To really want to see the makeover at Downing Street?

[BlackCatShadow]

I've been reading about how it cost 88,000 pounds to do and how Lulu Lytle was the interior designer. She has such a bold and interesting style. I must admit I'm very VERY curious to see how it looks. Has anyone seen any photos? I want know if she actually has gold wallpaper.

P.S. I know there are much bigger issues going on in the world, but I'm so sick of seeing house done in grey and crushed velvet. I'm really curious just how boho the whole thing went.

[Yogatomorrow]

It's totally beyond me too why would you spend ANYTHING on a flat you'd only be in for a couple of years and had literally zero chance of ever buying, I mean just why??

Another one to say that they had no intention of paying for it. £30,000 from the tax payer and then rest from anyone who'd give them the cash.

Just as we all do when in ikea...load up up the trolley and give the cashier the phone number to our work accounts department.

No wait - it's illegal for us to take things without paying...doh!

Would love to see the photos though!

[LakieLady]

@DGybnp74

How do they stop the baby getting handprints and vomit and other bodily fluids all over the expensive wallpaper and furnishings?

Not to mention Dilyn pissing up the £5,900 armchair or £10k sofa.

Wasn't it a row about Johnson spilling red wine on a cream sofa that led to the police being called to their flat in Camberwell?

[the80sweregreat]

Maybe this is why they went for a red wine colour sofa ! Stops the police coming round when a bottle of red is spilt on it after a day drumming up money for it.

[FinallyHere]

Wasn't it a row about Johnson spilling red wine on a cream sofa that led to the police being called to their flat in Camberwell?

Didn't he spill the wine because she had found out about the violinist?

If a mistress becoming a wife creates a vacancy, imagine finding out while you are still the fiancée.

I'm guessing the makeover project was a misguided attempt at giving her something to do. I'm guessing it could be quite fun to patronise a range of designers and experience a make over at this level.

Quite the red day experience.

[willstarttomorrow]

The issue really is not how much that was spent but the entitlement of how it should be funded. £30 000 allowance for redecoration/maintenance is beyond the dreams of most home owners. As for those in social housing which has been underfunded for years know, it is apparently ok to have to live with damp/falling apart kitchens etc. They should not complain because they are 'lucky to have social housing and should be grateful'....

I work with very deprived families and they move into homes with no carpets (ripped from previous tenant up even if okay), 20 year old kitchens that are falling apart etc and no money or allowance to make the home habitabul for themselves and children. Most people accept this as okay because we 'all have to pay for our stuff'.

Boris is Teflon, the British public seem unable or cannot be bothered to see his complete disregard for the truth or moral standards as an issue. So the whole decor thing, in the backdrop of a global pandemic, seems unimportant. The fact he is unwilling to answer questions about this does not raise red flags about his conduct in general. He has lucked out because of a successful vaccine roll out and diverted criticism of his handling of the whole covid crisis. The fact that the success is largely down to the NHS, rather than contracting out to cronies (ie. track and trace) is glossed over.

We have a clown as PM He is totally out of his depth, with a deep disregard for those who voted him in. However he is 'funny and a charachter' so all okay. It is noticeable that we do not teach our children in the Uk about politics and social policy and the impact on their lives. So for example, loads of people did not really understand the EU referendum and just voted based on what they read in the press and rhetoric. People vote in governments then moan about their policies and sleaze. Everyone feels increasingly powerless because, whilst there are some amazing local MPs, at election time no one feels anything will change.

[StoneofDestiny]

Much cheaper makeover for us all if he just moved out!

[HeddaGarbled]

He was very het up at PMQ.

Kier Starmer was interesting. He got the denial of the ‘let the bodies pile up’ accusation officially recorded in Hansard and then said he’ll leave that for now but come back to it later. Then he started on the refurb stuff.

Was Johnson pissed because he knew he’d potentially dropped himself in it with that denial (e.g. if Cummings really does have voice recordings as rumoured)?

