Look, don't get me wrong here, I've long advocated for physical violence towards Conservative MPs and their goons but from his perspective...why would he get rid of him over something that will be forgotten in 8 weeks. Just launch some bullshit inquiry or something
― anvil, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:11 (four years ago) link
Kier does just love a good inquiry
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
My family in Ireland don’t follow politics here and yet they were sending me Cummings memes all afternoon, if my parents were circulating those memes then they’re going to be going around WhatsApp groups here no question. No consequences, as I always say, but if people didn’t know before, they do now.
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
Meanwhile, in Canada, both Justin Trudeau and Ontario premier Doug Ford acted like royalty by spending Easter weekend at their respective cottages. It was a mini-scandal for a couple of days then everyone forgot about it. If anything, their approval ratings may have gone up because to err is human.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:14 (four years ago) link
Also someone in the govt, or just an advisor, breaking the rules has been a story many times leading to resignations tbf
― What fash heil is this? (wins), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:15 (four years ago) link
Holy shit Tory MP saying labour aren't going far enough.— Luke #CancelTheRent 🧊 (@LukasMukasPukas) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:16 (four years ago) link
Yes, but Cummings is a cunt who no-one likes.
― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:17 (four years ago) link
Given the current circumstances, comparing this to Damian Green having a wank in his office or whatever, is obtuse.
― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:18 (four years ago) link
A worker has kept their job in an extremely difficult marketplace, you should all be pleased.— Simon Hedges (@Orwell_Fan) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:19 (four years ago) link
Rogue civil servant alert!
Holy moly.(Screenshot added for when original tweet is deleted) https://t.co/1T1eqAt7D7 pic.twitter.com/i8VV1GU1X4— The Secret Barrister (@BarristerSecret) May 24, 2020
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
Apparently was up for 10 mins, got 25.7k retweets.
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:22 (four years ago) link
And I preserved it for all posterity upthread!
― santa clause four (suzy), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:23 (four years ago) link
Cummings entire strategy for government is based around not caring about short term unpopularity, it's there in the job ad he posted. And they can do what they want with five years to an election and an 80 seat majority.
Given that Boris has choked it I guess that's that, unless they start worrying about long term unpopularity.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:24 (four years ago) link
Sorry suzy, no idea how I didn't see it there
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:25 (four years ago) link
The PM is also quite clear that Dominic Cummings self-isolated for a full 14 days at his family's Durham home. "That's what Mr Cummings and his family did". "Mr Cummings did isolate for 14 days or more".Hostage to fortune?— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:25 (four years ago) link
He's the prime minister, a beloved figure off HIGNFY
she was talking about cummings, who she’s never heard of, because the inside baseball aspect of politics is not her thing, which is something i suspect she shares with a large majority of the public. so somebody in the government disobeyed the rules? well i never!!
Right, which is why if any of the other routes out of this were taken, it wouldn't be a big deal. But the entire cabinet, including Boris Johnson, has weighed in by retroactively redrawing the rules, which is why it's a big deal.
I made my views clear to my whip yesterday. There cannot be one rule for most of us and wriggle room for others. My inbox is rammed with very angry constituents and I do not blame them. They have made difficult sacrifices over the course of the last 9 weeks.— Caroline Nokes MP (@carolinenokes) May 24, 2020
― Andrew Farrell, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:27 (four years ago) link
This is a lot stronger from Starmer:
This was a test of the Prime Minister and he has failed it.It is an insult to sacrifices made by the British people that Boris Johnson has chosen to take no action against Dominic Cummings.— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 24, 2020
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:27 (four years ago) link
That, and Britain was hit way harder than Canada (Quebec and especially Montreal notwithstanding).
― pomenitul, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:31 (four years ago) link
xp your tweet is 1/3, mine was 3/3
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:33 (four years ago) link
Be nice if Starmer could leave nationality out of it tbh
― nashwan, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link
This has just been tweeted from the UK Civil Service account. This is the craziest political weekend for a long time. pic.twitter.com/u4x0i6plHL— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) May 24, 2020
― groovypanda, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link
Why? hits harder with the people it needs to hit hard with? Also no one in Grodno or Gomel was making any sacrifices, didn't even stop their league
― anvil, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link
Voters don't care about an enquiry, but they do care about being asked to keep away from their loved ones and shutter their businesses only for a representative of the elite (which is what Cummings is now) to just do what he wants. That the grievance you want to be exploiting because its all the rage Cummings has spent years whipping up, and it's blowing up in his face.
Difficult to wage a culture war when people have decided they want to go to war with you instead.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link
Also the pandemic is still ongoing and the government is going to have a shit load of unpopular decisions, a once in a lifetime recession and very possibly a second spike in deaths on its hands and this whole episode is going to make it much more difficult to communicate that. They've got this far on national goodwill which has well and truly soured now.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:39 (four years ago) link
in realpolitik terms it might be better to leave Cummings there for a bit longer so if the anger continues to build it will attach to Johnson too, not that I'd attribute that level of cunning to Starmzy
― Children of Bo-Dom (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:41 (four years ago) link
Calling an enquiry increases the short term pressure and puts the people currently lying about Cummings on notice that someone might, in the future, be held accountable. It doesn’t matter whether it ever actually happens.
