POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

News breaks of internal fights in 10 Downing Street. At a time when Brexit is only six weeks away and we are in the middle of a pandemic our PM can't control his own office. He's even got Carrie on his back!!?
I listened with some sympathy this morning to Martha Kearney trying to get some sense out of that paragon of clarity and probity, Robert Jenrick. He proved to be what is known in the trade as 'a safe pair of hands'. In short he avoided answering any questions and kept saying that the public wasn't interested in these matters, they are too busy watching the stunning progress in the fight against Covid. He is wrong of course, we don't trust Downing Street or what we are told about it and personally I'd like to know how Carrie comes to have a say!

[plaques]

The rodents are leaving the sinking ship. The first prize in this game of musical chairs is to get out first before the blame game starts. The talks with the EU look very much like a NO DEAL. Isn't the Pfizer vaccine made by a German Co. that's in the EU isn't it? Johnson's 'toot of the cavalry' may be running into a very large bunch of angry natives. Biden in America will see what effect our leaving has on the Good Friday agreement before he thinks about a trade agreement. We shall also have to wait and see what his attitude is towards China and Russia so no deal trade there. It sounds like he thinks we should not be leaving the EU. Whoops. Our GDP gained 15% against an initial loss of 20% but then we have shut down again. Back on your heads. Everything in the garden is rosy, we are in the pink as we bleed to death. Its being so cheerful that keeps me going.

[Stanley]

Unfortunately that's very accurate Ken. I haven't quite made up my mind what's actually happening. I suspect that Carrie and her allies think Cominic and Lee were 'controlling' her husband. Surely not.....
What worries me is that it isn't the Cabinet voicing its discontent it seems to be unelected partners and advisers. I hear the backbenchers are suggesting he should listen to them. They may have a point.
Has anyone heard anything concrete about us leaving the EU entirely on January 1st?

[PanBiker]

I suspect that Carrie and her allies think Cominic and Lee were 'controlling' her husband.

Just for clarity Carrie is not Bozo's wife. She has notoriety though being the first unmarried partner to live at 10 Downing Street.

[Tripps]

Just for clarity Carrie is not Bozo's wife.

I don't think anyone on here said she was, but last night Andrew Pierce of the Mail said she soon might be. Perhaps they are saving it to use as an emergency 'dead cat' to chuck at us.

'Personally in a tribute to the American way of doing things - I oscillate between First Floosie, and First Fancy Woman. They use the abbreviation FLOTUS. Doesn't translate very well for the UK equivalent.

Has anyone heard anything concrete about us leaving the EU entirely on January 1st?

Actually as I understand it, I think we have already actually left? Just dotting the i's and crossing the t's. I make it 34 working days to go. Should be plenty of time.

[PanBiker]

PanBiker wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2020 12:40 pm
Just for clarity Carrie is not Bozo's wife.

I don't think anyone on here said she was

I suspect that Carrie and her allies think Cominic and Lee were 'controlling' her husband.

On the leaving thing yes as far as I am aware we left on 31st December last year. This interim stuff is supposed to be for completing the paperwork of the Oven Ready Deal or not it would seem

The reality is that you can take your pick from:

Total cock up
Head in sand
Don't give a monkey's
or the classic Oh Sh..!

[Tripps]

Fair enough - bang to rights there.

Not hard to spot was it? I must be slowing down.

[Whyperion]

'Personally in a tribute to the American way of doing things - I oscillate between First Floosie, and First Fancy Woman. They use the abbreviation FLOTUS. Doesn't translate very well for the UK equivalent.

Flwsie ? First Lady of wales scotland ireland england ?

[Stanley]

I'm old fashioned and didn't want to underline the fact she isn't married. As for the EU I added the word 'entirely'.
I don't think we have used the 'adjustment' phase very well....
See THIS overnight news. The upheaval in Downing Street is even more fundamental than was thought. Cominic Dummings says he will be gone by Xmas. I do hope so!
Two things strike me. The folly of making being a Brexit Supporter mandatory for entry into the new Number Ten and the equal folly (Which we see so often.) of a government forgetting to stop campaigning and start governing.

[Stanley]

I've just been listening to Grant Shapps telling us about what's happening including Cominic Dummings. I just want to go on record as not believing a bloody word he said. Right?

