To think being over two hours late for a press conference...

[Champagneforeveryone]

is a bit of a cunty thing to do?

I completely understand that this is not an everyday occurrence, and it would be nice if things were absolutely in place before our glorious leader addressed the nation.

However, if I rocked up two and a half hours late to work it would not go unremarked on. I cannot simply choose to arrive two and a half hours late to a hairdressers appointment or to catch a flight.

Why say you will hold a briefing (which incidentally we weren't even expecting) at 4pm, then 5pm and then ever increasingly later? It seems really disrespectful to the public who are left waiting to know what will happen. Say it will be at 8pm and be done with it.

[workhomesleeprepeat]

@MintyMabel

Who was it then? Santa Claus?
Who knows. It was a leak, happens all the time, they’ll look in to it as they always do and we will probably never know

It was of course someone inside the government. But it would have had to be a credible government source for The Times to print it
Oh that’s so funny. As if they only ever use “credible” sources.

It may well have been from someone within the government. Could also have been some low level civil servant who was taking notes. But the fact remains, it did not come from the government in any official capacity

You said it wasn’t leaked by the government? Now it is being leaked? Which one is it.

No need to mock the source, it’s The Times not The Sun, they’d have to have spoken to someone working within government who leaked the info

[DanaCScully]

I think the slides probably weren’t ready

[VaggieMight]

It certainly gives the impression plans were being written on the back of a cigarette packet.

Unbelievable that they didn't have a ready to go plan for the 'second wave'. Blustering, bumbling and looking like a rabbit in the headlights is all BJ has been since March. Pretending it's not happening until we're absolutely teetering on disaster.

[Leflic]

It’s the bloody press.
I’d get sacked if my school knew I was on social media. We are not really allowed Facebook or Twitter let alone discussing work issues.
Should be no different for press.

[alibongo5]

@Hayeahnobut

Can't believe people are falling for the leak line. This is what they do every weekend, brief the media to gauge public reaction. But this time it backfired so they're going to scapegoat someone for it.

Totally agree. They leak more than a rusty bucket, broken sieve or punctured hosepipe added together.

[SakiSiam]

Also, at one time, acting as a 'low level civil servant who was taking notes'; decades later I'm still bound by the Official Secrets Act.

[midsomermurderess]

A government facing the worst public health crisis in living memory and it can even sort out a bloody press conference. No wonder Johnson is 'loathed' in Scotland, according to recent focus groups. We're.not daft.

[Livelovebehappy]

He’d had his hand forced due to media leak. He wasn’t due to do the conference until Monday at the earliest. So had to scramble the information together at short notice. So not too difficult to understand the delays? Better to get the correct info out than rush through and put it out there in a rushed way?

[Showers3]

It’s probably not a coincidence that the briefing dragged out through the whole trick or treating window in Halloween. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that lockdown will come into force on bonfire night.

[nosswith]

I expect there was a disagreement within the inner cabinet about one or more of the measures.

[MintyMabel]

If it really was a leak, it would be addressed and the culprit fired.

Because that person would put their hand up and admit it?

Weird that it's always the same right-wing press that these "leaks" go to, isn't it?

Yes, weird that a person leaking the information would go to the places where the people they are leaking about are more likely to appear.

Or, it was leaked to a broadsheet because if it had come from the Sun, it could be brushed off as bullshit. And whoever leaked it knew that. They knew it would force the government’s hand.

Make no mistake about it, Boris would not have wanted to get off his arse on a Saturday and do this.

[Devilesko]

I think there have and will be many cunty things done.

[MintyMabel]

No wonder Johnson is 'loathed' in Scotland, according to recent focus groups. We're.not daft.

Because before Boris, the Scots just loved the tories. 🙄

[AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii]

Honestly don’t think the restrictions will be lifted on 2nd December either, that word ‘reviewed’ was used again.::

[MitziK]

@Nibor1991

As they have said on the BBC Boris wasn’t meaning to do the conference until the middle of the week, but given that some of the details have been leaked he has been forced to get it together for this evening. It’s a huge turn around for him and so I guess he’s very busy trying to get everything straight

Because dropping an entire lockdown on people with less than 24 hours notice (probably nearer 3) would have been the best way to handle it?

[MintyMabel]

You said it wasn’t leaked by the government? Now it is being leaked? Which one is it.

Jesus, struggling to read? Or is it comprehension that’s your problem? NOT LEAKED IN ANY OFFICIAL CAPACITY. Meaning, it might well have come from someone within the government, but it was not approved by the Government. The Government did not want this to come out. Boris didn’t ask for it. The Cabinet didn’t have a meeting where they said “let’s slip this out early”

Any individual party to the information could have gone to the press, but they had no government authority to do so.

If that doesn’t clear it up, probably best stay away from things you don’t understand.

[MintyMabel]

No need to mock the source, it’s The Times not The Sun, they’d have to have spoken to someone working within government who leaked the info

If you think the Times is any different to the Sun, perhaps step away from all Newscorp owned publications.

[nosswith]

Dominic Cummings wife is a journalist. So perhaps the man who visits Barnard Castle is the leaker.

[Cloudtraffic]

Ffs @minymabel are you dense?! This came from the government (or more specifically number 10 SPADs)

[PullTheBricksDown]

@Unsure33

God what a lot of moany know it all posters on here .

Not what I thought mumsnet was for .

You must be new here!

[PigletJohn]

organised, precise, accurate, detailed.

That's Gordon Brown for you.

Boris?

not so much.

[BoingBoingyBoing]

People honestly think that these leaks, which happen time and again, aren't deliberate?

Bless.

[lyralalala]

@MintyMabel

You said it wasn’t leaked by the government? Now it is being leaked? Which one is it.

Jesus, struggling to read? Or is it comprehension that’s your problem? NOT LEAKED IN ANY OFFICIAL CAPACITY. Meaning, it might well have come from someone within the government, but it was not approved by the Government. The Government did not want this to come out. Boris didn’t ask for it. The Cabinet didn’t have a meeting where they said “let’s slip this out early”

Any individual party to the information could have gone to the press, but they had no government authority to do so.

If that doesn’t clear it up, probably best stay away from things you don’t understand.

They probably should have made clear to everyone then that their strategy for leaking things to the press was different on this one

[Purpledaisychain]

He wasn't going to say anything until Monday, but because info leaked he had to do it tonight. I'm not a fan of Bojo, but we don't know what went on in that meeting. They might have thought that they were leaving themselves enough time but then some last minute issues cropped up.

[MintyMabel]

Ffs @minymabel are you dense?! This came from the government (or more specifically number 10 SPADs)

Not so dense I lack basic comprehension, unlike others here it seems.

They probably should have made clear to everyone then that their strategy for leaking things to the press was different on this one

Oh dear. The ridiculousness continues.