Westminstenders: Magical Thinking

[RedToothBrush]

This week has seen reports of the government editing footage of Johnson to avoid embarrassing questions about the early government response.

We've been asked to accept that the rules were different to what we were told to excuse the law breaking behaviour of a senior government advisor. As Johnson said he was being a responsible father (as if Johnson knows what this is) and it wasn't as if he was visiting a lover (this Johnson would know all about). Let's be honest Johnson is the master of brazening out controversy.

We also have the ERG complaining they were lied to by Gove about the new Withdrawal Agreement and the border in the Irish Sea which surprises precisely no one else.

They appear to be a little upset by the Cummings debarkable too.

Just leaving this article here as a reminder.

I am bringing popcorn to the PMQs this week.

No PMQs for two weeks. It's not going away though.

Wow - is that a real Mail headline? I know they had a change of editor last year, and toned down the rhetoric a bit, but that's really putting the boot in.

PMK Red Thanks to all for sanity and humour on this thread. You think it can't get worse and then it does.

The Daily Mail!

Made me laugh, so I'm planning to go

pmk

Thanks Red

Cummings has been reported to police by chap who saw him at Barnard Castle. Also, ex-Chief Constable of Durham is not impressed.

Incidentally, I hadn't realised that the Barnard Castle trip was on Mary Wakefield's birthday.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dominic-cummings-reported-police-ex-22079346

Anyone seen #BooforBoris trending on Twitter?

I approve of this thread title. How can I be of service?

Chilled out and inelegant cats demanding attention

BJ's performance has opened the flood gates and poured oil on the fire, to mix metaphors.

Unfortunately, I think the parallels between Cummings and Rasputin run deep and I think, like Rasputin, it will take more than one metaphorically in DC's case seemingly fatal event to be his downfall. He'll keep rising from the apparently dead

Thing is, if TruePublica are right, the Mail front cover is just more theatre to distract from what the public really should be concerning themselves with. Let's face it, all the headlines in the world about this smoky mirror won't damage that lot enough to make the urgent difference that's needed right now.

Very regal and gorgeous cats

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💐

Wow...what a cluster fuck 😲

I went off to bed humming "stand by your man"..
Total lack of moral fibre by BJ.

Yoikes

Also to Boatyard and Auld

Apparently DC child has autism. There are many many parents in lockdown with autistic children who have no support for their autistic children during lockdown. I would like all those parents coping ( some single parents) with autistic children in lockdown to write to their MPs or better still to DC to offer their experiences of lockdown and the lack of support for their families with no second homes to bunk off to when they have been ill with Covid with no support to look after children.

PMK

for Yoikes - your aunt sounds amazing!
thoughts also for Auld and Boathouse

Sky News was interesting this morning. 15 Conservative MPs, bishops, scientists and opposition parties (including Nicola Sturgeon) are calling for Cummings to go.

It's no longer about an arrogant advisor. It's now focused on Johnson himself: a dangerous thing for any leader. It's worth remembering that British society counts on policing - and by extension ruling - by consent. We don't have enough police, soldiers, smoke bombs or drones to stop it if the public collectively decided to riot.

Whips having to apologise www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/24/tory-whips-apologise-for-urging-mps-to-support-dominic-cummings
I'm thinking that the public and press will indeed be very alert for the rest of lockdown as far as Cummings is concerned. It will be a very different lockdown for them from now on, surely! Or am I giving them too much credit? I can actually imagine them trying to make the trip again

"It is very hard to provide scientific advice to a government which doesn't want to listen to science." The SPI-B team worried science will be "dragged down"by dishonesty news.sky.com/story/scientific-experts-advising-government-criticise-boris-johnson-after-he-backed-dominic-cummings-11994132

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