Do you feel sorry for Boris?

[User133847]

Seeing the headlines in the papers today and there seems a lot of sympathy for him. The front pages see him looking really forlorn and sorrow regarding the death toll.

When you think a year ago he was planning on ushering in what he deemed as a golden age of Britain. Now 12 months later it's in tatters.

I can understand the sympathy, but wonder whether a Labour PM would be offered the same.

He clearly has made the wrong decisions going along, although that’s easy to say with hindsight. The vaccine rollout has been an absolute success though and our death numbers should start to look more favourable in a few months hopefully. He looks dreadful though and I’m sure he’s wondering whether it’s all worth it.

No

God no. What a shame a PMs probation period is 5 years.

I do think leading a nation in a pandemic on top of Brexit was always going to be an incredibly difficult job. But he has also handled things dangerously badly.

Includewomen - I'm not saying I think all his decisions were the right ones, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

He can't do right for doing wrong. He shuts school and he's constantly asked to reopen. He shuts pubs and he's asked about job losses. He borrows for furlough and people tell him to reopen the economy.

He's told lockdown is needed for covid, but it's impact is too high on MH, jobs, education.

He offers money to isolate and it's not enough etc etc.

It's a nightmare! I don't agre with half the decisions but he cannot win. There is no right way.

He's had to deal with the 2 most challenging issues that a government has ever faced (other than war time) - Brexit and a Global Pandemic. I don't think any other leader would have made much of a better job to be honest

You have to remember that he will make decisions on the advice of others - therefore it's the people giving the advice which are the accountable ones

@AgeOfExploration

Nope - seeing what a husk of his former self he looks is one of the few things that makes me laugh out loud at the moment. A little ray of schadenfreude sunshine amidst all this death and misery.

^ I would be questioning my own soul if I had this kind of response. What kind of person writes that.

I do feel a tiny bit sorry for him and can understand the mixed reaction from the newspapers. With hindsight lots of things could have been done better, but it isn’t like MPs couldn’t have had a say - there are loads of options for other MPs to force debates etc. For the most part the political class has been broadly united.

Also, he nearly died and has lived experience of C-19. So he definitely does care.

@AethelsWhiteGoose

No. He missed 5 cobra meeting last February. ‘Take it on the chin’ comment. Was slow to make the tough decisions, ignored SAGE. Never closed our borders (oh the irony) Cummings debacle. ‘Have yourself a Merry little Christmas’ Tenders given to wealthy mates rather than expert companies.

He was PM at a tough time, I’ll give him that, but he clearly put the desire to be liked above everything.

You forgot 'Operation Last Gasp' and boasting about shaking hands with COVID patients.

Yeah I do a bit actually.

It hasn't been him alone making the decisions, it's been his party. He's the fall guy.

I don't believe labour would have done any better and I voted for them

@Mamamia456

Includewomen - I'm not saying I think all his decisions were the right ones, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

And yet many of his peers used actual foresight.

Has no one posted

'At least it's not Corbyn' yet??!!??

Blimey

You won't get many admit they do on this site.
In real life I see people maybe not thinking he has got it all right but at least acknowledging that it was hard and not thinking they have all the answers like many on here.
Who actually don't have to consider the whole picture

God no

Whitty and Valance and EVERYONE in Health told him NOT TO let people mix over Christmas

And he PERSONALLY forced it through

The death told over the last 3 weeks (the highest of the pandemic) is directly attributed to this

He NEEDED the love of the British people/'preserving Christmas' shtick

Weak willed lily livered egotistical narcissistic Toss Pot

I'm amazed at some of these posts. He's not the poor helpless fall guy, he's the leader of our nation!

Also @AgeOfExploration I am not offended by your schadenfreude! I mean, fuck that guy 🤷🏻‍♀️

No, none at all

Does he look like he genuinely feels sorrow/guilt over what has happened? Perhaps

Should he face criminal proceedings on the grounds of gross negligence/dereliction of duty? Yes. Yes he should.

death toll

Not 'death told'

Corbyn would have followed Europe (particularly Germany) more closely

And crucially wouldn't have handed millions to people in his social circle to provide masks/ventilators/the worst test and trace system known to human kind

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel well obviously not!

Brexit is of his own making, @ivfbeenbusy. Why would you have sympathy for somebody trying to do something almost-impossible when they actively cultured it and ensured it happened?! He could've paused it too, so he didn't have to deal with both at the same time, but recklessly decided against doing that (for political and party reasons, NOT because it was best for the country).

He didn’t kill all those people the virus did.

Look at what’s going on in Europe at the moment - other countries are saying exactly the same about there leaders except for a handful of countries that had systems already in place and were able to immediately shut down with tough measures.

If fine for people screaming ‘shut every thing down and get in’ but look at the devastating impact it’s had on the economy and peoples lives. It was always a balancing act. Stop people from catching the virus = don’t break the economy so much we will feel the consequences much much longer after this has happened.

I think they did well with trying to support people financially although lots of people feel through the net.

However - Labour dealing with this with the crew they had at the time Jesus no chance. I think when Keir stepped on board they should have done a coalition.

And whitty said right at the beginning that 20,000 deaths would be a good outcome

And he was, as usual and always, right

Nah, I'll save my sympathy for the NHS staff and others who will have to work extra hard to clean up the mess he's made.

His dad is a deeply unpleasant dick. But lots of kids grow up in that position, but without his money and privilege. And they don't get sympathy from Johnson and his government, they just get told to try harder and not blame others for their problems. So he can take his own party's advice on that score too.

Lastly, I find the 'no one else could have done any better' argument staggering when first, as a pp said, pretty much every other world leader has, and secondly, almost anyone could've avoided some of his worst fuck ups, such as getting your uninformed and unqualified mates to run crucial services for vast amounts of money.

Yes. This couldn't have been predicted. And he's human like everyone else.

@NoWordForFluffy

Brexit is of his own making, *@ivfbeenbusy*. Why would you have sympathy for somebody trying to do something almost-impossible when they actively cultured it and ensured it happened?! He could've paused it too, so he didn't have to deal with both at the same time, but recklessly decided against doing that (for political and party reasons, NOT because it was best for the country).

Boris actually wanted to stay in the EU. Google it’s easy to find. So no he didn’t actually cultivate it. He just followed through on what the majority of people wanted.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel it wasn't there goal either without any action the projection was higher without the new variant.
Remember lockdown also costs lifes so everything has to be balanced.
We can all sit here saying this and that but none of us have seen every bit of paperwork , know finances , know all the facts and figures or even know exactly who and why every decision was made .
All this will come out and then I will judge , but many countries in europe have got it wrong with something .
He looks shattered and its a crap job and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see through his whole term.
But a pm resigning now despite what people think would not be great for the pound and the economy but people often don't look at the wider picture.
Also the pure hate from some he could of done amazing and they would still find something .