Boris Johnson - disgusting or what?

[beansprout]

What an insulting idiot. Shame on him.

A smirking buffoon

I find him hilarious.... we need a laugh in politics don't we ?
Not saying hen is right though.

No! IMO mawkish sentimentality was about right!Books of condolence, 2 mins silence?? way over the top for a guy who chose to be in iraq, no doubt, as a highly paid engineer, for his own financial benefit. Unlike the many many iraqui healthworkers, charity workers etc who are kidnapped daily over there and arent reported in our domestic press. I didn't wish him his terrible death but why couldnt he be mourned privately by those who knew him not by strangers whipped into a cheap reaction by the media (and further stirred up by an electioneering Howard??)
The only shame IMO were the references to liverpool- great city doesnt deserve the sight of a grovelling boris.

"But he said he could not retract "the broad thrust of the article" about sentimentality and acceptance of risk in modern Britain. "

good fo him int hat instance

well idiot is right

but we need someone to take the piss out of

But I hate the over sentimentality oif one person dying - in what evr circumstance - Diana or whoever
I hate the garage flowers left out and all that crap
there MUst BE A MORE DIGNIFIED TO REMEMBER peOPLE
AND THE pm ALWAYS HAS TO ISSUE A STATENMENT NOW FO ANYONE WHO DIES IT SEEMS

oops

agree- but he shouldnt be gagged which is what this amounts to

who boris?
I love him

was it aleader of an article written aby someone else?

the guy's an operator. he would not have said those things without calculating what kind of reaction he'd get.

I dont think he has brain tbh i think is a franstein monsyter type

maybe should start a Boris-lover thread..

you dont be hte editor of hte spectator without being incredibly clever.
to write him off as stupid misses the point I think

he is the sort who clims everest in his PE kit

A lot of people were affected by the Ken Bigley episode because of the coverage it received. Do you think the reaction to the Soham murders was over the top too? I think that is perhaps a better comparison than Diana. The media does influence how people feel. If the reaction of people in Liverpool gave some comfort to his family then who is an over privileged twat like Boris to criticise? Remind me what his great contribuation to the world is again?!!

I havent read the article but I do think this public grieving for people is misplaced and weird. I could never understand why on earth books of condolence were opened for someone that wasnt a public figure and was previously unheard of. It trivialises proper grief.

As for Boris, love him!

but surely it's ok to have sympathy for a family like ken bigley's who have been through such a horrific ordeal. isn't that just human empathy? I mean if a "public outpouring of grief" is showing some compassion for something so horrible then long may it continue. Isn't that what makes us human?

(and I'm not talking about Diana here but certainly tragedies like soham and ken bigley)

Are the Bigley family not feeling "proper grief" then?
I saw what happened in Liverpool as a mark of respect. I don't think it was on a scale or the same type of thing we saw with Diana with people sobbing in the street etc and not drawing a distinction between knowing and not knowing someone?

what's proper grief then? only if you know someone? but someone here on mumsnet posted recently about feeling in bits about a client's baby dying shortly after birth, even though she didn't know him. I'm not saying I approve of the outpourings, whether they are for public figures like Diana, or those who've become public property, almost figureheads like Bigley, but it's very interesting how the British reserve has been cast aside in recent years in these public displays of grief. and it's not limited to liverpool either.

I'm probably out of line here but I kind of agree with the whole concept that we're going over the top with sentimentality and public displays of grief ..

I didn't follow any of the news on Ken Bigley and of course its a horrific way to die but he was there by choice for his financial benefit against foreign office advice

Didn't read it but have to say I really like Boris

oh .. just read some of the other posts .. I'm not that out of kilter am I .. Thank F for that

Hi Twiglett, you're not alone.

beansprout/bundle, of course the Bigley family are grieving and will continue to do so. I feel very sad for them and for the horrific way Ken Bigley died. I dont lack compassion. I just find it very odd that thousands of people should feel the need to publicly display "grief" for someone that they did not know. It is almost like they are clamouring to be included in a bit of excitement to pep up their dull lives. When those poor girls were murdered in Soham, coach trips were organised for people to go and lay flowers, it is just plain morbid. I hope I never suffer an agonising loss but if I do, I shall hope to be able to do so privately and with dignity.

I'm not sure about some of the logic here. Would we say to a mother who has lost a son/daughter in the armed forces "well, they were there by choice, they knew the risks"?
Or next time someone loses an elderly relative, "well, granny was old, what did you expect"?
I prefer to think that when someone dies, esp in circumstances like that, there is no such thing as "too much" support. But that's just me.

if i knew the relatives, like to think would support them but loads of people die daily from a range of causes and can't & shouldn't support them all!

I think that Boris Johnson was wrong to single out Liverpool but his points were valid about "compulsion grief" with regards to the UK in general. I think it is fair to say that people were appalled about what happened to Ken Bigley because no sane person would wish that on anybody but to expect a whole city to observe a 2 minute silent for 1 person when British soldiers are dying, is way out of proportion. Soldiers follow orders and have no say in where they serve. Ken Bigley chose to go to Iraq and foolishly refused to live within the safe zone.

Whilst we are on the subject, why do people insist on littering the roads and pavements with their floral tributes to a love one who has died? When my father died, I grieved within my 4 walls, I did not force it on other people. This is an unwelcome trend that seems to be pervading our society. I wonder if these people spent as much money on their loved ones when they were alive as they do on these floral "tributes"!