I would love to think that we’re all looking in the wrong direction and Starmer will actually skewer him over a provable, undeniable lie to Parliament.

[Viviennemary]

I think this is very damaging. I was planning to vote Conservative but won't be now. Boris should admit who paid initially for the decoration. But he won't.

[paralysedbyinertia]

@Viviennemary

I think this is very damaging. I was planning to vote Conservative but won't be now. Boris should admit who paid initially for the decoration. But he won't.

That is actually the most encouraging thing I've read on the entire thread, @Viviennemary.

[merrymelody]

If taxpayers are footing the bill, shouldn't they be allowed to see the results?

[MarshaBradyo]

It’s only £30k from us I believe maybe we get to see a sofa and a curtain? ;

[MarshaBradyo]

I quite liked Starmer’s multiple question approach

I didn’t hear the answer though

[paralysedbyinertia]

@MarshaBradyo

I quite liked Starmer’s multiple question approach

I didn’t hear the answer though

That's because there wasn't one. Boris just dodged the question again.

[KeyboardWorriers]

Financially it smells of dodgy wheezes and definitely needs investigating.

Environmentally it is completely revolting to be redecorating so frequently too. Fast fashions for clothes and home decor make me so cross because they are so wasteful.

[Thedogscollar]

If it's anything like his new hair cut then it'll be shit too.

[AlfonsoTheTerrible]

Financially it smells of dodgy wheezes and definitely needs investigating.

I read that as "doggy wheezes" and thought: Darn you, Dilyn, is there no end to your mischief?

[the80sweregreat]

If Dominic Cummings does have concrete evidence on tape of what was said or not said in that meeting with the PM , then he is sitting on it and that signals to me that he doesn't have anything and is playing games.
I would have thought it would have been leaked by now especially as political editors were so adamant it's all true at the start of the week. They can quote ' sources' , but without any real evidence it's all pie in the sky isn't it?
There were a few pics on line of one of the rooms in the Mail.

[BlackCatShadow]

I think the pictures in the press are of a different place taken from the designers website. I haven’t seen any of Downing Street yet.

[DumplingsAndStew]

Part of the issue is that Boris and Carrie don't believe they will only inhabit that flat for a short period. I think the "lovable rogue" genuinely believes he is popular and could be in for a repeat term.

[newnortherner111]

@willstarttomorrow whilst sharing your opinion in general on Mr Johnson, I never refer to him as a clown. Out of respect for clowns and the circus as a profession.

People thinking he is amusing somehow is part of the reason why he became Prime Minister, which he is most certainly not.

[FinallyHere]

Starmer will actually skewer him over a provable, undeniable lie to Parliament.

They can hold all sorts of enquiries but while the PM remains the ultimates arbiter of standards, what can we do to hold him to account

https://davidallengreen.com law and policy blog has a great but worrying post on accountability.

[Rupertbeartrousers]

They need to make a new series of “the thick of it” Boris special

[Alsohuman]

@DumplingsAndStew

Part of the issue is that Boris and Carrie don't believe they will only inhabit that flat for a short period. I think the "lovable rogue" genuinely believes he is popular and could be in for a repeat term.

I don’t think the length of their tenure has ever entered their heads. They want what they want and they want it now. They’re like a pair of spoilt toddlers playing house.

[GreenSlide]

@DumplingsAndStew

Part of the issue is that Boris and Carrie don't believe they will only inhabit that flat for a short period. I think the "lovable rogue" genuinely believes he is popular and could be in for a repeat term.

Not now Dominic Cummings is after them. He's been away plotting his revenge for months, it's going to be fascinating to see what comes out next.

[GreenSlide]

@TheEmperorsNewFlatRefurb

Plus, less light-hearted, sorry, I was sad to see Boris Johnson get so het up and impassioned about interior design and who paid for it, and to never get that het up about excess deaths.

He's getting angry because he's being cornered and he knows it. I suspect the aim behind all this was to get him to out himself in public as the real Boris than the bumbling buffoon act he puts on. And it worked.