Boris To Give Statement at 15.30 Today

 Boris to give statement to Parliament at 3:30pm responding to Gray’s "update" report.

Gray Coming Imminently

 

Schrödinger's Cake

 

NEW: Sue Gray report now to be stripped of details of No10 parties after request by police

Statement from the Met Police: pic.twitter.com/sRs4tTNMrS

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) January 28, 2022

Certain sections of the media have been bleating their dismay this morning over the fact that the Met have asked for certain sections of Sue Gray's report to be redacted, whilst they conduct their investigations.

These are the same sections of the media that were screaming blue murder last week that there wasn't a Met investigation.

It seems that the media wants to have its cake and eat it!

PMQ

 

Dame Dick Fucks Up The Timetable

 

Cressida Dick has just said: “We police without fear or favour…The Met is now investigating a number of events” at Downing St and Whitehall. Another huge blow to @BorisJohnson

— Robert Peston (@Peston) January 25, 2022

 

BREAKING: Sue Gray will not publish her partygate report while the Met police investigate. So it will not be published this week and probably not for many weeks. This is some kind of reprieve for the prime minister. She will continue her investigation though

— Robert Peston (@Peston) January 25, 2022

Boris's Tax

 

It seems that Rishi Sunak is keen to distance himself from the forthcoming increase in National Insurance (designed to help lessen the NHS backlog), he is now referring to it as "Boris's tax".

That's all very well and good, but I am damned sure that as Chancellor he is responsible for tax and spend decisions; he cannot simply walk away from this!

When is a "Senior" Tory Not a "Senior" Tory?

 

When he is William Wragg, who is only 34 years old!

A Marriage Made in Heaven?

 

 I don't see this new relationship lasting for very long!

What is a Government Whip?

 

Twitter and certain journalists (who should know better) have become very excited this morning after the "revelation" that government whips applied pressure and tried to blackmail to potential Johnson letter writers.

As per the BBC Class Clips, here is a definition of whip:

"The whips are a group of MPs who are in charge of party discipline. It is their job to make sure MPs on their side all vote with the party line. They are notoriously secretive about the way they work and have a reputation for using torture and blackmail against MPs."

The journalists who are getting excited really ought to have known that blackmail is part of the whips' M.O.! 

The Moving Finger Writes - The Magic Threshold of 54

 

There are several ways in which a sitting Tory PM can be removed from office:

- illness/death

- resignation

- 15% of Tory MPs (in this case 54) write to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee saying they no longer have confidence in the PM

- the public, via a general election

- the Tories lose a motion of no confidence in the House.

Thanks to a combination of hysteria whipped up by certain sections of the hypocritical media and the drip feed of tittle tattle from an embittered ex employee, it looks as though the magic threshold of 54 letters might be reached.

There are potentially many reasons (eg energy costs, migrants, housing, the economy etc) why, at some stage in the coming year, Boris might need to step aside to allow someone else to lead the party into the next election. 

However, at this stage, #BYOBGate pushed front and centre by the media at the behest of Cummings is not the right reason nor the right time.

Cummings is an embittered ex employee consumed by anger, obsession and vindictiveness which is feeding his drive to unseat Boris. In the event he succeeds, he will increase the risk of a future Labour government aligning the country with the EU (something that would be an anathema to Cummings). All that he will then have left is is own self loathing. 

How on earth will that have benefited Cummings?

Therefore those MPs who have been quick to pen a letter should take note, they may well regret this later at their leisure.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Question for The Media - When is a Liar Not a Liar?

 

Dear Media:

Question: When is a liar not a liar?

Answer: When he tells you what you want to hear.

Whilst you are obsessing and reporting on every utterance from an embittered ex employee you might want to turn your attention to other matters, eg the imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine and Beijing Barry's £500K bung that Starmer says isn't important.

Operation Red Meat - 100% Tofu (VF)

 

The much hyped "Operation Red Meat", allegedly designed to put Boris back in favour with the party and the Tories back in favour with the voters, is not all that it is hyped up to be and will prove to be remarkably underwhelming.

