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