Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson

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  • TelfordTelford Shipmate
    I don't want to be optimistic but I just watched PMQs on iPlayer and I think Johnson's in trouble. Starmer was clearly cross examining him and all newly qualified barristers know not to ask a question unless you already know the answer.

    Starmer in not a newbie lawyer but an experienced and very well regarded QC...

    Johnson is now on record saying specific things at the dispatch box. I strongly suspect Starmer knows that many of the things said today are not true.

    Johnson is unravelling in front of our eyes. How long will his sycophants prop him up?

    But Johnson did not answer the difficult questions.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    Improving homes? No chance.

    Home improvements? Of course, whyever not?

    Yeah, but what started with the *Mail* accusing the Tories of social murder ended in a tussle about wall paper.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    edited April 30
    Gee D wrote: »
    Well, each to his (or her) own.

    I actually quite like pink and green, but some of Ms Lytle's Stuff looks a bit *busy* to my minimalist eye.

    The colours - if they are to be used in Castle BozCaz - will surely clash horribly with Bozzie's haystack hair...

    The only one of those I could even perhaps live with is the one from House and Garden. I don't think "busy" is sufficiently strong to describe the others.

    I agree, I’d find it stressful on the eyes and brain. I love bright colours but in the accessories, not the furnishings.

    I wonder what Boris de Pfeffel really thinks? Is it stressing his eyes and brain?
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    Brain?
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    Apparently he refused to change his mobile number on becoming Prime Minister, although warned it made him a security risk. Lock him up! Lock him up!
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Hugal wrote: »
    Brain?

    You have a good point there. 🤕

  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Hugal wrote: »
    Brain?

    You have a good point there.

  • Interesting comment from the Grauniad re the power behind the throne of King Bozzie:
    https://theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/30/boris-johnson-carrie-symonds-influence-no-10-extends-much-further-than-decor

    *Curtaingate* is only part of the toxic goings-on...
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    This is a good cartoon on ‘curtaingate’ -
    https://tinyurl.com/en7kxnpy
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Shipmate
    Incredible scenes over at the BBC.
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    The Daily Mail seems to be being much less critical of Johnson than they were earlier in the week. I wonder if that's because they realise if they manage to get rid of him the Conservative Party as a whole would be less popular and it's unlikely that Gove would get the job anyway.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Incredible scenes over at the BBC.

    “Boris Johnson trusts hardly anyone, and suspects almost everyone. As one source describes it, he ‘behaves in such a way that people eventually tire of him, feel let down, and behave in the way he feared they would’.

    The breakdown in his relationship with his former adviser Dominic Cummings is spectacular evidence of that.
    But people who work alongside Mr Johnson are often kept guessing, unsure of what he really thinks. It leaves him all powerful. His whim rules.

    But it also can make it harder to achieve what he says he wants - the priorities he was elected to deliver. Yet popularity matters in politics too. Despite the horrors of coronavirus, hard realities have never been part of the PM's desired script. To use one of his tactics, quoting the classics, the Greek philosopher Plato said: "No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth."
    But as one of the few people who genuinely knows Boris Johnson once told me, he is a politician who above all, wants to be loved.”

    Remind you of anyone?
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Shipmate
    Nero ? Caligula ? Many another despot.
  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    Nobody could possibly love him as much as he loves himself.
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Shipmate
    His father fucked off much of the time and his mother was mentally unwell for long chunks of his childhood - of which he spent the latter part in an institution that organises the membership its extra-curricular societies by popularity. It’s not hard to see why he has attachment problems.

    And if this is true: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8802033/Boriss-dad-broke-mums-nose-Explosive-new-biography-lifts-lid-PMs-affairs.html (apologies for the source) it’s not hard to see where he learned to treat women like shit.
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Shipmate
    Boogie wrote: »
    Incredible scenes over at the BBC.

    “Boris Johnson trusts hardly anyone, and suspects almost everyone. As one source describes it, he ‘behaves in such a way that people eventually tire of him, feel let down, and behave in the way he feared they would’.

    "First, the benign interpretation of how the PM operates. One insider who knows him well says it is simply "unfair and easy to cry 'liar', as the opposition has done"."

    So where's the malign interpretation Laura?

    "Only one senior politician still in the game has ever privately told me something that was utterly, entirely, and completely untrue. It was proved publicly to be a lie a few days later. "

    Either a lot of weasel wording characters or she wakes up like a newborn every morning.

    Perfectly normal country where the senior political correspondent of the leading public broadcaster goes to bat to excuse the lies of a PM by comparing him to ... Steve Jobs.
  • alienfromzogalienfromzog Shipmate
    Boogie wrote: »
    Incredible scenes over at the BBC.

    “Boris Johnson trusts hardly anyone, and suspects almost everyone. As one source describes it, he ‘behaves in such a way that people eventually tire of him, feel let down, and behave in the way he feared they would’.

