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.

OldLace

You should give your address to confirm you are a constituent, and ask for confidentiality. That ought to be enough.

And you are a fine and passionate writer.

Old Lace

If the child is autistic then surely his grandmother who is a “special needs behavioural specialist” will appreciate that a 250+ mile journey up the motorway with an ill mother is going to trigger sensory overload especially as her house is right by the noisy A1 (cars doing 70 make a lot of noise Even on an empty road ) and that staying in his familiar home and familiar care travelling to him is the much better obvious solution. I am a veteran of dealing with many roadside vomits, searing headaches and meltdowns from a dyspraxic with sensory issues. From what I gather the autistic community is out in force on twitter correcting some of the nonsense being spouted in his defence by neurotypical Dombots.

Of course if the child is not autistic then this is shameful exploitation designed to appeal to ignorant prejudice. But then this is the Dom who has presided over shameful tipping of the playing field backwards for those who are not neurotypical (by removing the special concessions for public examinations from many of them) and of course this scandal (from the parliamentary committee report )

“We regard ourselves as a civilised society with a respect for human rights. Most people would say we should take extra care to support young people and those who are disabled. But the brutal truth is that we are failing to protect some of the most vulnerable young people - those with learning disabilities and/or autism. And indeed, we are inflicting terrible suffering on those detained in mental health hospitals and causing anguish to their distraught families. The recent BBC Panorama programme showing taunting and abuse of patients at Whorlton Hall exposed the horrific reality for some.
Too often the pathway to detention is predictable. It begins from before diagnosis. A family grows worried about their child. They raise concerns with the GP, and with the nursery or school. It takes ages before they get an assessment and yet more time passes before they get a diagnosis of autism. All that time they struggle on their own with their worries and without help for their child. This pattern continues throughout childhood as families are under-supported and what little help they have falls away when the child reaches the age of 18. Then something happens, perhaps something relatively minor such as a house move or a parent falls temporarily ill. This unsettles the young person and the family struggles to cope. Professionals meet to discuss what should happen, but parents are not asked for their views. Then the child is taken away from their home and the familiarity and routine which is so essential to them. They’re taken miles away and placed with strangers. The parents are desperately concerned. Their concerns are treated as hostile and they are treated as a problem. The young person gets worse and endures physical restraint and solitary confinement - which the institution calls “seclusion”. And the child gets even worse so plans to return home are shelved. The days turn into weeks, then months and in some cases even years.”

Absolutely no shame or integrity.

Cummings is making a statement and answering questions later.

This is extraordinary.

Prettybird I was just thinking will this be his Prince Andrew moment? He has nil charm or charisma so he is not going to sway those who were seduced for what passed for it for some in Boris. I am also seeing many former Boris fans in arms about this. However I have seen “Plane crashes killing 100 people and the news is that a civil servant drove to drop off his son” from someone I very much doubt would normally be full of empathy for a plane crash in Kashmir if they had even heard of it - no mention of the cyclone in Bengal for instance. Presumably seeded by the Dombots....

Agree Red extraordinary for an adviser to be making a statement like that. Will be interesting, could be a total car crash.

Cummings is making a statement:

He's going to sack BJ !

Red No it isn't. He runs the country just like your normal run of the mill dictator . Boris is just his puppet.

The arrogance of DC and his crew. The public nature of it means they still will not accept any wrongdoing. Otherwise surely it would be the cabinet office questioning him.

He won't be resigning if he's taking questions after

BCF Where's he going to find someone quite do accomplished to replace Boris, though?

(Cummings that is)

so not do.

twitter.com/cathynewman/status/1264890116075597824?s=21

No doubt Mary Wakefield is crafting his sob story now....

I reckon there is more chance of crocodile tears than a resignation

We may just get an insincere apology. I don't expect even that.

Hopefully for some appropriate entrance music for Mr Cummings later....

“Dom Dom Dom, Dom Dom Dom, Dom Dom Dom....”

m.youtube.com/watch?v=4wvpdBnfiZo

"I hereby sack Boris and I will appoint a new PM shortly"

I genuinely don't expect BJ to hang around for long - this PM lark is soooo not what he expected.
I wonder who will replace him - Gove ?

BRIAN: You are all individuals
CROWD: Yes, we are all individuals

BCF I do think BJ has found out too late that the job he's always wanted is actually a teensy bit more time-consuming and requires just a little bit more attention than he is willing to give.

I wonder what section of the Tory core demographic hasn't been insulted yet ? Anyone keeping tabs ?

Will DC manage to make it 100% in 3 days ?

Still a few posters frantically defending The Goings

Now moved to the distraction technique.....

Furious Tory / Domite:
"The press - called the "Paparazzi" - aren't distancing"

No I'm not angry at the press for doing their job, which can't always be done with SD

.... and they aren't the fucking government who made the fucking rules that everyone else is supposed to obey
which is what is so fucking outrageous about this particular scandal

Well we always thought that there was a Tory hymn sheet, and now we know. You would think that at least they would have tried to paraphrase the words, to make it look sincere.

Let us hope that the general public doesn't forget this episode quickly and that those MPs realise that they might have to work to retain those seats.

So, Cummings sister is a director of Idox, the company given the contract for track and trace app. She lives in Durham.

Glaxo Smithkleine, the company sharing the contract to develop a covid vaccine are based in Barnard Castle

Headlines now changed to "Will make a statement" on Sky News