BoJo

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Whatever happened to your sense of humour?

There was a classic moment on the News Quiz, when one of the comedians (the one with unruly hair) said that he had run into Boris at the hairdressers.

TJH

That was a memorable News Quiz: how lovely to see Boris squirming with embarassment.

BTW, I think Bouleversee it was, who wondered why women find him attractive: I think one answer is this boyish bumbling, dishevelled appearance, might appeal to the instinct to look after someone. The money might help too - as with the other classic, the question on Mrs Merton to Debbie McGee "And what was it that first attracted you to Paul Daniels?".

Arb.

Sorry to be a clever git - the actual question was "what was it that first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?".

But I've added the link as Mrs Merton's introduction to Debbie McGee could have gone so wrong.

AiY

[Dod101]

I have no intention whatever to damn Kate Bingham with faint praise or anything else. Of course she did a great job and my opinion has nothing whatever to do with her sex.

However, as I said, she had a discreet technical job with easy, measurable outcomes and she came out with flying colours, but Boris and his ministers have almost the exact opposite tasks before them. Everything is a judgement in an untried environment. It is a bit like comparing a mathematician or an engineer with a medievalist historian or maybe a clergyman. I am sorry if you cannot see that.

Dod

We can agree that all decisions made have to have political judgement at their heart. I just don't believe that Bojo is or was particularly good at it, though he has been very good a advancing his own career by blowing with the wind.

I would refer you to some of his faults as listed in this thread, and reassert that I believe the man is a cad unfitted to be our PM. I'm not alone in this: almost none of the Tory top rank came out to support him as leader first time round, and some said "over my dead body" or words to that effect. They later had to rationalise why they voted for him: what a bunch of charlatans!
Matthew Paris may have been wrong, but he was wrong for the right reasons.

Arb.

Like Mr Parris (BTW he is not named after the City) you seem to have a bee in your bonnet about Boris. We were actually discussing the role of Kate Bingham. Do you see what I was meaning?

Dod

[Bouleversee]

Whatever happened to your sense of humour?

There was a classic moment on the News Quiz, when one of the comedians (the one with unruly hair) said that he had run into Boris at the hairdressers.

TJH

That was a memorable News Quiz: how lovely to see Boris squirming with embarassment.

BTW, I think Bouleversee it was, who wondered why women find him attractive: I think one answer is this boyish bumbling, dishevelled appearance, might appeal to the instinct to look after someone. The money might help too - as with the other classic, the question on Mrs Merton to Debbie McGee "And what was it that first attracted you to Paul Daniels?".

Arb.

Not this one. I like my men well dressed,well groomed,principled, reliable and articulate. He can't be all that wealthy if he can't afford to pay for his own decorating.

Did you all see the photo of Wilfred, on the beach in Cornwall with Carrie and Mrs Biden, with very long, thick and dishevilled hair which looked as though it had never encountered a hairbrush? No doubt about his paternity. Next day there was a cartoon in The Times showing that the leaders at the G7 had reached an agreement: that Wilfred needed a haircut.

[Dod101]

There was a classic moment on the News Quiz, when one of the comedians (the one with unruly hair) said that he had run into Boris at the hairdressers.

TJH

That was a memorable News Quiz: how lovely to see Boris squirming with embarassment.

BTW, I think Bouleversee it was, who wondered why women find him attractive: I think one answer is this boyish bumbling, dishevelled appearance, might appeal to the instinct to look after someone. The money might help too - as with the other classic, the question on Mrs Merton to Debbie McGee "And what was it that first attracted you to Paul Daniels?".

Arb.

Not this one. I like my men well dressed,well groomed,principled, reliable and articulate.

I'm your man then.

Dod

[Bouleversee]

I left out "and living in SE England".

[Clitheroekid]

I left out "and living in SE England".

That could be a new dating category - SEEngles!

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I left out "and living in SE England".

That could be a new dating category - SEEngles!

Shoots self

AiY

[swill453]

Uncomfortable stuff for Johnson in Cummings latest blog:

Under Raab, the meetings were less pleasant for everybody but much more productive because unlike the PM a) Raab can chair meetings properly instead of telling rambling stories and jokes, b) he let good officials actually question people so we started to get to the truth, unlike the PM who as soon as things get ‘a bit embarrassing’ does the whole ‘let’s take it offline’ shtick before shouting ‘forward to victory’, doing a thumbs-up and pegging it out of the room before anybody can disagree.

Not surprising, of course, he's not really a "details man".

https://dominiccummings.substack.com/p/ ... [expletive deleted]

(apologies for expletive in link)

Scott.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Uncomfortablestuff for Johnson in Cummings latest blog:

Scott.

Johnson doesn't have a discomfort gene

AiY

[Clitheroekid]

https://dominiccummings.substack.com/p/[expletive deleted]

I haven't even attempted to read the blog in detail, but just glancing through it Cummings comes across as a deeply unpleasant person, obsessed with making sure that his own contribution is recognised for the greatness that he evidently attributes to it, and equally obsessed with plotting the downfall of those that he considers his inferiors (i.e. virtually everyone!)

I'm glad he's gone.

[modellingman]

I wasn't sure where to put this, as it's not really suitable for the Current Affairs board, but it's an article about BoJo, and I really enjoyed it, so this seems as good a place to share it as any.

It's always interesting to get a perspective on UK matters from journalists abroad, and this writer does an excellent job:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... os/619010/

4 pages into the thread may be a little late for posting this but thank you for the OP. As you say the writer has done an excellent job.

I have, perhaps like others, always judged Johnson as something of a clown. However, the article has provided new information and insights. There are a few things that stood out for me about his political instincts and ability to connect across a broad audience:

• "Self-deprecation is all about understanding that basically people regard politicians as a bunch of shysters" - quote from Johnson from 2013
• To him, the point of politics—and life—is not to squabble over facts; it’s to offer people a story they can believe in
• The European Super League anecdote - particularly “This is about the deracination of the community fan base.”
• That Brexit did not happen in a vacuum and that the economic benefits of globalization, for many, no longer outweighed that cost, particularly after 2008, meaning it was ripe for a revolt to “take back control”.

He has a sizeable majority and few obvious challengers. Whether he will succeed in levelling-up and building back better once the world gets back to some semblance of normality, remains to be seen. To succeed, he will also need some qualities which were not mentioned in the article.

[swill453]

I haven't even attempted to read the blog in detail, but just glancing through it Cummings comes across as a deeply unpleasant person, obsessed with making sure that his own contribution is recognised for the greatness that he evidently attributes to it, and equally obsessed with plotting the downfall of those that he considers his inferiors (i.e. virtually everyone!)

I agree with you there, but in a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of way, I don't care if it leads to the ousting of Johnson and/or Hancock.

Scott.

[Bouleversee]

I haven't even attempted to read the blog in detail, but just glancing through it Cummings comes across as a deeply unpleasant person, obsessed with making sure that his own contribution is recognised for the greatness that he evidently attributes to it, and equally obsessed with plotting the downfall of those that he considers his inferiors (i.e. virtually everyone!)

I agree with you there, but in a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of way, I don't care if it leads to the ousting of Johnson and/or Hancock.

Scott.

It had the opposite effect on me. Reading the treacherous and spiteful comments from the idiot who claimed he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight reminded me of Hilaire Belloc's advice: "Always keep a hold of Nurse for fear of finding something worse." Methinks Cummings will have cooked his own goose.