New Tory Leader

[Van wink 2,994]

4 minutes ago, ricardo said:

They will ask his brother, Justin, to take over.

Or his cousins Open and Shut

[kirku 1,332]

1 minute ago, Van wink said:

Or his cousins Open and Shut

Don't forget Cold

[1902 1,167]

2 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

My constituency is Tory at the moment with George Useless Eustice, the MP. It has been fairly equally Labour and Conservative over the years with one intervention by the LibDems.

So there is no reason why the current Labour policies won't be accepted by the voters. There was absolutely no way they would accept the out of town art school hippie we were lumbered with in 2019 so the Tories do have a large majority. But up until then since 2010 the vote has been very close. Just over 60 votes  at one election.

So there is a good possibility that a decent local candidate could get Labour back in front.

True but Cornwall has a completely different political past to Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire though. Redruth was a mining town after all. A three way marginal is possible in an area with a Labour voting tradition but not in Wells or North Devon for example.

[kirku 1,332]

Pravda, is that you?

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by kirku

[Herman 9,765]

How much evidence do they need to prove that he is not fit to lead this fine country?? Faith, my arrsse.

[sonyc 5,518]

No wonder so many people have been actively bringing these developments to consciousness.  Potential voters be warned. More privatisation is wanted (for that, read profit) by the Tories. After all, why should public services remain in public ownership?

[kirku 1,332]

1 minute ago, sonyc said:

No wonder so many people have been actively bringing these developments to consciousness.  Potential voters be warned. More privatisation is wanted (for that, read profit) by the Tories. After all, why should public services remain in public ownership?

While I support the anti-privatisation sentiment, that quote from the first tweet above is so searingly obviously fake. 

[sonyc 5,518]

8 minutes ago, kirku said:

While I support the anti-privatisation sentiment, that quote from the first tweet above is so searingly obviously fake. 

Thanks K for the qualification.

Full Fact reply here below explains it is faux:

Clearly, a very emotive subject. One I've been keeping an eye on. Had heard too that the US trade deal discussions before had involved access to parts of our health service, both in terms of supply of equipment but also direct procurement. Privatisation of parts has been going on for years.

I've been wondering too that in the bigger picture, this government actually wants our NHS to fail.

Edited December 18, 2021 by sonyc

[kirku 1,332]

11 minutes ago, sonyc said:

I've been wondering too that in the bigger picture, this government actually wants our NHS to fail.

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, sadly.

Those who think that they would never do this need only look at the disaster the government has brought to agriculture with their hard Brexit and awful Australian Trade Deal - people believed they'd never sell out farmers.

[Herman 9,765]

59 minutes ago, sonyc said:

 

I've been wondering too that in the bigger picture, this government actually wants our NHS to fail.

Underfund, undermine, replace.

I hope it's simply just a conspiracy but the way the NHS has been handled, the way it gets reported about by their friends in the press and the way people do not pay enough attention there does seem to be a grain of truth to that.

[sonyc 5,518]

20 minutes ago, Herman said:

Underfund, undermine, replace.

I hope it's simply just a conspiracy but the way the NHS has been handled, the way it gets reported about by their friends in the press and the way people do not pay enough attention there does seem to be a grain of truth to that.

I reckon so. They don't even need to trash it publicly because the waiting lists do that in the eyes of the public. They have underfunded for years and the service is utterly exhausted. I recall when my late mum was in hospital and a nurse came to try and make her comfortable. As I left I just made an effort to track her down and tell her what she had done was very appreciated. Rather than a smile of thanks (which she tried to give) she broke down in tears right in front of me, then when she had composed herself, she said not many people bothered to say anything. It left me very sad.

I know things are not perfect (especially for an impatient kind of fella like me), but there will come a time when we will need health care. It's why I've been angry with all the 'save the NHS' narrative in the pandemic, when behind the scenes we've witnessed even more back door privatisation or even a kind of by-passing - in procurement, in decision making. We are heading the way of the US system. We tend to follow the US in everything 😐

Johnson has spoken about the wonderful nurses, but it didn't stop many foreign nurses leaving under Brexit. Then there is the lack of protection for abuse NHS staff get doing their job in a pandemic. The pay claim too? Staff are shattered too and under-resourced so badly - the case even before the pandemic. Even before Brexit.

