Where is Boris?!

[SleepymummyZzz]

Why is Boris no longer doing the daily press conference? I get that he doesn’t need to do it every day but it would be nice if he showed his face once a week!

I feel like when the government is cocking up the response to a global crisis is exactly the point when the opposition should be holding them to account. Standing together and getting behind a bad plan doesn’t make it a better plan (see also believing in Brexit). It’s a really bizarre concept that seems to have come from somewhere.

It’s not like Keir supporting Boris is going to make our test/track/trace issues any less of a complete balls up.

@TeeBee he has said he won’t take leave until this is sorted, seeing as he didn’t take leave last time and tried to sue the child’s mother I don’t think he’s that bothered about leave.

it would be better if he wasnt chairing, he talks waffle

I do actually think that they all considered at the start of this crisis that a vaccine was a long way off and that they may as well get the virus over and done with, especially as they were obviously such fine, strong examples of genetic perfection, therefore no match for the virus. I think being so ill with the virus has shocked Boris to the core and knocked his confidence. Much like Scrooge was shown the error of his ways.

I think that's exactly right. It was never supposed to affect the likes of them.

Bollocks to him though, he got himself into this and if he actually is too ill to do the job properly, that's totally understandable but do something honest for once and say so. There could be no reasonable complaint levelled. Taking a leave of absence on health grounds shortly after having been hospitalised with coronavirus would be just about the least shameful thing that incompetent trollop has ever done.

Rafa - agree

I don’t think Johnson knows or cares what’s going on tbh. I think in 2 weeks he’ll be told by someone - Cummings - that he ought to to go on TV and another bout of chaotic experiments will start.

There’s a rumour buzzing around various professional circles (city, local government etc) that he’s planning to stand down, citing continuing issues resulting from coronavirus. No idea if there’s anything to it . There are always rumours 🤷‍♀️

He is quite obviously either:
a shirking which he has form for in the past e.g couldn't be arsed to attend Cobra meetings etc etc
or more likely..
b hiding as he knows that his government is in the shit.
The press conference today was actually embarrassing. The scientist was clearly pissed off that she was being obliged to defend obviously poor decisions. It seemed that she was looking at the minister as if to say these are your decisions. We of course don't know whose decisions they were or how they were taken as the minutes of the meetings are kept secret. It was utterly ridiculous to keep sending out these ministers who have no idea what to say and cannot answer these questions. I actually think Boris is doing himself more harm with this strategy as he quite obviously is avoiding scrutiny.

I wonder how well he is

That could just come from people's opinions about what he should do as well chilli. As in, no concrete reason to think he'll do it but just drawing conclusions from him being ill, rushing back quickly and doing a shit job.

If his lack of appearances is due to ill health / paternity / whatever he should step down because the only thing worse than yet another Tory leadership contest is a part-time PM in the midst of a crisis.

I did wonder if he would stand down

But I’m scared we’ll get Wancock instead and be locked down forever.

I didn’t see the junket today but I would like it if the scientists would refuse to participate. I was hoping a return to school would mean the end of a briefing but now I think the kids won’t go back to school.

Further lockdown would require paying people more money than benefits to stay at home beyond the end of the current furlough scheme. They pretty obviously aren't prepared to do that.

BlackberryCane

That could just come from people's opinions about what he should do as well chilli. As in, no concrete reason to think he'll do it but just drawing conclusions from him being ill, rushing back quickly and doing a shit job.“

Indeed, it could.

Inkpaper, when you look at the bar set by Johnson, May, Cameron, do you really see a higher standard applied to May than the other two?

I certainly do - the way they got the knives out for May, yet gave Cameron the same free pass as they are now giving Johnson. May tried her best and failed; Cameron, who was an equal failure, went off literally whistling, as though he had no cares in the world. And I am certainly no fan of May.

@Fedupofballs we watched that episode last night.

I don't think any woman would get away with that chequered a love life and declining to say how many kids she'd got. Not sure a non posho bloke would either, actually.

Who cares, he and the rest of the British government have blood on their hands. Likely 50,000 plus UK deaths -a huge number of which would have been avoidable with a lockdown a week or two earlier - and it wouldn't have impacted the economy anymore than is already the case, as we'd have come out of it quicker.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-didn-t-boris-act-sooner-against-coronavirus-
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/19/uk-government-pandemic

"South Korea did everything the UK government could have done, but refused to implement. Its death toll so far: 263. It still has an occasional cluster of infection, which it promptly contains. By contrast, the entire UK is now a cluster of infection."
(from the latter article)

If a female PM had given birth they would have had a handover planned and would have announced a clear maternity leave period beforehand so people were wondering what was up. (I'm conveniently ignoring the fact that a woman with at least 6 kids by 3 men would not be in power) . I'm not convinced that Raab would have been able to act without Boris' ok if something happened during his convalescence period.

The Independent thinks he will be gone by Christmas. Maybe they have also heard rumours?

www.independent.co.uk/voices/boris-johnson-tory-government-christmas-cabinet-brexit-coronavirus-trade-a9520076.html

The question of whether we would say the same of a woman in this position is a fallacy because it is totally nonsensical to imagine that a woman with (possibly) 6 kids by different fathers, living with a man she cheated on her second husband with, would ever be considered for PM. I think she'd struggle to get elected as an MP.

I think it’s his health. For some a spectrum of serious symptoms seem to flare up and back down again over many weeks (6+ in some instances) during the recovery from this for those who have had a more serious case of it- based on the article last week where the professor of tropical medicine described it last week as an ‘advent calendar’ of symptoms.
Boris was seriously unwell he won’t be back to full health for quite a while in my view.

Is it possible he is hanging on to see Brexit "through"? He was elected on that premise?

It would not shock me at all if he steps aside. Having been poorly with the virus , nearly dying and now his a dad again he has a great 'get out 'clause (or three! )
I can't think of anyone who could take over that I even remotely like though. The others are either career politicians or sociopaths!
We need a strong leader.
As for Carrie I've no idea what she sees in him either but people always surprise me.