    "First, the benign interpretation of how the PM operates. One insider who knows him well says it is simply "unfair and easy to cry 'liar', as the opposition has done"."

    So where's the malign interpretation Laura?

    "Only one senior politician still in the game has ever privately told me something that was utterly, entirely, and completely untrue. It was proved publicly to be a lie a few days later. "

    Either a lot of weasel wording characters or she wakes up like a newborn every morning.

    Perfectly normal country where the senior political correspondent of the leading public broadcaster goes to bat to excuse the lies of a PM by comparing him to ... Steve Jobs.

    Yep. I've two thoughts on Laura's piece:

    1. It is remarkable in the lengths she goes to to soften the attack on 'Boris.'
    2. It is remarkable that Laura attached 'Boris' at all.

    She is capable of high quality journalism. She is extremely culpable for being captured by the lobby system, consistently sacrificing independence and integrity for access.

    Bottom line:
    Laura's piece is very generous to Johnson and will not cut through to anyone who doesn't yet see through "Boris." Conversely and perhaps perversely for political geeks like me, her piece is very critical of Boris by her usual standards whilst simultaneously highlighting how disingenuous she consistently is.

    By contrast, look at almost anything she said / wrote about Corbyn...

    AFZ
  • :lol:

    Thanks @Alan Cresswell - as you say, spot on! A nice piece of writing...
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    I may be unduly cynical, but the average member of the British public probably assumes all politicians lie and are on the fiddle anyway, and would do the same as Boris as regards the flat if they had his opportunities.
  • DafydDafyd Shipmate
    Indeed. And that cynicism is how Johnson gets away with it.
  • AnnAnn Shipmate Posts: 36
    Eirenist wrote: »
    I may be unduly cynical, but the average member of the British public probably assumes all politicians lie and are on the fiddle anyway, and would do the same as Boris as regards the flat if they had his opportunities.

    Like Lord Irvine back in 1997?
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    Could I just say

    Feckin Johnson: strutting his stuff with the navy, wandering all over the uk bumping elbows left right and centre, cracking funnies and grinning grotesquely, smoke and mirrors everywhere

    Meanwhile
    Grenfell Tower inquiry anyone?
    The man is silent
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Shipmate
    Ethne Alba wrote: »
    Could I just say
    Feckin Johnson: strutting his stuff with the navy, wandering all over the uk bumping elbows left right and centre, cracking funnies and grinning grotesquely, smoke and mirrors everywhere

    The Telegraph are quoting unnamed government officials stating that "The French are worse than the Nazis".

    I suppose an actual general election is going to entail a full scale war.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    De Pfeffel is in his element.

    😠
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    His sabre-rattling was presumably calculated to fire up the gammonati - any excuse to sock it to Johnny Foreigner - just in time for the elections. If the vessels he's sent to Jersey are really just "monitoring" the situation*, why do they need to be gunboats?

    * the "situation" apparently being a peaceful protest against unreasonable post-Brexit demands made by his government
  • Is the new aircraft carrier HMS Big Liz (or whatever) capable of sailing up the Seine to scare M Macron into submission, do you think?

    With Bozzie MacBozzface as the figurehead, of course...
  • With Bozzie MacBozzface as the figurehead, of course...
    That would be enough to scare anyone. Rather like the dragon head of Viking longships (except, of course, we can't mention that because someone wouldn't want to admit a lot of English culture is Scandinavian ....)

  • Scandinavian??
    :open_mouth:

    Is Outrage!

    BTW, didn't the Vikings have shaggy blond hair? Rather like Someone We Know Of? Good gods, the man isn't English at all!

    I do hope we don't go to war with France. My sister lives in that country, and I like their wine (and their CHEESE), not to mention patisserie...all of which would be proscribed under wartime restrictions.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    I’m not saying if Boris had taken his time over the deal and got a good one
  • I rather think that the concept of a *Good-Deal Brexit* (if that's what you mean) is an oxymoron...
    :disappointed:
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Shipmate
    Aren’t the U.K. & France *both* in NATO ?
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Shipmate
    Aren’t the U.K. & France *both* in NATO ?

    Greece and Turkey have got to firing shots at each other previously. Besides, I imagine by the end of the week it will have all calmed down as there will be no need for it to go on.
  • Marvin the MartianMarvin the Martian Admin Emeritus
    Piglet wrote: »
    the "situation" apparently being a peaceful protest against unreasonable post-Brexit demands made by his government

    As we’ve been told all year, the EU and UK are now unrelated entities, and thus it’s perfectly reasonable for the EU to impose third-party rules to the detriment of the UK. So why is it unreasonable for the UK to also impose third-party rules if they’re to the detriment of the EU?
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited May 7
    You may have a valid point, of course, but what's striking is the knee-jerk reaction of King Bozzie - SEND IN THE GUNBOATS!