Oh dear, better stop now posting shouldn't I?

I just hope that people in the country realise what is going on. A marginal vote 5 years ago seems to have laid the ground for a revolution under this current regime. To what extent, when the time comes, will we ever be able to vote them out when the constituents of a proper democracy are being so undermined? 

I hope too people will never forget that line attributed to Johnson, reported from witnesses (Cummings stated too)..."let the bodies pile high". That...from a British PM about his own subjects, his own country, his own voters.

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by sonyc

[Herman 9,765]

I'm currently seeing the NHS and the care system and how it is working with my old man. A severe lack of staff, funds and adding covid into mix has made life not a pleasant experience for him at the moment.

I get a bit angry with the NHS but I know exactly where the finger should be pointed especially when it comes to the care side of things.

One day I will write a big rant about it but I'll wait for it to sort itself out and do it with a calm head.😀

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

It was being privatised by stealth under Blair but now it is so overt.

Health and pensions will become a user buys system.

Edited December 18, 2021 by keelansgrandad

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

You couldn't make it up.

The UK's top civil servant, Simon Case, had been chosen to lead the investigation but he stepped aside after it emerged an event was held in his own office last December.

😂😡

[Herman 9,765]

 

[Yellow Fever 3,783]

A Christmas Carol.

So Johnson and the Tories have just had the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Now they have to endure the Ghost of Christmas Present.

The Ghost of Christmas Future looks really really scary for them by comparison, an unkempt, unloved & abandoned grave...

Edited December 18, 2021 by Yellow Fever
Can such sinners redeem themselves ?

[RobJames 881]

The rightwing nutjobs have had a free hand under Johnson. Too clueless to know what they are doing. Too weak to do anything about it. Cuts have bit hard. Failing to invest has led to a dependency on overseas workers UK workers cannot move house to where the work is because of a stagnant housing market. It will be hard to drive a stake through their poisonous heart once Johnson has gone. Thursday was just the beginning of a Tory civil war. One that stretches way back. And is set to stretch way into the future.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

On 17/12/2021 at 15:03, kirku said:

Ah, yes - he was a paragon of integrity, intelligence and fortitude prior to covid, wasn't he?

Prior to Covid, Johnson got Brexit done and won a 80-seat landslide majority in Parliament so up to that point he was doing very well. It all fell apart when Covid arrived, and he lost control ever since.

No one will challenge him just yet because Omicron is such a liability. Challengers will wait until early spring, so he has until May to turn it around, but I think it is too far gone for him to recover. Somebody (Cummings?) is drip-feeding inside stuff to the media to try and take him down.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

On 17/12/2021 at 15:19, RobJames said:

"Tonight, the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people. "They have said loudly and clearly: 'Boris Johnson, the party is over.'

"Your Government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated. "Across the country, the Liberal Democrats are taking on the Conservatives and winning.

"In rural Shropshire today, just like Buckinghamshire in June, we have won the support of the people who have always voted Conservative and people who have always opposed them.

"Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted.  "And thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to the candidate who can defeat the Conservatives.

"People who think our politics should be about creating a better country for us all, not a nightly soap opera of calamity and chaos. All of them casting their ballots for the Liberal Democrats.

"And let me say specifically to all those Labour supporters who lent me their votes today: thank you.  "You have shown tonight that, together, we can defeat the Conservatives. Not with deals behind closed doors, but with common sense at the ballot box.

"These are testing times for our country.  "Our NHS, as we know here in Shropshire, is teetering on the brink. Our rural economy is in a precarious state with people's livelihoods at risk.

"Our country is crying out for leadership. Mr Johnson you are no leader. 

"Many of your predecessors took office because they believed in a sense of national service, that they were duty-bound to do what they believed was right for our country. To represent all of us even if we disagreed with them. "Mr Johnson, that is not how you operate. Too often it is all about you and not about us. 

"Instead of taking action to help Shropshire's NHS, you spend time seeking questionable donations to refurbish your flat.

"Instead of taking action to support Shropshire's farmers, you spend your time misleading the nation on how you and your office partied during lockdown.

"Tonight the people of North Shropshire have said enough is enough. They have said that you are unfit to lead and that they want a change.'

Helen Morgan MP

Notice that this is directed at Johnson personally, he is seen as a liability which means he is highly likely to be replaced before the next election and Shropshire will return to voting Conservative at the general election when Johnson is gone.