[Tizer]

Dummings has been saying since January that he would be leaving at the end of this year but he knows his Brexit project is going to end badly. Engines are dropping off the Brexit plane and the others are misfiring so he's bailing out now so he can watch the fun from a distance (from Barnard Castle perhaps?).

You are probably all aware of this but here's a BBC article on the topic....
`US election security officials reject Trump's fraud claims' LINK
`US election officials have said the 2020 White House vote was the "most secure in American history", rejecting President Donald Trump's fraud claims. "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," a committee announced. They spoke out after Mr Trump claimed without proof that 2.7 million votes for him had been "deleted". He has yet to concede to the president-elect, Democrat Joe Biden. The result of the 3 November election was projected by all the major US TV networks last weekend. Mr Biden is now projected to have won Arizona, extending his lead by 11 electoral college votes to a total of 290, with Mr Trump on 217. It is the first time the state has voted Democrat since 1996...

`The announcement marks the most direct rebuttal from federal and state officials of President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Thursday's joint statement was released by the Election Infrastructure Government Co-ordinating Council - which is made up of senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the US Election Assistance Commission as well as state-level officials who oversee elections and representatives of the voting machine industry. "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result," the group said. "While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too," it added, without naming Mr Trump directly. "When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections."

There's interesting facts further down the article: The statement was posted to the website of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Guess what, the White House is put out by this and Reuters says the head of Cisa, Christopher Krebs, `expects to be fired'. Also `Cisa assistant director Bryan Ware stepped down on Thursday'. Trump is removing anyone and everyone who doesn't support his baseless claims about voter fraud.

[Stanley]

I think you're right Peter. There is certainly more to it than meets the eye and if Shapps believes all the guff he was spouting this morning he will definitely crash and burn.
By the way, I see that Gove says 'the penny has dropped' with the EU. Really? Well, that's all right then...

[plaques]

A quick reminder to say that under the cover of the US elections Boris Johnson did a U-turn on the holiday school meals. U-Turn
After weeks of digging in his heels and refusing to cede to calls to extend free school meals to children from low-income families during school holidays in England, Johnson phoned the Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford on Saturday night to inform him of his change of heart.
The package includes a £170m Covid winter grant scheme to support vulnerable families in England and an extension of the holiday activities and food programme to the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks next year.
Johnson won a vote in the commons NOT to extend holiday school meals. Our Pendle Mr Andrew Stephenson Mp supported Johnson in this vote. I doubt very much whether Mr Stephenson will go to press and say he has now changed his mind and it was wrong of him to support the NO vote.
Whatever he does we know now that he puts his Tory party before the welfare of poor children.

[Tripps]

I doubt very much whether Mr Stephenson will go to press and say he has now changed his mind and it was wrong of him to support the NO vote.
Whatever he does we know now that he puts his Tory party before the welfare of poor children.

Well spotted. Why not contact him and ask him why he changed his mind?

Perhaps Mr Stephens will ask the same from his leader. I think it was on Newsnight yesterday, that it was said Tory MP's were getting quite tired of explaining / spinning policies to their constituents, only for them to be reversed soon afterwards.

[Tizer]

All is quiet here and it feels strange. Then I realised it's the anti-climax from the US election affecting me. We followed it closely, got excited about it and were over the Moon when Biden won. Another thought - the experience for us was totally different to the last UK election. We absolutely would not have voted for Johnson or Corbyn and no other party had the clout to win. It was depressing to feel so close to being disenfranchised in what is supposed to be a democracy. In the US election we had someone to shout for, even though we couldn't vote. Perhaps one day we'll be able to get that excitement again in Britain!

[Marilyn]

Dear Me...you need a project or SOMETHING, Tizzy.
( I mean...I can’t wait to see Trump’s “loser” speech, but that is about the only interest I have in the American elections)
Time to move along folks. Nothing to see here

[Stanley]

I told you Shapps was lying. Shortly after you wrote that Peter Cominic walked out Lehmann's style with his cardboard box. He will say this was a planned departure. That will be a lie. He has been forced out by another faction who are fed up with his attitude and actions. Perhaps having all the power isn't what it's cracked up to be.
Good riddance.
[Question though.... Is Johnson fit to decide on anything? I look back at a horizon littered with bendy buses, garden bridges, water cannon, airports in the Thames, Bridges over the Irish Sea... and terrible appointments like Cominic Dummings. Watch this space.]

