To think this “let’s just move on” narrative from the government is like an abusive partner ?

[berryfull]

Just listening to some government minister being interviewed on radio 4 continuing to insult everyone who has observed the lockdown by Continuing to defend Dominic Cummings For the 5th day.... and then his insistence that we should just stop caring about the government rewriting their own rules, stop caring about the government undermining the lockdown when we have such a high death rate, stop worrying about such a shower of incompetent liars being in charge when the encounter is so fucked.

Just reminded me of an abusive partner/ parent/ relationship, when people try to insist you are going mental by thinking that being treated badly matters!

IE

just stop going on about how I hit you, we need to move on and look after the kids.

Just stop talking about how your father abused you, it’ll upset everyone and we need to move on and talk about more important things!

It is important that the government are trustworthy, competent and have integrity. We cannot he governed by people who break the rules the set. It’s not a witch hunt to care about this!!!!!!

You can only speak for yourself. I'm not scared of the virus and I certainly won't have my spirit broken because DC broke guidelines

YANBU!

I can't get excited over any of it, none of it's a surprise in any way at all.

I think it’s been a bit of a surprise to them. This is the first time their current tactics haven’t worked for them.

Or the cheating partner.

yanbu

Yanbu I totally agree with you op.

Yes, they want us to stop being so silly now and MOVE ON. I've taught my kids that when upset has been caused an apology is due before we move on. Come on Bozo you can do it, it's not like you've never found yourself in hot water before. Spit out a sorry ( through gritted teeth )

One could say the same from the exact opposite point of view. The only justification for national interest in Cummings insignificant actions is because he was involved in drawing up the rules. But the country wouldn't have heard of him if the people who want him out hadn't publicised both his existence and actions, they've created the problem in order to get the solution they want.

Every political witch-hunt I've seen in more the 30 years of living in the UK proceeds the same way. Some relatively insignificant but arguably valid reason is found to criticise someone. Due to their political preferences half the country is easily roped into a campaign to oust them, especially if they are particularly disliked. "Artificial" widespread outrage is manufactured by the media. (It's artificial not in the sense that it isn't real once manufactured, but in that it wouldn't exist without the hype. Without the hype, the average person's reaction to being told once, in private, what DC did, would to ask who Dominic Cummings was and wonder why someone was wasting their time with this innocuous story.)

The first event I can remember is Edwina Curries eggs comments, that was about two years after I arrived in the UK as an adult. I've also read about earlier times, when anyone in politics who had an affair or was outed as a homosexual would have to resign, on the grounds that such moral turpitude made them open to blackmail. Well yes, but only because there was a potential baying mob willing to set on any potential victim.

In general when these situtations arise, I've almost always found myself on the side of the witch, hoping the mob doesn't get its way. This has nothing to do with liking or sympathising with the witch, it's more not wanting to live in a world where the mob wins. But they almost always do.

Culturally the UK is generally a nice place, but the witch-hunts are the dark side of the collective personality.

I think it’s been a bit of a surprise to them. This is the first time their current tactics haven’t worked for them.

Or are they just surprised it was found out (always was going to be)? I reckon there's going to be more of this from others coming out of the woodwork.

The problem with many in the cabinet is, starting from the top, they think 100% of the general public are thick and that they know better and they can do what they want. Whilst in the short term there isn't much, if anything we can do, what we can do is ensure we remember and vote.

Yanbu.

This is the worst bit for me.

If he'd admitted wrong doing, apologised, that would have been one thing, bad enough, but one thing.

But it's the blatant denial that he was even at any fault. The closing ranks and the denial that any rules were broken. The claims that he was acting only as a good father and husband. The rewriting history and rewriting of the rule book. It is just like abuse.

I've watched almost every single daily briefing since they began. I can remember how the public were asked to behave at that time and how we were made to feel.

Clear instructions. Stay at home, only go out for your food, one session of exercise, or medicine.

I could have even just about accepted his story about childcare, I don't believe they had no other options but could have accepted emergency childcare.

But then they story about driving for a day out to test his eyesight, with his child in the car.

As someone who has struggled without childcare for weeks I feel mugged off. Then the denial makes you feel like you're going mad and you misunderstood everything.

Dominic Cummings – a cover story obscuring something far darker

Someone posted this on another thread and it's spot on.

I don't mean to imply that people in the UK are worse than anywhere else. But the dynamics of whipping up a mob work better here than in many places.

Boris has taken the Conservatives back to being the uncaring party at a stroke. He's got the majority to carry on but there is a reason why it's being referred to as his Poll Tax moment. It's the bit that is going to stick in the memory of voters afterwards, it's OK for them to do it but not for me.

I'm not surprised at Boris because this is exactly what I expected from him. The voters who voted Conservative for the first time recently might be, though.

YANBU

It worries me that the electorate is becoming used to being treated like this.

Agree. And blaming the media is like telling a woman who wants to get out and away from the abuse that it's her who's breaking up the family.

Q

Yes it's the denial and obfuscation that's the worst bit for me as well. It literally is gaslighting isn't it!

Random Londoner - Dominic Cummings actions were the catalyst for this issue, Boris asked us to make up our own minds, we have and the majority of the public believe DC acted outwith the regulations and he should leave his position (as was the precedent with other advisers who were found to breach lockdown). The Goverment now insist we are actually wrong to have reached this conclusion, we are being problematic & should just suck it up & move on. NO. Maybe we could have a referendum on it?

Plus him altering his blog to put the mentions of coronavirus in later on, trying to look like he thought about it first!

Yanbu. I'm certainly not ready to move on. The issue is absolutely fundamental.

YANBU. I was having exactly this conversation the other day. It's like they're deliberately testing how far they can push the electorate, how much shitty behaviour they can get away with, normalise, so that they can get away with even worse.

It's so depressing. That passage from Animal Farm was.spot on.

It's not a witch hunt. DC has very deliberately lied. The PM has supported him in his lies. People who behave like that should not be in politics at all.

It’s shocking. The blatant lies really disturb me. It is exactly the tactic of an abuser.

Conservative party members and the 1922 Committee are also telling the Cabinet the same and also being disregarded. Absolutely zero accountability from central Government at a point public trust is vital.. Only the views of the Cabinet count. Move on. Pah!

But the country wouldn't have heard of him if the people who want him out hadn't publicised both his existence and actions, they've created the problem in order to get the solution they want.

Sure he did the wrong thing, but if it wasn’t for those meddling kids he’d have gotten away with it!