead too.   But DannyH +1

I’m mostly with dannyh, and the treason argument, though I fear it wouldn’t get past the CPS.

I do wonder if – now Brexit is done – enough of the Tories have got one eye on re-election to want to get rid of the man who has delivered what the people supposedly wanted, but who can be the bogeyman figure to blame going forward. Although to any right thinking person that just shows how spineless and opportunistic they are.

I think this picture contains the fall guy and the aspirant leader, once the fall guy has been suitably blamed.

It does seem rather like he’s going away just as the full extent of what he’s done will start to be seen.
It also seems to me like Boris will be left, somewhat rudderless, for another year whilst Brexit goes tits up and the economy crashes. Let him take the blame and then bring someone else in to preside of any kind of recovery. It’s just if they can make Gove even vaguely palatable to the public by then.

Remember the rumours of him going have been spun several times in the past by his pet journalists. Mostly when he has screwed something up and so it acts as a nice pressure release valve and consolation prize to those wanting to get rid of him now.
That said it might be that after a year of trying to put his fantasies into action he may have found its a bit harder than simply being a professional negative campaigner.

Maybe with the hardliners on their way out and Biden on the way in, Johnson (who I believe is actually pro-Europe) will soften and sign some sort deal.

Gove?

Not a chance, universally disliked within and without the Tory party, utterly lacking in charisma…

But I can believe some of them will coalesce around Rishi perhaps in a year or two if he can remain moderately gaff free and keeps on periodically subsidising the great unwashed’s Maccy-D habbit…

Dom never really belonged as part of the No10 bubble, it’s far harder to steer the narrative when you keep popping up as part of it… Plus I think deep down he knows it’s more fun to stand on the outside lobbing stones at those in power than having to fend off attacks and cling on to power…

I remember an article that he wrote saying (paraphrasing) “Brexit was the easy bit, what comes after will be the challenge”

well, it appears Cummings isn’t up to the task. All mouth and no trousers

All mouth and no trousers

Well-lined pockets, though.

It’s not really that he isn’t up to it, it is that he never had any intentions of trying. He’s done his bit. The bit he was paid for.

I’ve just done a bit of scratching around to see if I could find any outcomes to the “Hard rain” that was coming to the civil services. From what I can tell, it amounts to a shuffle of a couple of FCO fast track candidates , a change to the BoE Gov from the Former head of the FCA and a review by Francis Maude.

Gosh, civil servants up and down the land must be quaking in the sleep…

A couple of the points he made about senior civil servants were valid – not enough knowledge of their departments as they kept moving around, dabbling with projects in areas they didn’t understand and then being moved on to another department to make the same mistake. I’ve seen it happen.

But he was too keen on attacking the civil servants on a personal basis and not addressing the biggest barrier we have to delivering better public services, which is quite often down to rubbish legislation and regulations being brought in by people who don’t listen to the people on the ground. That’s not just a Tory problem, btw.

If you want truly to make us more efficient and effective, give us efficient and effective regulations to carry out

Can he not be done for leaving the scene of a crime?

He’s getting out to watch from abroad as Kent becomes a lorry park and the economy collapses in January. Boris will be gone then too, as the full scale of the disaster unfolds and we’ll be left with whichever muppet the blue rinses and retired colonels land us with next

To be honest, I’d like to see him in court charged with treaso

Whether it is treason or not really rather depends on who is running the country. Bit of a “I don’t like you” charge for the kings and queens of yore to excuse their execution orders.

Last used in 1945… don’t hold your breath.

A couple of the points he made about senior civil servants were valid – not enough knowledge of their departments as they kept moving around, dabbling with projects in areas they didn’t understand and then being moved on to another department to make the same mistake. I’ve seen it happen.

Ironic for Cummings of all people to make these accusations, though, don’t you think?

Especially when the current average period in tenure for senior cabinet positions is probably better measured in months than years. And that is without mentioning aptitude….

These snouts aren’t in need of any porcine perfume.

Whether it is treason or not really rather depends on who is running the country.

A lot of (entirely appropriate) damage can be done to a person’s standing just by having all the evidence laid out in court. The verdict isn’t everything.

Ironic for Cummings of all people to make these accusations, though, don’t you think?

Yes

How much vetting do the Tories do of party members? Is it worth joining to get a say in who is leader?

The government over last few years and in particular their handling of Brexit reminds me of a giant “The Apprentice” task, but one that’s playing out in real-life. Lots of confident ‘management’ speak from people whose opinion of themselves far outweighs any actual ability, blindly making ‘strong decisions’ and rushing from one panic to the next, before the whole thing collapses in a heap of steaming dog-turd.

And now Cummings is swanning off just as it gets really shitty, just like Cameron had this great idea of a Brexit referendum & then sodded off as soon as it went a bit pear-shaped.

Cameron had this great idea of a Brexit referendum & then sodded off as soon as it went a bit pear-shaped.

He was bounced into it as his ‘confident and assured’ act was just an act. When push came to shove he bottled it at the threat of Farage and UKIP leaching away the more xenophobic and hard of thinking Tory support and not ever giving it back.

The Nicotine Toad repeated the trick with ‘The Brexit Party’ setting the Tory agenda.

Cameron should have slapped him down properly and said “If you split my party enough, you’ll get a Labour government at the next GE. Your move Nige”.

His job will be done. Also having done his job of delivering the “will of the people” and saving us from COVID, Johnson will follow shortly afterwards having served his purpose as useful fool.

Boris gone and Rishi I’m his place by about April I reckon!

Who are the contenders;

Gove?
Sunak?
A leftfield unknown?

His job will be done

Only partially done. Sure he has trashed the UK but that was supposed to give him the opportunity to rebuild the civil service in his own image (or at least the false one he has of himself). He has mostly failed in that.

A leftfield unknown?

Right field more likely.

In the sick, twisted political world that Brexit has created, I reckon the headbangers would like a remainer like Hunt to be forever tarnished as he tries to repair the damage and largely fails.

Betraying the will of the people on the one hand and not fixing things for remainers on the other. The serious players are now nailed on to get their billions. The true blue Brexit Believers are going to get screwed over along with everyone else.

It was never about ideals it was about cash.

The government over last few years and in particular their handling of Brexit reminds me of a giant “The Apprentice” task, but one that’s playing out in real-life. Lots of confident ‘management’ speak from people whose opinion of themselves far outweighs any actual ability, blindly making ‘strong decisions’ and rushing from one panic to the next, before the whole thing collapses in a heap of steaming dog-turd.

Excellent description

Hunt has been playing it cool recently and sounding rational by Tory standards. Sunaks predecessor whose name escapes me has also been keeping his powder dry.

Boris gone and Rishi I’m his place by about April I reckon!

Nah, Boris is going to have to try and cling on for at least another year I reckon.

A lot of planning and effort went into positioning him in No10 (and Dom as well actually) and those that backed him will want their slice of the pie, CV19 has yielded some contracts for chums no doubt, but it’s also stood in the way of them blazing through Brexit and carving up a few national institutions, shredding some pesky regulations and awarding the odd contract for national infrastructure projects to another Bullingdon boy’s company…

Nope, he’s got debts to repay…

Crikey! The relentless propaganda war has finally achieved its objective.

I bet Kier, MTV maxheadroom, starmer must be salivating at the prospect of being the next No.10 occupant.

Will Sajid Javid return? He’s been keeping a low profile through all of this so far.

Will Sajid Javid return? He’s been keeping a low profile through all of this so far.

No mention of him in the drama yet.