Scrutable

He’s definitely lost the Telegraph. It’s not the force it once was. Has he lost the Mail?

Grumble wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:59 pm

Has he lost the Mail?

Hard to tell with the Harry and Meg hate going on.

Nickynockynoonoo wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:42 pm

Carrie Antoinette is on front page of the Sunday Telegraph. Photo of her very close to friend and not adhering to guidelines. Tut tut.

This is maybe a big derail, but I don't really follow UK gossip much and I'm completely out of the loop on why so many people hate Carrie Wotsit so much (beyond the obvious of shagging Johnson while knowing exactly what he's like, which apparently about 30% of the electorate would do).

Grumble wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:59 pm

Has he lost the Mail?

Not sure yet, but he's lost my Mail reading Father in Law who voted for Brexit and previously thought Boris was fab... so, if this n=1 is typical then he appears to be losing his core demographic... and if typical of Mail readers and the Mail has their finger on the pulse and follow their reader sentiment then he'll lose the Mail.

I think too many people are enjoying Boris squirm to let this go anytime soon. Thats the thing with being a disloyal lying cad, hard to rally genuine support when needed.

monkey wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:28 pm

Cardinal Fang wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:11 pm

According to the Scum, Express and Torygraph, Starmer was photographed drinking a beer whilst holding a meeting at a constituency office with a small number of election workers during last year's local elections

According to them that is far, far, far worse that the Conservatives holding multiple large parties over a long period of time with a lot more booze even though they were the ones that actually made the rules in the first place because... reasons

CF

Have you seen the video? It's proper creepy.

Was it a Corbynite or a Tory who took it?

My father in law who also voted brexit and also thought he was alright has started calling him Doris the Ditherer

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:54 am

Nickynockynoonoo wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:42 pm

Carrie Antoinette is on front page of the Sunday Telegraph. Photo of her very close to friend and not adhering to guidelines. Tut tut.

This is maybe a big derail, but I don't really follow UK gossip much and I'm completely out of the loop on why so many people hate Carrie Wotsit so much (beyond the obvious of shagging Johnson while knowing exactly what he's like, which apparently about 30% of the electorate would do).

It's 'cos she's a greedy, snobby cow.
Terry May's boring but perfectly pleasant #11 apartment was deemed a 'John Lewis nightmare' and only a £120k revamp (~30k from the public & 90k from a rich friend) would do, including wallpaper costing summat like £800/roll.
The one good thing she did was expose (one of) Johnson's (many) weakness(es). If he's too scared to explain to his Mrs that they don't have enough money to spend 1/8 of a million quid doing up a flat, then what hope has he got to deal with the more complex negotiations he needs to do?
Strangely, Labour never picked up on this, even though many of the bantz-loving knobends who reckon Johnson's ace would totally lose respect for someone they saw as being p.ssy-whipped.

tom p wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:31 am

£120k revamp

I've seen this photo used a lot to illustrate the new flat:-



TBF, although it often isn't clear in the original reportage, I don't think that's a photo of the actual flat but I believe that is a representative picture of the style taken from the designer's webpage.

If however the flat remotely resembles that you have to say it's f.cking horrible and proves the adage about money not buying you taste.

I suppose the other aspect of Carrie is, unlike most PM spouses, she isn't just random-person-who-happened-to-be-married-to-the-PM, she was a media official, SPAD and former Head of Communications for the Conservatives making her a horrible c.nt in her own right.

Finally the circumstances around how Carrie and Johnson ended up together, doesn't make great reading, IIRC the ex-wife was being treated for cancer at the time, although Johnson should take the bulk of the opprobrium for that rather than "the other woman".

jdc wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:00 pm

Seen the comments from David Allen Green (and others) about what Sue Grey can and can't do?

I hadn't - but have now thanks you to and GFamily...

So the report will likely just reiterate what happened, without stating blame - and the lack of blame will be pointed at to indicate he did nothing wrong. This report will also get the Southern Rail treatment (be delayed, and delayed, and delayed... then cancelled?).

Question is will the electorate buy it? If Boris gets another 'Shropshire Slapping' in May (albeit at local level) then I imagine the 54 letter limit will be reached pretty quickly afterwards - giving the new leader just under two years to turn the ship around.

He rejected the idea that ministers had been attempting to distract attention from Johnson’s political woes by briefing friendly newspapers on policies such as involving the Royal Navy in an attempt to stop small boat crossings in the Channel, and the likely end to the BBC licence fee.

“I’m glad you recognise that all this stuff about the government bringing stuff in the weekend is not true, because we work through policies based on our manifesto commitment,” Zahawi told Today.