Amongst the quick fixes, seemingly put together on the back of an envelope in panic over the last few days, are a.o.

- proposals to put he military in charge of stopping the migrant invasion

- plans for extra funding to deal with the NHS backlog

- sacking number 10 staff

- tinkering with the BBC licence fee at some stage in the future, and

- the abolition of Plan B

All very nice and headline grabbing, but once you drill down you can see that all is not what it claims to be:

- given that the migrants come by sea, the military will have no better luck at stopping them than the hapless and hopeless Boarder Farce. As, no matter how angry Priti and Boris are about the issue, the Navy will not fire on/sink unarmed civilian craft.

- Rishi will not under any circumstances authorise any further funding for the NHS, over and above what has already been authorised and funded by the remarkably inept rise in NI.

- sacking staff at Number 10 will fuel the leaks, and make things worse.

- the abolition of Plan B will not include the abolition of mask requirements on transport and in shops. Given that a large part of Plan B is masks, this can hardly be called an "abolition".

In short, Operation Red Meat promises mountains yet it will perform molehills.

If this is the best that Boris can do, then he may as well give up now!

The Spy Who Paid Me - Beijing Barry

 

On 2 December I pondered as to whether Burgon was a Chinese agent, seemingly he was but the chaff to throw us off the scent of Beijing Barry.

The Mouse That Didn't Roar

 

🚨| Hardly any journalists have turned up to Gina Millers 'True & Fair' Party launch. pic.twitter.com/wRiM14j7yx

— Politics UK (@PoliticsForUK) January 13, 2022

Boris's Darkest Hour, or High Noon?

We shall see!

#BYOBGate

 

The media is fulminating with faux anger and doing its best to whip people up into a frezy over #BYOBGate, when the PM allegedly attended drinks (with crisps and sausage rolls) in the Number 10 garden on 20 May 2020.

Whilst Twitter is going apeshit over this, it is worth remembering that Downing Street is an office to hundreds of advisers and civil servants, and a home to the PM, chancellor and their families. Those who live in No. 10 or No. 11 had a right to use their own garden during lockdown. Work and meetings often took place in the garden throughout the day and well into the evening.

This is not the same as a group of people turning up at someone else's house/garden for a piss up. 

That being said, there are a number of points that people need to consider:

1 The optics of this are terrible, anyone with half a political brain could see that this was a bad idea invite people (socially distanced or not) by email (ie provide a written trail of pre planning). Whoever authorised/organised this needs a sound kicking.

2 The fact that the email was sent to 100 people pretty well guarantees that this would leak. Whoever authorised/organised this should have known that.

3 Why has the media.leaker(s) sat on this for 20 months? This is clearly a coordinated attempt by certain people to undermine the government and get rid of Boris.

4 The ITV journalist, Paul Brand, to whom this email (and other partygate type stories) was leaked is married to Joe Cuddeford who (by happenstance) is the Deputy Director at The Cabinet Office. 

5 Oddly, ITV have redacted the date on the email. Why?

6 Bournemouth on the day of #BYOBGate

Corbyn The Poultice

 

Rumours are the Corbyn is considering setting up a new party. 

In the event this comes to fruition, it will do Starmer a big favour; as Corbyn will act a poultice, and draw the poison of extremism away from Labour and into Corbyn's new party.

Michael Gove in Need of an Extra Lift This Morning

 

Attorney General Considers Referring Colston Verdict

 

Trial by jury is an important guardian of liberty & must not be undermined. However, the decision in the Colston statue case is causing confusion. 1/2

— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) January 7, 2022

The Old Switcheroo - Geidt It? Got It? Good!

 

New: Boris Johnson has told Lord Geidt his failure to disclose key messages regarding the financing of his Downing Street flat refurbishment was because he had recently changed phone numbers.

Correspondence expected later todayhttps://t.co/UmKaeAdqrr

— Harry Yorke (@HarryYorke1) January 6, 2022

Sir Keir Tests Positive Again!

 

 The tally now stands at

- Isolating six times. 

- Positive three times. 

 Poor Sir Keir, he's not very lucky!