― ShariVari, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:44 (four years ago) link
― santa clause four (suzy), Sunday, 24 May 2020 bookmarkflaglink
*Cough*
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:51 (four years ago) link
Just watched that press conference. Really incredible. Re-open the National Gallery and make a replay of that a permanent exhibit for the nation.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:53 (four years ago) link
Just imagining a reworking of George the cunt and Gilbert the shit!
― calzino, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:02 (four years ago) link
i enjoyed that tweet. if anything is a marker for the near death of the “print” media industry it’s be this.
― Fizzles, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:04 (four years ago) link
All the hits #sackcummings pic.twitter.com/lKBqtAu5ru— Malcolm Garrett RDI (@malcolmgarrett) May 24, 2020
― santa clause four (suzy), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:14 (four years ago) link
I mean the one thing you can say about Starmer is that up to now he appears to know when and when not to make a move, which is probably why he's leading the Labour Party while the likes of Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie are on the dole. This is probably a win-win for Labour for all the reasons you say, plus if Cummings does end up going it's a big scalp. But it's also not something Starmer has any control over so they might as well try and make hay with whatever happens.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:16 (four years ago) link
It’s wise to wait for another hour to see what the Campaigning Newspapers have for tonight’s drop.
― santa clause four (suzy), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:21 (four years ago) link
Hope they've some dirt on Starmer this time tbqh
― calzino, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:23 (four years ago) link
I suspect what we're going to get before too long is a fawning puff piece about Cummings and his family combined with a cynical but highly popular policy announcement like two extra bank holidays to distract everyone.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:24 (four years ago) link
EXCLUSIVE: Dominic Cummings reported to Durham Police over breaking lockdown rules. This story isn't going away any time soon. https://t.co/l9PVXn1Srb— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:35 (four years ago) link
An unauthorised tweet was posted on a government channel this evening. The post has been removed and we are investigating the matter.— Cabinet Office (@cabinetofficeuk) May 24, 2020
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:37 (four years ago) link
We might see scientists speaking out shortly, this is genuinely dangerous stuff.
― stet, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:41 (four years ago) link
still not going to expect this to change jack shit, however...
LOCKDOWN: Boris Johnson’s bumbling chickenfuck of a #DailyBriefings was so bad he’s managed to lose the support of Daily Mail readers.Imagine being so inept you lose the Daily Mail; they’re the trained seals of Conservative voters. Just how shit do you have to be? #SackCummings pic.twitter.com/juT9Z3AsKd— The DM Reporter (@DMReporter) May 24, 2020
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:45 (four years ago) link
This story isn't going away any time soon.
ok mea culpa, this is clearly getting ah well nevertheless’d in a cycle or two
― ||||||||, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:45 (four years ago) link
This Thick Of It Special is just next level, honestly pic.twitter.com/C5I2PA3OHR— William Kedjanyi (@KeejayOV2) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:47 (four years ago) link
When commentators talk about how the pandemic has affected Britain’s international standing, remember it’s not just Boris or Cummings or the overall death rate people will be shocked by. They’re shocked at Britain’s staggering racial inequalities too.https://t.co/8GsIuBnFdj— Basit Mahmood (@BasitMahmood91) May 24, 2020
― gyac, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:51 (four years ago) link
As one of those involved in SPI-B, the Government advisory group on behavioural science, I can say that in a few short minutes tonight, Boris Johnson has trashed all the advice we have given on how to build trust and secure adherence to the measures necessary to control COVID-19.— Stephen Reicher (@ReicherStephen) May 24, 2020
― ShariVari, Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:53 (four years ago) link
fucked up that for the most part you have to go to the opinion pages to get this level of reporting
xpost
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:53 (four years ago) link
Osama thumbs up
― Children of Bo-Dom (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:54 (four years ago) link
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8350223/Dominic-Cummings-wife-described-collapsed-spasms.html
comments on this one are a tonic too
― fatuous salad (symsymsym), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:55 (four years ago) link
what has the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland done to deserve this treatment?
― Children of Bo-Dom (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:56 (four years ago) link
My god that press conference clip is astonishing. It's like a foolproof cure for impostor syndrome.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 19:05 (four years ago) link
I agree with Michael. Tonight, I’m really embarrassed to have ever backed Boris Johnson for high office. https://t.co/Q1NpbOc8kh— Tim Montgomerie (@montie) May 24, 2020
On one hand it's hilarious that they've lost the likes of Tim Montgomerie and Julia Hartley-Brewer over this. On the other hand, imagine being this credulous.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 24 May 2020 19:10 (four years ago) link
Well, either credulous, or soulless, hypocritical and believing in nothing but furthering the agenda of the wealthy.
― Children of Bo-Dom (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 24 May 2020 19:12 (four years ago) link