[plaques]

Boris Johnson saying its time to move on. This generally means that there is enough dirt under the carpet to keep the gossip columns going for weeks. With only 6 days left before another EU, Brexit, deadline and No 10 now a headless chicken, Tory MPs moving in for the kill, Gove determined to carry out the manifesto pledge to leave the EU, take back control and give the people what THEY voted for its definitely to move on because its nothing to to with them. Meanwhile lets find something to take your mind off these boring politics. How about stopping the manufacture of petrol and diesel cars? that should do it.

[Tizer]

in the US a group of more than 150 former national security officials urged the General Services Administration (GSA), the government agency tasked with beginning the transition process, to officially recognise Mr Biden so that they could access pressing national security issues. A small but growing number of Republicans are also backing calls for the president-elect to be given daily intelligence briefings. Normally at this stage after an election the GSA would automatically recognise the president-elect and open up everything. You won't be surprised to hear that the Administrator of the GSA, Emily W. Murphy, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and she was involved in changing a decision on the future of the Hoover Building to suit Trump because he didn't want it to be changed into a hotel that would compete with his own Trump hotel nearby. Murphy

[Stanley]

Exactly right Ken. People keep talking about Dummings' 'legacy'. It's that he left chaos behind him just when we needed a well oiled machine to get us through the final crucial stages of Brexit. I heard one of the French delegates commenting on the state of affairs inside to Johnson administration and he evidently believed that there was such chaos that it was game set and match for the EU negotiating team.
Not the best time to disrupt whatever chain of command existed.
I noticed in particular the way other politicians snigger when anyone mentions Mr Johnson's capacity for working hard and understanding the brief. Do they know something we don't? Could it be that he actually is a buffoon?

[plaques]

No 10. Its now all about damage limitation. Time to reset government. Get back on track. Give the people what they voted for. This last one is becoming a bit of a mystery lucky dip but where the prize you pull out turns out like the Hydra of Greek mythology. You cut of one head and two more grow in its place. Either the Brexit will see the biggest U-turn in history or the biggest cock-up we are likely ever to see. Watch out for little giveaways to draw the attention away from the real problem, dead cats in other words. The real bad news will be buried under hopes of a covid vaccine and Christmas festivities. Humbug, Humbug.

[PanBiker]

No 10. Its now all about damage limitation. Time to reset government. Get back on track. Give the people what they voted for.

I wonder how many have changed their mind after nearly four years of pratting about?

[Tizer]

Either the Brexit will see the biggest U-turn in history or the biggest cock-up we are likely ever to see.

I'm still sticking to my 2016 prediction that Brexit will never happen. Our leaders try to tell us it has happened but the truth is it's just something written on a piece of paper - we haven't left the EU in practical terms. When the fighting ends and the smoke clears we might find we've committed to remain in the EU!

..Not the best time to disrupt whatever chain of command existed..

The front page cartoon in the Sunday Times shows two officers holding the wheel of the Titanic. They're up to their waists in water and a third offices is saying `Is now the right time to fight over who holds the wheel'.

Ian, government funded surveys in recent years have shown an increasing shift towards remaining in the EU and a majority now want to remain but these facts don't seem to get into the news media.

[Stanley]

Good points yet again and the No. 10 situation made no better by Johnson now having to self-isolate after being in contact with a Covid victim.
You could very well be right Peter, I keep hearing people like Frost saying a deal is possible but then back pedalling. We are in the last week when agreements can be made in time to be implemented according to Mr. Barnier and he is generally one of the most accurate reporters on what's happening. Are they really going to slam the economy into a brick wall? Is Ireland going to be abandoned? Could they be so stupid?
We shall find out shortly.
[Isn't it surreal that we are even discussing these things?]

[plaques]

Boris Johnson is in isolation. Nobody should have to suffer this virus twice and I hope that he has not been infected.

Now to the conspiracy theory.
Why on earth did he invite an MP from Nottingham for a face to face talk. Anyone from outside the No10 bubble would be avoided like the plague.
Boris has access to the best medical attention and should now have been checked for the presence of the virus.
It was the NHS app that alerted him to possible exposure, We can now assume that all MPs carry their mobile phones in their pockets at all times. A nice little advertising plug for a system that's near to collapse.
No questions can be answered about the infighting in No10.
Isolation means no Commons question times, How convenient?
The Brexit negotiations are at a critical stage with Boris playing the invisible man. Who is talking to who and what input is Boris making that only can be guessed at behind closed doors/screens.

Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.