But rarely front page sleaze, especially in the gutter press.

The sleeze was inside the Sunday Times.

The "Let the bodies pile up" quote is not sleaze. It directly attacks Johnson's carefully-crafted image of an amiable buffoon who is "a bit out of his depth" but doing the best he can because "he's a good sort". Why that would be suitable for PM is a separate mystery, but he's got there and I haven't - so it plays well with enough voters and Tory party members.

Fair enough, "scandal" might have been a better word. But it was also on the front page of The Mail on Sunday, as I pointed out earlier.

The gist of what I'm saying is that that section of the press have given Johnson & co. a very easy ride indeed, and maybe that's changing.

Boris Johnson has always "complied with the rules" over the refurbishment of his official flat, the defence secretary has said.

Ben Wallace said the prime minister had "personally paid the bill" for works on the Downing Street residence.

Asked whether a loan had initially covered the refurbishment costs, Mr Wallace told BBC Breakfast: "The prime minister paid the money, from his own money".

He said this came "on top of" public money from the annual £30,000 taxpayer grant available to all prime ministers for the upkeep of their accommodation.

"At all times the prime minister has complied with the rules. He's paid for it out of his own money, " he said.

Mr Wallace also dismissed as "nonsense" a newspaper report that Mr Johnson said he would rather see "bodies piled high in their thousands" than order a third national lockdown.

Asked about the claims, Mr Wallace said: "I've known the prime minister for many years, that is not the prime minister I know. That is just nonsense."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56883078

It's happened. The Tories have now become their own official opposition!

The old political adage is that you don’t win an election your opponent loses the election.

Lots of outlets running with the "bodies could pile high" quote.

Boris Johnson has denied saying it and if you cannot trust Boris Johnson, who can you trust ? :rolleyes:

To be honest I don't believe he said it. It doesn't sound right.. too plebian. Now if he'd tacked on 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori!' it would be more convincing.

Hasn't gone away. NIRA recently admitted responsibility for an incendiary bomb attached to a policewoman's car.

Robert Peston tweeted

I'm understand CCHQ (Tory Party) made payment to the Cabinet Office to cover initial costs of refurbishing the PM's home in Downing Street, and the PM is now repaying CCHQ. There is an audit trail. Cabinet Sec Simon Case knows about it. Which is presumably why he told MPs...

today that he would do a report on the propriety of how the decoration and furnishing was funded. This is breaking news and I will update

Downing Street says to me - again - that the PM has now paid for the costs of the refurbishment. But there was a loan to him from the Tory Party. And I assume that loan will now have to be declared by him. You decide whether it was appropriate for his party to give...

him this kind of financial help (and very sorry for typo in first tweet in this chain).

PS I assume the PM will declare the loan from the Tory Party pronto. Because failure to do so would be a breach of the Ministerial Code. I am less clear on whether there is an analogous disclosure responsibility on the Conservative Party, but I assume there is.

This is every bit as deceitful and contrived as Cummings' eye-test fairy story in the Rose Garden of number 10 last year.
The difference is that this time the whole CCHQ is involved, and Johnson hasn't got the balls to tell this lie himself and has made Peston do it for him!

As an aside, it was mentioned in one of the Tory sleaze articles that the list of ministers' interests, which is supposed to be published twice a year, haven't been updated since July last year.

You are mistaking the actor for the role he plays….

Meanwhile Gove, in the HoC, was careful to deny the "Bodies piled up .." statement in a way that wasn't really a denial. Weasel words from the ultimate weasel.

I'm half expecting a full-on Johnson meltdown, but that's probably just wishful thinking. The next PMQs might be interesting. Wednesday?

It's pathetic saying that the loan for his flat refurbishment will be declared 'in due course'. He's like a shoplifter offering to pay for goods he'd stolen.

The Sweeney!

I'm more baffled by the fact that £30,000 per year apparently isn't enough to maintain a flat. What the hell are they doing to the place?

Sent from my Google Pixel Slate using Tapatalk

Gove has been very quiet lately..,
Cummings was Gove's spad. Neither like Johnson. Cummings hates everyone.
Murdoch and Gove are tight.

Wouldn't put it past Gove to be behind some of the current media leaks and stories as part of a leadership bid.
Little ****. Not that Johnson doesn't deserve a hard time.

I was quite surprised to hear that. You could easily replace a kitchen, couple of bathrooms, decorate throughout carpets the lot - we are told it is only a small apartment for £30000.

It’s definitely Gove and Cummings - only have to listen to how suddenly Kuenssberg has “sources” again.

Oh for ****'s sake just get it over and done with Tories! You know he's toast. We need to know which ghoul you have lined up next.

Equally, assuming it's done to a high standard you got easily blow £30k on a small kitchen alone. Really just depends what is being done and by who.

I mean I presume he would have used an interior designer, selected only the best materials and been paying the best workmen to do the job. I'm also not sure what extra costs would have been added on in terms of security or whatever - they may need to use preapproved government contractors for the work which will add cost no doubt.

The great British public don't mind because the pubs are open and there's a good chance that they'll be able to go off to the Costas for their summer holidays. :rolleyes:

In any case, you cannot expect a toff like Boris Johnson to have to follow the same rules as lesser mortals.

