Delusional Boris Johnson wants to return as PM

[Arantor]

We’re at the stage where returning to Johnson feels like it would be an improvement.

 

[Retro]

I agree with the conclusion of this article. What do you think?

I don't think there can or should be a way back for Johnson, no matter what. It would send entirely the wrong signal.

Here’s the question to define this sorry era: Truss or Johnson, which is worse? | Julian Baggini

The former PM was a shambles; his successor is a zealot. Still, calling for him to be replaced was a risk we had to take, says philosopher Julian Baggini

www.theguardian.com

 

[Crims]

Are people going to start examining the political class more? It seems like all the hints are to "no" despite the facts.

 

[Arantor]

Boris still has popularity amongst the Tory voter base. Rapidly this is growing in proportion to Truss.

I find it interesting how there are 550,000 signatures on a petition for “let’s have a general election” and #GeneralElectionNow is trending on Twitter for the second day running but that’s not happening.

I hate to say it but I am beginning to feel like this country is that meme image of a person on a bicycle, that inserts a stick into the front wheel and is thrown off, lying on the floor in pain somehow wondering how this all happened.

The worst part is the number of people who seem so confused that “we didn’t vote for this”… no, you didn’t, but you got *exactly* what you voted for: a group of cynical greedy manipulators who will sell us all out for their own profit, while going “but it would be so much worse if that Corbyn was in power”. I find it tragically ironic that they were going “Corbyn is going to drag us back to the 1970s” but the Tories are doing that all by themselves, see the plans for rolling blackouts over the winter to preserve energy supplies.

 

[Retro]

Well, he didn't, declining to enter the race, thankfully.

At the time of writing, the deadline for nominations is still in the future at 14:00 today, with Sunak the front runner by a big margin.

I fear that he will be harder to defeat by Labour though, potentially winning the next election if he leads the tory party well. All this chaos and destruction of and by the tory party that we've been seeing recently has been great for Labour's ratings. We need more of it, but with less damage to the country.

Boris Johnson: Standing in the leadership race not the right thing to do

The former PM says he had the support of enough MPs but there needs to be "a united party in Parliament".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Tiffany]

I suppose, Johnson had a clear headed moment or did he? I always get suspicious

 

[Retro]

When it comes to Johnson be suspicious, always.

Check out this analysis by Phil Moorhouse of what Johnson really meant.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Arantor]

It seemed fairly clear to me that even if he had the 100 nominations - which I don't believe - he was smart enough to realise that going up against Sunak in a vote wouldn't work out, for, interestingly, the exact reason he outlined. Boris is not stupid, and knows that joining the fray at this point in time would have had the consequences that he would have won the votes from the members but his party would have stabbed him in the back, again.

It's too soon. Give Sunak a while in the job, let the Tory fanbase expose their vile racism for what they are (yes, see the call into LBC this week from a Tory member who suggested that Sunak shouldn't be PM because he's not British, aka not white enough), let the storm brew and when they come for Sunak, and they will, Boris will leap to the fore again, suitably contrite, suitably Boris 2.0 as Zawahi called it.

 

[Tiffany]

@Arantor that's a very plausible outcome for Boris, even though I don't claim to know British politics, that's just about what American politicians would do too!

 

[Retro]

(yes, see the call into LBC this week from a Tory member who suggested that Sunak shouldn't be PM because he's not British, aka not white enough)

This is that video. While his attitude betrayed racism, he also had a few unpleasant home truths about white tory supporters in general. For example, he said that they would prefer a "prime minister who is like them", ie not of colour. He's right and if that isn't racism, then I don't know what is.

I've always seen the tories as the nasty, racist party, even though they're not exclusively white nowadays. Heck, even Priti Patel, an Indian woman, seemed to be biased against people from the same ethnic background as her when it came to immigration. Unbelievable.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Retro]

Finally Rees-Bogg is gone! Out of parliament completely would be even better.

Jacob Rees-Mogg out as PM Sunak begins cabinet reshuffle

The new prime minister starts to put together his new top team, after taking over from Liz Truss.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Arantor]

Well, you're then waiting for the good folks of Somerset to vote him out.

 

[Retro]

I hope they do, but know it's unlikely. I'd love him to get pushed out in a cloud of scandal. Would be epic, but again, unlikely.

 

[Crims]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Retro]

Good find, Crims. This is the caring, sharing tories at work...

 

[Arantor]

Oh, they care, they share. They care to ensure them and their mates are the ones sharing the money at the end of the day.

 

[Retro]

Oh, they care, they share. They care to ensure them and their mates are the ones sharing the money at the end of the day.

Yes, quite. I hate them too.

 

[Arantor]

Apparently Big Dog is going to COP27 - when Sunak and Charles III aren't. This is not going to end well for someone.

(Other folks in the govt are going, but not the big man himself, on the claim that he has a domestic emergency to be at first, ditto the king. The king has likely been talked out of going to not rub it in to Liz Truss any further.)

 

[Arantor]

Well, to add insult to injury it turns out Liz Truss's phone may just have been heavily compromised by the Russians, so who knows what this will mean for the whole sorry saga.

 

[Retro]

Oh hell no. I can just see him winning too and then we're all really stuffed.

That inquiry into his parliamentary lies has to happen and find him guilty which would force him out of politics once and for all. Unfortunately, I feel pessimistic that corruption will ensure that nothing comes of it. Time will tell.

Boris Johnson: Former PM announces plans to stand at next election

The former prime minister says he will run for re-election as MP for Uxbridge and Ruislip in west London.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Crims]

Oh hell no. I can just see him winning too and then we're all really stuffed.

That inquiry into his parliamentary lies has to happen and find him guilty which would force him out of politics once and for all. Unfortunately, I feel pessimistic that corruption will ensure that nothing comes of it. Time will tell.

Boris Johnson: Former PM announces plans to stand at next election

The former prime minister says he will run for re-election as MP for Uxbridge and Ruislip in west London.

www.bbc.co.uk

As he doesn't even live in his borough it's looking increasingly unlikely.

 

[Retro]

I sure hope you're right. He'd be a disaster all over again.

 

[Arantor]

It’s not uncommon to parachute such candidates into “safe” seats. This is how Boris got the Uxbridge and Ruislip South seat in 2015 after it turned Tory in 2010.

A surprising amount of the Tory member base would like him back as they feel he speaks for them more than Sunak or Truss ever did. And of course, “he’s an election winner”.

 

[Retro]

Nah, Johnson's not getting back in. He's got the parliamentary committee investigation on his back, too.

I wonder if it's his arch nemesis, Dominic Cummings, who leaked the latest scandalous details. I doubt we'll ever know.

Met urged to reopen Partygate inquiry as fresh allegations emerge

‘New information’ includes claims that Downing Street staff corroborated stories and destroyed evidence

www.theguardian.com

 

[Arantor]

Well, I'm hearing that the witnesses in Partygate have had their names passed to Johnson in a completely predictable but highly inappropriate move. They will inevitably be less inclined to testify.

Sunak's polling pretty badly right now. If he doesn't appease the masses soon and turn the polling for the Tories around, they'll come for him too.