Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Nice to see Heseltine is on the ball. He's on Sky at the minute and said:

A can of worms could be opened if the Prime Minister is proved to be a liar. It could prompt questions about the Brexit campaign.

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:31 am @Crabcakes, yes, it's all getting rather reminiscent of John Major's tenure from 1995 onward. No moral authority, no real fight left, just a grim determination to hang onto the keys to No. 10.

Major didn’t have to lean on the bastards to stay in power. They’re the only people Johnson will have to lean on.

Cyclist wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:45 am Nice to see Heseltine is on the ball. He's on Sky at the minute and said:

A can of worms could be opened if the Prime Minister is proved to be a liar. It could prompt questions about the Brexit campaign.

Oh, that'll give the Ultra-Remainers a crumb of hope.

Like that result will ever be changed....

Edward Leigh asking for a sense of proportion regarding Johnson "being given a piece of cake by his own staff when Europe stands at the brink of war".

Students of Hansard are going to have a field day in decades to come, aren't they?

Support for the government on Ukraine is bi-partisan.

Consensus seems to be that by opening an investigation into the parties, the Met has offered Johnson a get out of jail free card. Gray's report, if released, will only cover matters that did not break the law, while the police investigation will be kicked into the long grass.

Appears that Johnson did not mention this to his cabinet colleagues, so ministers have been going out for days making fools of themselves while he's happily been sitting on what knowledge of the unredacted Gray report he had, which is apparently the bad stuff. Just imagine that. He's shat on your public image, he's shat on your credibility, on the principle of collective responsibility, on the first among equals nature of his role, on all the weight your job carries, not just as a minister but as an MP as well. And for what? Meanwhile he and his supporters jeer at anyone who gives a damn.

Seriously, someone invent a time machine and go back and cut Stanley's junk off with a rusty scythe.

I'm afraid the police inquiry means looks like Johnson's home and dry.
Even if the letters go in, I think Ukraine will be used as a reason not to change PM at a moment of national crisis - anyone mentioning May 1940 will be thrashed by the whips until they cry.

The standard is misleading Parliament deliberately. Nothing to do with Sue Gray or the Met.

The 'Sue Gray Report' is an interesting turm of phrase. It's not the report, or the Gray report, it directly names who is in charge and makes clear that she's a woman. The additional pressure piled onto her is obvious.

Did Chamberlain really step off that aeroplane waving a bit of paper, declaring he could go back to Downing Street and get pissed for a time?

Boiler wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 12:59 pm Edward Leigh asking for a sense of proportion regarding Johnson "being given a piece of cake by his own staff when Europe stands at the brink of war".

Students of Hansard are going to have a field day in decades to come, aren't they?

As I saw in a tweet in reply, we never change leader on the brink of conflict - just ask the winner of World War 2, Neville Chamberlain

Oboogie wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:22 pm I'm afraid the police inquiry means looks like Johnson's home and dry.

Home and dry with his party, for now, possibly. But now he has people who thought their time had come who will feel cheated, a public who will still be furious, an active police investigation into him, and a possible disaster in Europe to his roster of glory.

The public loathe an obvious whitewash. If nothing happens after all this, that fury felt by anyone who couldn't spend 5 minutes with a dying loved one while he flaps his jowls over a birthday cake will only grow and grow.

Also, the Met have stated they want Sue Grey's report published in full and have not requested any stay on it. So this is entirely Johnson's decision, which is now public knowledge. And that looks much, much worse.

One is reminded (through with roles reversed) of Peston's role while the Met were investigating phone hacking.

Peston repeatedly broke scoops that were perceived as favourable to News International.
Either derailing Met' lines of enquiry, or providing NI staff notice to clean house, in advance of investigations.

See Ian Burrell's report (Independent, Jul 13, 2011).


Now we have Cressida Dick's Met running providing a delaying smokescreen against Sue Gray's report.
The Met has been passive until this point, but steps in when viewers are expecting the payoff.

I'm also reminded of the Hutton inquiry, where every day promised juicy and scandalous revelations, and then it was published and the expected targets did not cop the blame.

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:32 pm One is reminded (through with roles reversed) of Peston's role while the Met were investigating phone hacking.

Peston repeatedly broke scoops that were perceived as favourable to News International.
Either derailing Met' lines of enquiry, or providing NI staff notice to clean house, in advance of investigations.

See Ian Burrell's report (Independent, Jul 13, 2011).


Now we have Cressida Dick's Met running providing a delaying smokescreen against Sue Gray's report.
The Met has been passive until this point, but steps in when viewers are expecting the payoff.

Would thatbe the Cressida Dick who continues to survive scandals that would have seen of a more-principled, sorry, lesser Commissioner?

davidjay wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:42 pm Would thatbe the Cressida Dick who continues to survive scandals that would have seen of a more-principled, sorry, lesser Commissioner?

How she survived the Jean Charles de Menezes affair is beyond me.

Currently #ScumMedia is trending on Twitter. It is being used by Johnson's deluded supporters to try and blame the mainstream media for Johnson's current problems. Imagine a former journalist relying on such a ridiculous attack on the media to try and save his bacon.

Gray report publishing tonight. Johnson's delaying tactic has failed and he's decided he may as well get it over with.

Being passed to Johnson tonight. But no date yet for publishing.