Cummings evidence today

[Dirtystreetpie]

Anyone listening?

One of the masterminds behind the Brexit vote has performed an astonishing U-turn by admitting that leaving the EU may be “an error”

I dont believe its a u-turn at all. I dont think he actually cared then or cares now - was just another job for him to do.

@MaudBaileysGreenTurban

He really will not say a bad word about Sunak, will he? I wonder why...

Sajid Javid quit the role of Chancellor when it was put to him that Cummins-approved advisers were to replace his own and Rishi Sunak took the job on the same terms. Sunak very much strikes me as a 'Yes Man' so therefore useful to Cummins in the future. www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2020/02/26/sajid-javid-bitterly-lashes-boriss-chief-adviser-dominic-cummings-12308333/amp/

@GoldenOmber

I missed that bit, how did he pronounce Ebola?

(now saying it to myself. EBB-o-la? eb-OH-la?)

I can her Hermione 'Wingardium Leve Oh Sa'

'The less everyone hears from me in the future the better'

Oh, I can't even start with this one. The rancid, disingenuous fucker.

Thank you all for your commentary today, finally able to watch.
I'd like DC to tell us what is going to happen in the next six months as he seems so fucking sure he knew what was going to happen. He said it's not hindsight but it sure sounds like it

I haven't dared to turn on BBC, I hope this story isn't dominating. I'm not that interested.

What (else) do people think happened when Neil Ferguson mustered his colleagues & all the leading infectious disease epidemiologists in the country to confront the govt in March '20? I know a few people who were 'in the room'. John Edmunds mentioned this event in presentation at yesterday PHE conference. How else did Ferguson get his Professor Lockdown nickname? Old news. Meh.

Have they mentioned the new Indian variant? What is his take on that ?

@Girlmama3

I don't understand the point. We all know they acted too late but it was over a year ago. Surely we need to move on and leave it in the past?

I think your post probably sums up the national mood. Mid pandemic : Cummings is breaking quarantine and Johnson is useless. Post vaccine : Boris told a few porkies , so what. I doubt anyone will care much - until the furlough payment stops.

By saying 'millions of people could do a better job than me' really turns the screw on Boris as he shouldn't have employed someone incompetent.

@hamstersarse

The only new allegation really is the Carrie’s dog story.

Surely everyone knew:

• Matt Hancock had no idea what he was doing
• Boris would have never locked down unless forced to
• we totally fucked up care homes

All that’s left is Carries dog

We knew about Carrie's dog.

I think the evidence was most damning on the second wave. We knew by then what was the likely outcome. The scientists and medics DID tell Johnson to put the brakes on in Sept, they had more accurate data by then and he doggedly refused. Thereafter the 'bodies piled high' & Christmas & first quarter of 2021 were ruined.

He really is a terrible PM. He should be sitting in there giving evidence for hours.

He really tripped up on the last question about him altering his website. In fact, I don't think he answered it!!

Nothing new and nothing will change

Boris told a few porkies , so what. Because:

• he lied about big things, not what he ate for dinner. Things related to people’s lives.
• because he’s the prime minister. Surely there is someone who can be prime minister who doesn’t lie? We have millions of people in the UK - there must be one.
• because we are still in the pandemic, and apart from vaccinations (which BJs inner government were not managing and did not make all those decisions they credit themselves for) - he is still capable of doing a lot of damage
• because those in government office should be held accountable if they were incompetent, if they lied.

We do pay for these people to run our country. They are beholden to us. It does matter if they are ‘told a few porkies’

And it is over.

I think Beth Rigby summed it up nicely with this tweet
I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. For such a senior advisor to so openly and comprehensively try to demolish a sitting prime minister is jaw-dropping. And whatever you think about Cummings, Johnson let him into the inner room, which means his testimony counts

Why you should care:

This isn't 'in the rear-view mirror'.

The people who fucked this up so badly - lied, acted like clowns - are still in charge.

Politics affects your lives - not just during the pandemic: right now.

Decisions - important decisions - are still being made, by people patently unfit (emotionally or intellectually,) to make those life-affecting decisions.

I know that denial is a preferred option when things seem beyond control. But it's an illusory position.

And it's worth remembering, the NHS was overwhelmed. I think all of us now know that people didn't get treatment they needed, for a range of treatments, not just COVID.

Some of those people are still living with the effects of that.

But the main point is this: the pandemic highlighted how unfit Johnson was.

He is still unfit for his position.

That has not changed.

However much he wants us to think of his most serious, catastrophic failure as something in the past.

It's not in the past.

It's very much a present problem.

He very much remains unfit for office.

Rejoining, TBF the poster is talking about 'the national mood' about the government/BJ, not their own opinion.

Rejoiningperson it's all very demoralising.

Gave up after 30 minutes. So boring. How are we meant to trust anything he says anyway- a man who lied to the nation to such a ridiculous extent and is so consumed by bitterness against his former friend and boss he is pulling out anything he can to try and bring him down?
This was a global pandemic the world had never seen before or been prepared for. Yes Boris was slow off the blocks and should ever have gone away on holiday! But our vaccine rollout is one of the worlds best and we are slipping further down - now 17th on the list of deaths per m/population. Celebrate the good too.

In addition to the points above, telling lies matters more depending on where you are when you are telling them. Lying under oath in court, for instance, is a criminal offence because it is so important for people to tell the truth there. A Prime Minister lying in Parliament is absolutely as serious as this.

@Guavafish

Nothing new and nothing will change

Nope. People will still vote for the conservatives.

@IntermittentParps

Rejoining, TBF the poster is talking about 'the national mood' about the government/BJ, not their own opinion.

Apologies!

How are we meant to trust anything he says anyway Because any lies he told today in front of the committee will be exposed.

And we can celebrate the vaccine roll out and criticise the government's handling of the pandemic, holding them to account.

And the NHS does now have a cancer treatment crisis, because of Johnson's uselessness.