[Herman 9,765]

4 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

Prior to Covid, Johnson got Brexit done and won a 80-seat landslide majority in Parliament so up to that point he was doing very well. It all fell apart when Covid arrived, and he lost control ever since.

No one will challenge him just yet because Omicron is such a liability. Challengers will wait until early spring, so he has until May to turn it around, but I think it is too far gone for him to recover. Somebody (Cummings?) is drip-feeding inside stuff to the media to try and take him down.

I think it started falling apart when Yoko broke up the band. Since Carrie Antoinette and her courtiers had a greater say in his dealings it has gone steadily downhill. And making an enemy of Cummings was a daft move.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

9 minutes ago, Herman said:

I think it started falling apart when Yoko broke up the band. Since Carrie Antoinette and her courtiers had a greater say in his dealings it has gone steadily downhill. And making an enemy of Cummings was a daft move.

For sure, Carrie is a massive disruptive presence behind the scenes and the reason why there are so many competing factions in the government - as Cummings found out. Getting rid of the bloke who knows where the bodies are buried was a huge blunder but par for the course for Johnson. I think there's more juicy tidbits to be leaked, he ain't finished yet.

[Mr Apples 1,320]

Even Frost has now got cold feet? 🤣

Apples

[Herman 9,765]

11 minutes ago, Mr Apples said:

Even Frost has now got cold feet? 🤣

Apples

De-Frosted like a Christmas Turkey.😀

[Mr Apples 1,320]

28 minutes ago, Herman said:

De-Frosted like a Christmas Turkey.😀

Oven ready, half-baked, rehashed, reheated, serve it up again, makes everybody sick, now in the bin. 😅

Apples

Edited December 18, 2021 by Mr Apples
Typo

[Van wink 2,994]

Top man Michael Sheen, I have to say.

“Michael Sheen isn’t one to mince his words. Even before Boris Johnsonfinds himself at the centre of the Christmas party scandal, the Welsh star of Frost/Nixon has our PM in his crosshairs. “He’s the absolute worst of what politics can be,” says the 52-year-old, his voice rich and lilting. “A man who doesn’t seem to care or believe in anything other than his own advancement, and, as a result of immense privilege, has been able to get to the most powerful position in the country and then doesn’t use it to make people’s lives better. Everything is a game to him.” Sheen stops, reloads. “He seems to have no personal ethics, morals, beliefs, value system. So I will be immensely happy to see the back of him, not just from being prime minister but out of the political arena altogether. I hope he goes off and finds a job that has no influence whatsoever on anything in our cultural, social or economic life.” Deep breath. Exhale. “And good luck to him with that.””

 

[Barbe bleu 826]

38 minutes ago, Van wink said:

“Michael Sheen isn’t one to mince his words. Even before Boris Johnsonfinds himself at the centre of the Christmas party scandal, the Welsh star of Frost/Nixon has our PM in his crosshairs. “He’s the absolute worst of what politics can be,” says the 52-year-old, his voice rich and lilting. “A man who doesn’t seem to care or believe in anything other than his own advancement,

 

We've all known this for at least a decade and I am not sure boris has ever even thought of hiding it.

We'll look back at this period and wonder how the options got so bad that Boris was the answer to any question. 

[Yellow Fever 3,783]

2 minutes ago, Barbe bleu said:

We've all known this for at least a decade and I am not sure boris has ever even thought of hiding it.

We'll look back at this period and wonder how the options got so bad that Boris was the answer to any question. 

Most of us that were rational never thought he was !!!

[Herman 9,765]

6 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Most of us that were rational never thought he was !!!

This. 👍

[Barbe bleu 826]

23 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Most of us that were rational never thought he was !!!

I don't doubt that lots of boris' most vociferous opponents of all parties thought that they were acting rationally when they conspired to create the circumstances that lead to his getting into power and then to stay there.

The past is the past though and remains only as something to be remembered and learnt from.

 

[Herman 9,765]

6 hours ago, Barbe bleu said:

I don't doubt that lots of boris' most vociferous opponents of all parties thought that they were acting rationally when they conspired to create the circumstances that lead to his getting into power and then to stay there.

The past is the past though and remains only as something to be remembered and learnt from.

 

If in doubt,blame everyone else.