Doyou care about Boris Johnson's constant lying?

[Kendodd]

My theory is that voters don't care.

on the basis of which was best for his popularity

If that were the case, then it's what the majority wanted and voted for

I admit the anti-Semite vs the islamophobic, racist, misogynist is a bit of a Hobson’s choice but as someone who has never voted labour, I’m struggling to see how corbyn would have been worse.

@mustlovegin

on the basis of which was best for his popularity

If that were the case, then it's what the majority wanted and voted for

Not necessarily. It’s what the people who might possibly vote for him would vote for, not necessarily the majority. There’s a subtle difference.

Boris, like most other people knows that a huge number of people that voted in the referendum are unlikely to vote again given normal U.K. voter turnout. Boris’s leave/remain choice was never about the referendum it was about future elections and having his eye on the PM role.

@mustlovegin what's wrong with an author being 'liberal' or 'progressive' ? You'd rather have authoritarian and regressive ? Of course authors have their own personal views but it doesn't invalidate them from commenting. Fwiw the D mail is hardly lefty liberal in outlook but it was the very rag that broke the story to a mainstream audience... is that ok ?

This government is composed of charlatans, spivs, chancers and con men. Johnson usefully embodies all of these and those who praise him and make excuses for him see reflections of themselves.

C8H10N4O2

The costs are mentioned in this article
news.sky.com/story/what-is-boris-johnsons-flat-refurb-like-and-how-much-did-previous-prime-ministers-spend-12288693

The Blair refurb, 1997-2007

Total spend: £285,380 (£410,807 today)

Average annual spend: £28,538 (£41,080 today)

Highest annual spend: 2000-01 - £48,336 (£73,040)

He shouldn't be a PM.. he is laughable, arrogant and should resign

Hypothetical situation: If the money turned out to be from a Russian Tory donor, and turned out to have been washed in the big London laundromat, would people care that it was just ‘resting’ in Boris’s bank account then?

I am quite conservative by nature. Boris has a history of dodgy behaviour, including arranging to get a journalist beaten up, numerous affairs and a cavalier approach to the truth. I think he is a chancer and a n opportunist, and I am uncomfortable with him holding the most senior office in the country. My view would be that standards in public office have fallen dramatically in recent times, taking a lead from Donald Trump. It is no longer clear what you have to do to get the sack in politics, and no one resigns anymore.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

Hypothetical situation: If the money turned out to be from a Russian Tory donor, and turned out to have been washed in the big London laundromat, would people care that it was just ‘resting’ in Boris’s bank account then?

Well there's been no real scandal around Russian interference generally, so I can't hope that people will begin to care now, as they may be compromised in a similar way.

"The report notes that links between the Russian elite and the U.K allow access to business and politics that can be used for influence. "To a certain extent, this cannot be untangled "

www.politico.eu/article/five-things-we-learned-about-the-uk-russia-report-brexit/

The costs are mentioned in this article

It doesn't split the structural work from the decorative though and I reccall that being a significant piece of work at the time and the pointed comments by some press about the speed of planning consent.

Nor does it say where any decorative work above 30K was funded. Historically the cap was held and surplus paid by incumbents - anything else needs recording.

@C8H10N4O2

The costs are mentioned in this article

It doesn't split the structural work from the decorative though and I reccall that being a significant piece of work at the time and the pointed comments by some press about the speed of planning consent.

Nor does it say where any decorative work above 30K was funded. Historically the cap was held and surplus paid by incumbents - anything else needs recording.

No it doesn't , it just outlines the costs.

It was just another 'what about' poster with selective copying and pasting.

The constant nit picking and calling for enquiries over fairly trivial things makes Labour look really weak. If the best you can do as the opposition is batter on about who paid for the redecoration of a flat during current times, you really aren't making yourselves look like the party to win an election.

So upholding the Ministerial Code is nit picking?

Johnson will be undone at some stage, probably by his own actions, but if not by 'events, dear boy, events', and then he will have few friends.

^Yes, this. Even Thatcher came a cropper in the end and was voted out by her own party when she was seen as a liability. The same will happen to Boris if the Tory Party think that the public are turning against them because of the sleaze surrounding him. After all, sleaze was their undoing in 1997z

The only trouble with nit picking is when you keep finding nits. A clear run is something to celebrate.

It isn't the decorating though is it, it is hiding who paid for it, what shady deals are going on, that is the issue.

Darker
Promising single market

May 9, 2016 - Boris Johnson’s speech on the EU referendum;

"What the government wants is for us to remain locked into the Single Market law-making regime, and to be exposed to 2500 new EU regulations a year. What we want is for Britain to be like many other countries in having free-trade access to the territory covered by the Single Market–but not to be subject to the vast, growing and politically-driven empire of EU law."

www.conservativehome.com/parliament/2016/05/boris-johnsons-speech-on-the-eu-referendum-full-text.html

12 June 2016;
"David Cameron confirmed Sunday that he will pull Britain out of the single market if there is a vote to leave the European Union at the upcoming referendum."

"He said the Brexit campaign had made it clear to voters that voting to leave also meant pulling out of the single market."

www.politico.eu/article/david-cameron-bbc-andrew-marr-ill-pull-uk-out-of-the-single-market-after-brexit-eu-referendum-vote-june-23-consequences-news/

It is no longer clear what you have to do to get the sack in politics and no one resigns anymore

I think this is the biggest change we've seen @Brainwave89 you're right. Trump broke down the barriers of acceptability for leadership, and we fell for it hook line and sinker. Fucks knows why.

I forgot to add cadger to my list above. Freebies - bring em on.

I forgot to add cadger to my list above. Freebies - bring em on.

Around the world with Tony Blair (courtesy, as usual, of his many friends in high places)

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/around-world-tony-blair-courtesy-usual-his-many-friends-high-places-8002474.html

@Mytiredeyeshaveseenenough

The constant nit picking and calling for enquiries over fairly trivial things makes Labour look really weak. If the best you can do as the opposition is batter on about who paid for the redecoration of a flat during current times, you really aren't making yourselves look like the party to win an election.

But it's not the only thing that they've been pulled up over. It's just gained a frankly surprising amount of traction. He's been criticised (arguably not enough) over his handling of Brexit, the PPE contracts to companies who've never made PPE, his treatment of Priti Patel bullying allegations, the fuckwittery of the eat out to help out scheme and his general in-out approach to Lockdown, the money spent on Jennifer Arcuri... Among other things.

But when these are brought up, they're dismissed as bitter nitpicking.

I'd be amazed if it's the flat renovations which finally turn people against him but if you honestly think that this is the only issue with Boris Johnson then you're very much part of the problem.

Promising single market

www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/how-boris-johnson-has-changed-his-views-on-europe

In an interview with Sky News in 2013 he said: “I’d vote to stay in the single market. I’m in favour of the single market.”

The same year he also said he believed the “overwhelming majority of people” want to remain “firmly in the Single Market”.

I’d say YABU. it bothers me a lot. Always has. Through the whole Garden Bridge debacle which I was very involved in it was astonishing to compare what he said it would be (his vision) and what it was actually being designed to be and who would benefit.
Plays fast and loose. Desperate need to be ‘loved’.
My view of him is not helped by some parallels with Trump’s character.
Other politicians are also similar. Many are not.

Tony and Cherie Blair came in for a lot of criticism for their lavish spending, as I recall.

It's a shame that those who are up Johnson's arse now are quite so keen to defend Johnson for the same behaviour.

The redecoration thing would have sunk like a stone had it not been the 1875th thing he's got wrong since taking office. It's the cumulative effect which is making him look skeevy, unprincipled, dishonest, callous, and compromised.