Yes, the costs do quickly add up, as we have recently found. An extension, new kitchen, patio, oil tank and garden remodelling in the last 9 months and we're already well past 2 years worth of Number 10 budget. :o

I'm sure costs are not cheap, and they will use decent contractors etc. - can easily add up to quite a lot of money.

But £30k every year ?

Of which only 'new kitchen' could apply to #10 and, as has been mentioned, every year?

Just a slight clarification - the PM lives in the flat above #11 - because it's a bit bigger than #10. Since Tony Blair, pretty much all PMs have used #11.

Yep, my mistake.

From the reporting , it's not entirely clear whether the £30k budget has been in place for some time or whether it is a fairly new innovation. It's also not clear whether the budget accumulates from year to year in the event that it isn't spent.

Reportedly, the Camerons refurbished No. 11 in 2011 and spent all of the £30k, and perhaps some of their own money.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13580108

Tatler has a story about the work and who is doing it.

https://www.tatler.com/article/lulu-...carrie-symonds

May didn't. To be fair to previous incumbents Blair & Brown swapped because Blair had children & Brown didn't at the time. May swapped back as she doesn't have children but Phillip Hammond did. Johnson took the 4 bed Chancellor's apartment over the two bed PM's residence (forgetting Chequers for a moment) despite him having, at the time, no children living with him & Sajid Javid having four. Still I suppose Sunak doesn't care, if by some chance he ever finds himself more than ten minutes from one of his multiple homes I guess he can just buy another one to cover the shortage.

Reports of hand made wallpaper at £850 a roll and a £10,000 sofa.

Defenders jumping in to say it's only right as it's a 'listed building' and the official residence of the head of the govt so it has to be of the highest quality.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey says she believes Boris Johnson after he denied saying he would rather see "bodies pile high in their thousands" than have another lockdown.

"I take the prime minister on his word."

Imagine knowing the track record of Boris and saying this on TV!

According to the Taker article, Theresa May's furnishings were too John Lewis.

As part of a government building, I am surprised reasonable* redecoration costs aren't the responsibility of some civil service/ministerial department.

* - If it's a private residence, where guests are not being hosted then I don't have a problem with it being of lesser priority than official function rooms.

Well, there is an official allowance of 30k for 'refurbishment'

I don't think it runs to new sofas though.

You know this is going to turn out as something like:

he would rather hear about "bodies pile high in their thousands" than have another lockdown

Or

he would rather see "dead bodies pile high in their thousands" than have another lockdown

If he said it to Dom (and he probably did) he was comfortable saying it, knowing that Dom agreed. It was Cummings who was reported at the start of the pandemic saying "protect the economy and if that means some pensioners die, too bad"

Didn't the Mail break a load of the most recent stuff?

And doesn't Sarah Vine work for the Mail?

And remind me who her husband is?

Coincidence? Or just another inevitable part of the too knotty relationships between Tory politicians and the more right wing elements of our Fourth Estate?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...tory-rebellion

Just change your name to Alexander Johnson and your address to 11 Downing Street and see what will happen...

This ******* country...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...on-flat-refurb

I would be very surprised if it did accumulate, as that would fly in the face of all government spending rules. Mind you, now I say that...

"No 10 says Johnson will retain final say over internal inquiry into whether he broke ministerial code" (over the funding of his flat's refurbishment).

link to early reports. (Rolling coverage, so you might need to follow one of the links on the left for this particular aspect of the saga.)

Oh dear. Will even the Tories put up with this?

Well who better to judge the Prime Minister than the one person who knows all the facts of the case, ;)

If he delivers them gains in the local elections and keeps them well ahead in the polls - of course.

Arlene Foster to resign as the leader of the DUP.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56910045
https://mydup.com/news/statement-by-...TBwEcF8MUd8yjC

Apparently she isn't hard-line enough for the Protestant Taliban and they want a leader who is truer to the cause - which is worrying :(

Surprised anyone actually thinks your average punter in the UK actually cares how much Johnson spent on the flat or where the cash came from at the moment.

I think quite a few Brits will feel offended that Carrie Symonds said that the refurb of Downing Street flat was to remove a 'John Lewis furniture nightmare', given that John Lewis is a somewhat up-market chain. Johnson's gaffes are, I strongly believe, having a cumulative effect, not least on his own mood. Today at prime minister's questions he was red in the face and raging.

Oh, and John Lewis seem to be be fighting back, by taking the mickey, and when The Daily Mail seems to find that amusing then maybe it's a bad sign for Johnson?

Exactly.

It's one thing to call people "tank-topped bumboys" or "picaninnies with watermelon smiles" - after the sort of person who likes Johnson for telling it like it is, is fine with a bit of contempt for *those* sections of what they don't really consider to be society.

However many of those people would aspire to John Lewis - so he's now showing contempt for them. And it's gaining traction in the media they consume.

Also the opulence is probably not a good look even amongst them when many will have been struggling with Covid. And although it doesn't look like taxpayer's money "we're all in it together" and "we can't afford to pay nurses more" doesn't sit well with this, or the continual dripping of cronyism.

Jonathan Pie nails it, as ever ;)

The comment near the end about how much is Carrie Symonds' taste to be trusted when she has seen Boris Johnson naked isn't even the funniest bit :D

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I AGREE

And I shudder to think what raging is happening in that flat, maybe even as we type.

Remember this, from just 2 years ago? -

"Police were called to the home of Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, in the early hours of Friday morning after neighbours heard a loud altercation involving screaming, shouting and banging."

link