Talk on the radio this morning that we now will see the real Boris Johnson. Rubbish, Boris Johnson is a lazy waster that spends more time trying to impregnate women than leading the country.
I recall when he stood for Tory party leader his greatest aptitude was said to be "He surrounds himself with good people". All you ever see is the image that the latest advisers promote.

I suspect that Johnson as an Etonian/Buller Boy actually looks down on Cummings for being a Northerner (you can hear a trace or 2 of a Durham accent) and having gone to such a minor "public" school and feels somehow sullied that he had to rely on such a person and was itching to get rid.

I hear he annoyed Boris’s fiancé.

And like at the GE the strategy was to keep Johnson away from the media.

Boris will blame Cummings and Cain for the Covid mess and the **** Brexit deal.
Sure as you like!

His fans will agree, Boris was led astray and now he will sort it all out.

Boris had to choose between his best mate and his wife. What a dilemma.

Did he put muff before mates?

Live-in girlfriend and mother of his latest child.

Probably the other way round. As a Brexiteer Dom will be thinking, 'At least I'm English'.

I wouldn't say Durham was a minor public school?

This experiment has been run with this subject on numerous occasions and the confidence interval is such that "latest" needs a qualifier. "Latest child he has admitted to" is now the preferred description.

it is minor. It is mainly for sporty kids or those who would struggle academically in the better performing state schools nearby.

Isn't there a rumour going around he's taken out a superinjunction to stop the press from mentioning yet another girlfriend, some Russian violinist whom he vanished upstairs with at an event?

Anyway I for one don't believe this is about Carrie having a strop about Dom. This is about serious politics. This stuff about Princess Nut Nut is a side show IMV to bury the real news.

You could be right.

As a university Durham is highly regarded, 3rd oldest.

I went to Durham as did my brother.

there is also a 'Public School' called Durham that is very 'minor'

He's talking about Durham School.

My son went to the Uni, too, and was surrounded by these ex-Durham people who considered themselves posh.

ETA: Image result for how is durham school ranked
Durham School ranked in the top 9% of all independent schools in the country.Mar 9, 2020

Great, one un-elected person being ousted by another un-elected person.... not that I'm unhappy to see Cummings go but the time to do that was when he breached lockdown.

IMO the major public schools are Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster and Wellington. If your child is truly stupid and/or you are a sadist then maybe Gordonstoun creeps into the list. If your child has the misfortune to be female then maybe Benenden's on the list too.

Everything else is some variant of minor public school, though places like Upminster, Rugby, Kings' Canterbury, Fettes or St Paul are less minor than the run of the mill.

Which is?

I seem to recall mention of some sort of health issue. Oh and apparently the bloody Europeans aren't willing to play the gentleman and sacrifice the principles of the EU so the Bojo comedy troupe aren't exposed as liars.

Brexit shambles and Trump's demise.

He does look dishevelled and even confused. He seems barely able to string a sentence together and when placed next to Sunak or even Hancock it is apparent he lacks confidence, coherence and even sharpness.

I don't know what is wrong with him, although rumours abound and there might be a corona after-effect but his leadership doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I have to disagree. I have friends who went to Harrow and Westminster and friends who went to the girls public schools. They are nothing special and it wasn't difficult to get in, they are just prestigious brands, although you need to show academic ability. I would opine that Durham serves the function of your listed schools as the northern version of them. Certainly they do not have a Geordie accent.

No one from Durham has a Geordie accent.

Yup, Durham School is most definitely minor: it was never that good academically, as I've pointed out several times.

In my day the bright kids whose parents didn't want to send them to the local state grammar school to mix with the likes of me would go to somewhere like RGS in Newcastle.

Durham School has never, ever, ever been the northern equivalent of those named "public" schools and, as I've said several times, it had lower academic standards than the 2 local state grammar schools.

And NO-ONE from Durham has EVER had any class of a Geordie accent (for my sins I'm married to a Geordie...).

Still a handful get the train from Durham to Newcastle each morning. Well I presume so, I haven't caught it since lockdown.