Can't find anything in here https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan/ ... festo-2019 about them scrapping the licence fee (it does say "We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC", which appears to be the only reference and implies the TV licence will continue to exist, with u-75s paying and o-75s getting a freebie).

Boat and Navy get 0 hits in that doc. As do channel and crossing.

I did find this personal guarantee from the Prime Minister, which I assume has been upheld in full. Especially the last promise.

I guarantee:
• Extra funding for the NHS, with 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP surgery appointments a year.
• 20,000 more police and tougher sentencing for criminals.
• An Australian-style points-based system to control immigration.
• Millions more invested every week in science, schools, apprenticeships and infrastructure while controlling debt.
• Reaching Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.
• We will not raise the rate of income tax, VAT or National Insurance.

jdc wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:47 pm

Can't find anything in here https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan/ ... festo-2019 about them scrapping the licence fee

According to the Graun, Mad Nad did initially appear to say that it would end when the BBC's current charter ends. But they have since softened that to saying only that they'll look into it. The Tory spokesman put up on World at One today was happy to mention the practical problems with moving quickly to a subscription model.

Tory MPs suffer from the illusion of all politicians that the BBC is biased against them. And so maybe from time to time forget that a high proportion of their electorate think that the BBC is one of the best things about being British.

IvanV wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:58 am

jdc wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:47 pm

Can't find anything in here https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan/ ... festo-2019 about them scrapping the licence fee

According to the Graun, Mad Nad did initially appear to say that it would end when the BBC's current charter ends. But they have since softened that to saying only that they'll look into it. The Tory spokesman put up on World at One today was happy to mention the practical problems with moving quickly to a subscription model.

Tory MPs suffer from the illusion of all politicians that the BBC is biased against them. And so maybe from time to time forget that a high proportion of their electorate think that the BBC is one of the best things about being British.

Thanks Ivan.

She's rowed back a hell of a long way there. She'll have sore arms tomorrow.

IvanV wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:58 am

And so maybe from time to time forget that a high proportion of their electorate think that the BBC is one of the best things about being British.

The important thing is by picking a fight with In the Night Garden, Strictly and David Attenborough, Johnson will once again soar in popularity with the general public and they will instantly forget the rancid stench emanating from everything he touches.

This will leave more space for top quality TV shows like this one.

Operation Dead Meat is clearly a stroke of political genius.

Yebbut it's not the voters he has to distract right now, it's the anti BBC weirdos in his parliamentary party. Once the immediate 1922 crisis is over, he'll quietly backpaddle in plenty of time for the May elections.


Not that I think this'll work, but I think that's the plan.

Kay Burley, someone who knows what a party is*

* had to step down for 6 months after being called out for going to a party in lockdown

Ah! So that strange noise will be the whole country laughing then.

No-one told Boris that the party might break the law. If only he knew something about it! Also, ignorance is no defence against breaking the law.

Just heard on the Radio that Boris is denying being advised (by Dom and others) in advance of the party that it was a bad idea... (which would really be some pretty barefaced lying to parliament). I'm really hoping this is another trap and the evidence email of "Hey BoJo, this party next week is a bad idea" comes out any day now...

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:25 pm

Just heard on the Radio that Boris is denying being advised (by Dom and others) in advance of the party that it was a bad idea... (which would really be some pretty barefaced lying to parliament). I'm really hoping this is another trap and the evidence email of "Hey BoJo, this party next week is a bad idea" comes out any day now...

Plenty of wriggle room for the gullible though. I was told there was a gathering. I saw the tables with cheese and wine. But nobody told me that it was against the rules.

"The boss didn't tell me that it was against the rules" doesn't work too well when (a) you are the boss, (b) they were your rules, and (c) it's blatantly against the rules.

I'm kind of lost for words.

It's just...

how can he think that this makes him look better?

The fact that he thinks that answer helps him is mind-blowing to me.

lpm wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:45 pm

"The boss didn't tell me that it was against the rules" doesn't work too well when (a) you are the boss, (b) they were your rules, and (c) it's blatantly against the rules.

I know that.You know that.He knows that. But………

He did know it was against the rules = Lied to Parliament - Resignation.

He didn't know it was against his own rules = Terminally thick - Resignation.

I can't see an alternative ... but I expect he has one.

LBD and AC-12 smashing it out the park again.

https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/14 ... 3QlJYpAAAA

All too aware of the meme
"How can you tell that Boris Johnson is lying?"
"Because you can see his lips move";
the PM thinks he's got a way to build some credibility...