I hope you’re right but from where I’m sitting it looks like he’s waving “play on”. I keep waiting for him to say something/ do something, but just nothing. Probably the most passive leader of an oppositions in my lifetime. In the last 12 months one scandal after another but barely a whimper from him.
Let’s not get carried away with any praisehere,whatever he reveals Cummins is still a grade one turd!
Corbyn couldn't even capitalise when Theresa May's government was voted in contempt of Parliament. All it was necessary to ask was: "Does the Prime Minister accept the verdict of Parliament - in which case will she apologise?" Any negative answer to those questions would have had to have led to a vote of no confidence in May personally. But he missed the open goal.
I don't think that's right he's no less vocal than any leader I've seen. He has played second fiddle to the tories a lot this last year I agree but we are in a pandemic and nearly everything has centred around the response the Government have made which has been supported when its correct and followed the science and called out when things have been too slow or stopped following the experts. I actually think he's played it right tearing into Boris at pmqs most weeks and when things have gone down the wrong path called it out with a public address or press conference about delayed lockdown, Christmas relaxations and Test & Trace. He seems to have given Boris enough rope to hang himself and now we are nearing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel stepped up the attacks on this rotten government calling out the sleaze and dodgy deals during the pandemic. He could have done that as strongly as he is now throughout the pandemic but what would that have achieved other than making it look like Labour were just trying to hold the government back costing lives and damaging the economy letting them off the hook. It's been a difficult year where he's been in an almost impossible position and I think Starmer is head and shoulders above Boris and his cronies especially now it has started to unravel.
Posted on Cummings blog yesterday Statement regarding No10 claims today The Prime Minister’s new Director of Communications Jack Doyle, at the PM’s request, has made a number of false accusations to the media. 1. Re Dyson. I do have some WhatsApp messages between the PM/Dyson forwarded to me by the PM. I have not found the ones that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts. Yesterday some No10 officials told me that No10 would make this accusation and told me what they believe actually happened — that Dyson’s office emailed a number of officials, including HMT officials, and included screenshots of the PM/Dyson texts, and that this correspondence, from roughly a year ago, was passed to the BBC. I do not know if this is correct. Officials told me yesterday that I was not copied in on this correspondence and I do not remember it (I no longer have access to my official email so cannot check this). I am happy to meet with the Cabinet Secretary and for him to search my phone for Dyson messages. If the PM did send them to me, as he is claiming, then he will be able to show the Cabinet Secretary on his own phone when they were sent to me. It will therefore be easy to establish at least if I was ever sent these messages. I am also happy to publish or give to the Cabinet Secretary the PM/Dyson messages that I do have, which concerned ventilators, bureaucracy and covid policy — not tax issues. 2. Re lockdown. Last year there was a meeting between the PM, Cabinet Secretary, the Director of Communications and me regarding the leak of the decision for a further lockdown on the Friday evening immediately after the meeting in the Cabinet Room that made the decision (known in the media as ‘the chatty rat story’). The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that ‘all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office, I’m just trying to get the communications data to prove it’. The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, ‘If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they’re best friends … [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?” I told him that this was ‘mad’ and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak. I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend’s friends. I refused to try to persuade the Cabinet Secretary to stop the inquiry and instead I encouraged the Cabinet Secretary to conduct the inquiry without any concern for political ramifications. I told the Cabinet Secretary that I would support him regardless of where the inquiry led. I warned some officials that the PM was thinking about cancelling the inquiry. They would give evidence to this effect under oath to any inquiry. I also have WhatsApp messages with very senior officials about this matter which are definitive. Shortly afterwards the Cabinet Secretary authorised the PM’s then Official Spokesman to tell the media that his inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications were the ‘lockdown leakers’ and he confirmed to me in writing that he had so instructed the PM’s then Official Spokesman (who subsequently left). The PM himself also confirmed in writing that the leak inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications was the leaker, describing rumours to this effect as ‘total ********’. The PM therefore knows that I was not the source of the leak and that the Cabinet Secretary authorised the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman to tell the media this, yet he has now authorised his DOC to make this accusation. The Cabinet Secretary knows the above is true and obviously can see our messages regarding this on his own phone. He behaved with complete integrity during this difficult incident. These events contributed to my decision to stick to my plan to leave No10 by 18 December, which I had communicated to the PM in July the day before my long-delayed operation. 3. Re the flat. The Prime Minister’s DOC has also made accusations regarding me and leaks concerning the PM’s renovation of his flat. The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. I refused to help him organise these payments. My knowledge about them is therefore limited. I would be happy to tell the Cabinet Secretary or Electoral Commission what I know concerning this matter. 4. I have made the offer to hand over some private text messages, even though I am under no legal obligation to do so, because of the seriousness of the claims being made officially by No10 today, particularly the covid leak that caused serious harm to millions. This does not mean that I will answer every allegation made by No10. The proper way for such issues to be handled is via an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the government’s conduct over the covid crisis which ought to take evidence from all key players under oath and have access to documents. Issues concerning covid and/or the PM’s conduct should not be handled as No10 has handled them over the past 24 hours. I will cooperate fully with any such inquiry and am happy to give evidence under oath. I am happy for No10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues). It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. I will not engage in media briefing regarding these issues but will answer questions about any of these issues to Parliament on 26 May for as long as the MPs want.
A bit surprised at the outrage on this thread and the idea that any of this puts the Govt in trouble. Unless someone has changed the English electorate in the last 2 years or we’ve suddenly adopted a new electoral system, I don’t think there’s any chance there are enough members of the public that will give a toss about this. It’s non story.
I think you're right. I've never known a time when the country's leader could openly and publicly be called a liar and a philanderer without the accuser running any risk whatsoever of legal action. And yet if there were a general election tomorrow he would still sweep back in. The country has come to a sorry pass.
Populism is a funny thing isn’t it. I’ve been saying the same as you for months, but I’ve just gone through the headlines in my head, and both Thatcher in 1983 and Blair in 2007 were proven liars, and if either of them had also been philanderers I don’t think it’d have hurt their popularity one bit. In fact such is the dislike of Cherie Blair, I believe TB could have possibly increased his popularity by doing so.
I don't think the opposition has much do do with it, we have a deeply unfair electoral system which has handed the Tories a massive majority in parliament with virtually no majority amongst the electorate. The only difference today over previous governments is that the current Tory party have been hijacked by ultra right wing populists and Johnson is their puppet with license to connive, lie and cheat the people.
I think a large proportion of the country had decided he was a liar, I’m not sure that’s the correct conclusion but... (different debate) From a pure lefty perspective, by 2007 I was pleased that he’d improved spending in the NHS, and reversed some of the worst of Thatcherism, but I was thoroughly disappointed that he’d carried on the ‘private is best’ mantra without any discussion, and that he’d done nothing for workers rights.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-pile-high-order-lockdown-sources-claim.html He will be alright though as mud never sticks with him. He will still win the local election by a landslide just like he did the general election.