Doh_! Of course, they are Mackems.

In 2019 last time Exams were properly sat the local Comp had 80% of A level students getting A or B compared to 60% at Durham

While Durham School just pipped another comp and the Catholic school it is not even the best private school. Durham High school for girls which has a similar number of pupils had better A levels.

As I mentioned if you child has behavioural issues or struggles to relate to and interact with others, perhaps he will be bullied in a normal school, then Durham School is where to send your little Dominic. The freak will fit right in there

Vixen to the line shooting 0 from 2 .....

Dominic Cummings isn't even mentioned in its distinguished alumni list. I see what you mean: seems to be composed of sporting types, rugby and cricket players. Cummings himself went on to study Ancient History at Exeter (another Uni teeming with ex-public school) a totally useless subject for running the country as is Johnson's Classics. At least people like Hancock did PPE which is relevant to his job.

Don't be fooled by Cummings' flat cap and dressed down image though.

Plebs would say that.

What?

Ancient History and Classics are prerequisites for running the country!

Well, their administration will soon be ancient history after their classic balls-ups.

What do you mean 'plebs' would say that?

Being a major private school has nothing to do with how difficult academically it is to get in and everything to do with the kinds of people you network with while you're there, and the cachet of going to that school.

As you point out, it's all about the branding, but being an old Etonian or Harrovian significantly enhances your chances of being PM.

That their minor school was actually a 'good' school.

Getting in to a 'top' school isn't about difficulty, it's about money and influence.

Boris Johnson 'called Scottish devolution disaster'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54965585

Boris decided that the EU was the enemy he would use as a tool to get power.
With a disaster of no deal Brexit he has moved on to a new enemy.

Who next? will he have Wessex and Mercia fighting over the last potato!

From Sky News

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick says devolution has been "misused" in Scotland by the SNP 'to drive a wedge between people who are ultimately part of the same country'.

And you can sod off with that one too!

Very much this! 'S been like that pretty much all my life (I'm in my early 60s) - even some of the staff at Durham School wouldn't send their lads there, but to one of the then state grammars (the 2 comps Lothian refers to).

To get into Durham School you have to pass an entrance exam. I'll tell you what are 'minor public schools' and they would be the ones my father - who was a real snob - sent my brothers from another marriage to. You won't have heard of them unless you live in Greater Manchester or Staffordshire and he was only an area manager for Plessey in those days. Has to be said though that they did all right as a result, gaining electronics type degrees and graduating eventually from Sandhurst to get high up in the army by passing ever more exams. I myself went to the local - supposedly Direct Grant, although I don't think anyone paid anything - grammar school.

I had heard of Durham school and I recall now that it was well-known for beefy sporting types who get into prestigious unis on the strength of their performance on the playing fields. Dominic Cummings looks like he is good at sprinting! :D

He has to face the 1922 committee and explain why his Brexit plans are driving a divided kingdom.

No, you just need to pay a fee. If you want an academic scholarship you have to sit an exam but not otherwise.

The fees look quite steep to me. Surely no wealthy parent would send their kid there without a view of their little Dom eventually getting a place at a redbrick uni?

Dominic Cummings has gone but don't imagine he is cloth cap and braces for a second.

ETA: This seems to hint that most pupils get a scholarship because of academic ability, as Johnson did at Eton.

I'm Wessex born and bred and I'm fed up with being dictated to by the bureaucrats up in London. I vote to leave the UK, close our borders to the immigrant Londoners (and of course all other foreigners, especially the Mercians) and reclaim our sovereignty. King Athelstan is buried a couple of miles from here, I'm sure he must have a descendant living near by we could put in charge. What could possibly go wrong?

One of John Steinbeck's lesser known works is a book titled The Short Reign of Pippin IV.

It is a delightful exercise which begins with a premise much like the above highlighted. Well worth a read. A bit on the lighthearted side compared to much of Steinbeck, but not without his usual social reflection.

I mean, it's happening to Kent, so why not?

Side note, if you don't follow Donald the Unready you might want to check him out.

Bit harsh.