    I think Queen Cazzie put him up to it.
  • Doc TorDoc Tor Admin
    Piglet wrote: »
    the "situation" apparently being a peaceful protest against unreasonable post-Brexit demands made by his government

    As we’ve been told all year, the EU and UK are now unrelated entities, and thus it’s perfectly reasonable for the EU to impose third-party rules to the detriment of the UK. So why is it unreasonable for the UK to also impose third-party rules if they’re to the detriment of the EU?

    Because we signed a treaty with the EU. In that treaty, we accepted being a third country, while giving concessions to the EU.

    If we then want to renege on that treaty, then maybe we should have had a better - or at least a different- treaty.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited May 7
    An opinion piece from today's Guardian, reflecting on the need to approach post-Brexit UK-EU relations in a more sensible way:
    https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/07/jersey-fishing-standoff-brexit-britain

    Sending in the gunboats simply Will Not Do.
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    I heard an interview with a Jersey fisherman, who said they were in a worse state than the French, and mirabile dictu, said that the French trawlermen would at least get compensation from the EU. Oh, oh, that I should be living in these brave times! Cue Oscar Wilde, you need a heart of stone not to laugh.
  • MMMMMM Shipmate
    I admit I’m getting a bit confused about this. I thought that Jersey had never been a member of the EU and that it’s not a part of the UK.


    MMM
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    The French have upped the ante by pointing out that France provides Jersey's leccie.

    Part of me hopes that we call Boris's bluff and cut the power (note that where UK - EU disputes are concerned, I consider myself French).
  • Jersey is a self-governing dependency, which has its own government and laws. It acknowledges HM Queen Elizabeth as Head of State, so it's a constitutional monarchy, but defence is looked after by the UK government.

    Hence Bozzie's sending-in of the Royal Navy to cow the evil Frogs into submission...

    Wikipedia gives a bit more information and history:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    Just to confuse you further, MMM, Jersey is part of the Duchy of Normandy, which also includes Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and Jethou. The current Duke is one Elizabeth Windsor.
  • MMMMMM Shipmate
    Yes, I knew that, Eirenist. In the very, very dim and distant past, I had a boyfriend from Jersey. So I know that Her Maj is the current Duke. And that the rest of the UK is actually a dependency of Jersey (or so I was informed!)

    And I’m reluctant to get started on the Clameur de Haro (goodness knows how you translate this - the complaint of ....what? The remedy for when you are threatened is to go down on one knee and say ‘Haro, Haro, Haro, a l’aide, mon Prince, on me fait tort’ - Haro, Haro, Haro, come to my aid my Prince, someone does me wrong’ - others more versed in Norman French can correct me, please! - and they stop. I think it has to go to court then).

    I realise the UK is responsible for Jersey’s defence but can’t quite work out why the fishing issue is apparently about Brexit when Jersey has never been an EU member.

    I’m probably taking too narrow and legalistic a view. It’s what I do.

    MMM
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    I think it may be because the U.K. is also responsible for foreign affairs in relation to Jersey.
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    Jersey fishermen are still affected by Brexit, as apparently it's hard for them to land fish. I don't know how this will be resolved, possibly it won't be, good bye fishing.
  • alienfromzogalienfromzog Shipmate
    BroJames wrote: »
    I think it may be because the U.K. is also responsible for foreign affairs in relation to Jersey.

    The short answer is because the UK government cooked it up in the Brexit deal because they didn't care enough to pay attention. The constitutional arrangements of the Channel Islands make it complicated...

    Law of unintended consequences and all that...
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    The whole fisheries thing has been a slow motion train crash which the government are hoping will not be of sufficient interest to go on staying in the headlines. Another example is U.K. shell fishers.
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    BroJames wrote: »
    The whole fisheries thing has been a slow motion train crash which the government are hoping will not be of sufficient interest to go on staying in the headlines. Another example is U.K. shell fishers.

    I wonder where Farage is, he's a champion of fisherfolk.
  • TelfordTelford Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    His sabre-rattling was presumably calculated to fire up the gammonati - any excuse to sock it to Johnny Foreigner - just in time for the elections. If the vessels he's sent to Jersey are really just "monitoring" the situation*, why do they need to be gunboats?

    * the "situation" apparently being a peaceful protest against unreasonable post-Brexit demands made by his government

    France is greedy. They have part of the North sea, the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean they can fish in.
  • The people of the Cherbourg peninsula and other sections of that coast along the Channel have that local area of sea, including the Channel Islands, to fish in. It's not reasonable to expect them to spend days at sea to fish in the Mediterranean, even the relatively close Bay of Biscay would need them to replace all their boats with vessels more able to manage the conditions of the Atlantic the other side of Brest rather than the relatively sheltered conditions of the Channel - and, of course, to be able to manage longer voyages further from the safety of their home port, and potentially needing to learn new techniques to catch different species. And, why should the people of Bordeaux reduce how many fish they catch to let in new bigger boats from the other side of Brest?

    Whatever nation, the majority of fishing boats probably travel no more than 100 miles from their home port, a lot don't even travel that far.
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