Rishi Sunak has tried to distance himself from the looming National Insurance tax hike after calling it the "the Prime Minister's tax".

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics...calling-prime/

Boris Johnson has now called for an internal investigation into Nusrat Ghani's claims that she was dismissed as a minister because of Muslimness.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60108377

Well that's a sure-fire way to make sure that the grisly details are never made public and a proper whitewash can be executed. :rolleyes:

The police refused to investigate the parties but the investigation is interviewing the police.

Bizarre.

Paul Keating (former Australian Prime Minister) described Liz Truss being "demented" wrt her comments on China; suggest she return to her "collapsing, disreputable government".
Also stated Britain "suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation"
Link.

I have been watching the world war two in real time weekly updates and it is just about the end for the germans in stalingrad right now.

Hard to argue with his analysis of both Liz Truss and Britain's assessment of its own global relevance. :o

I think someone linked to those from here. They are very good.

I liked this channel on the New Guinea campaign and especially Australian contributions.

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

Strange to compare the numbers in this campaign and Stalingrad.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...08e28a5d6940b7

Problem for the government is of course that they might end up convicting their mates if they decided to pursue these fraud cases.

I'd be happy to take the debt off the government's hands for £1 and take on the chasing up of the fraudulent claims myself.

Oh FFS, Boris had a birthday party that broke the rules too.
https://www.itv.com/news/2022-01-24/...ws-understands

Just go man.

But Boris can’t be expected to have realised that it was a party:
That happens at every Cabinet meeting, doesn’t it?

Knowing this lot, most probably.

Another one for Sue Gray. At this rate she'll never get round to writing the sodding report.

Maybe that's the plan.

I imagine Boris sulking if he doesn’t get a cake.

It's OK. Nobody had told him it was his birthday.

There was also an evening do but according to Number 10, only close family was there.

The allegations are that it included friends.

I suspect Number 10 are lying.

The only reason Boris would have only stayed 10 minutes at the party would have been if he’d had another party to go to.

Nadine Dorries tweets
@NadineDorries
· 1h
So, when people in an office buy a cake in the middle of the afternoon for someone else they are working in the office with and stop for ten minutes to sing happy birthday and then go back to their desks, this is now called a party?

A pity the government's own twitter account was advising others, that this still wouldn't be permitted...

You could celebrate your birthday with friends with cake if you’re at work in Downing St. But not at home, not if your business was closed, not if you’re The Queen and not of course, if you were dying alone in hospital.

Lest we forget that CCHQ was also on the list of locales permitted to host parties, vis a vis the December 14th, 2020 Christmas Party hosted by the Shaun Bailey mayoral campaign.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/sta...48429546217475

Question, of course is how long until the Tory Party leadership decides that Boris has become deadwright and decides to dump him.

They have decided.

I guess the question is whether they think he can soak up any more blame or whether he will contaminate the rest.

The only people defending Boris Johnson tonight are George Eustace, Peter Bone and Nadine ******* Dorries.
Imagine how low you would have sunk if that was your line of defence?

Mitch Benn tweeted
@MitchBenn
·
4h
Can’t help but feel a bit irked at all the people who voted for Boris Johnson despite having been warned that he was Boris Johnson suddenly reacting with outrage and indignation upon belatedly discovering that Boris Johnson is in fact Boris Johnson

Jay Rayner tweeted
@jayrayner1
·
4h
As the great Julia Child once said, a party without cake is just a meeting. Johnson’s staffers supplied a cake. Ergo, It was a party.

They got the interior decorator from the other scandal to attend this scandal.

Things are tough when Marie Antoinette shows more social solidarity than the PM.

The UK government is facing an internal rebellion over plans to increase National Insurance payments. These payments are supposed to fund the NHS (though at first they will just pay down some of the Covid debt) - indeed Jacob Rees Mogg has already crowed about the NHS receiving the £350m a week promised six years ago on the side of a bus despite neither the tax nor the funding being in place.

Now the government is facing another squeeze on funding. Inflation has increased the cost of servicing the government's enormous debt. A "fiscally responsible" party would raise taxes - ideally on those most able to pay, the rich - but of course the Conservatives are entirely wedded to the voodoo economic view that the path to national prosperity lies in making sure that wealth and income inequality is as high as possible. :mad:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60117150

Give it 24 hours before calling it. IMO other cabinet members are just waiting to be presented with the right form of wording before stepping in front of the cameras.

I note from Grant Shapps' performance this morning that they seem to be going with the "It was a nice, but misjudged move from his staff but Boris Johnson knew nothing about it" defence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-6...ost_type=share

Whether they'll make the same defence when it turns out that the evening event wasn't just six close family members adhering to social distancing and instead it was, say, a dozen friends and family meeting indoors/outdoors.

That was what came to my mind too! Appropriate for the Tories. "This is a local country for local people. There's nothing for you here"

It's got so bad that even the Met have decided that they have to be seen to be doing something:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-6...ost_type=share

I'm sure that they'll look in a way that they're guaranteed not to find anything "inconvenient" to either the government or senior police officers. Imagine the furore if it turns out that plod were at one or more of the gatherings. ;)

"We asked the officers concerned for their notebooks covering the period but unfortunately they were all destroyed in mystery fire started by a stray birthday cake candle"

Would it be cynical of me to think it very convenient that Sue Gray's report will be delayed while the Met investigation is ongoing?

I already thought just that.

But I have a long-standing reputation for cynicism (ask a couple of botany lecturers at Sheffield in 1977...).

And another thing: WTAF is Carrie doing at all those "work events"? Carrot Flower Queen and I were never at each other's work things, even though it might have been helpful at times, what with both working in different bits of the NHS. And if your robbing git interior designer is there it definitely isn't work...

And the Met investigation delayed while the Sue Gray report is pending - because Sue Gray will provide the evidence which will form the basis for the Met investigation - and vice versa ;)

Announcement

They've got some combination of Kafka and Joseph Heller in to write the script, haven't they? With Flann O'Brien/Brian O'Nolan/Myles Na gCopaleen in as script consultant.

Tory head saying the Grey report must wait until the police investigation is complete.

So that's it in the 'long grass' until after the council elections then?

I've always been slightly puzzled by this. I understand there can be certain issues with 'interfering' with police investigations, but is there a specific legal issue with Sue Gray's report being published, albeit with some caveats about matters that have been referred to the police. ?

I can understand them not commenting on the actual police investigation, but the issue about not commenting AT ALL on any matter which is being investigated by the police always feels very convenient.

Police investigation could take "up to a year" to complete.

Of course it is. After the police investigation is complete the Grey investigation will have to take it in to account, that will add another few months on to the process.

It's not cynicism in this case. It's more like getting disgusted early to avoid the rush.

Mission Accomplished then. :rolleyes:

As far as people in Westminster care, local elections are neither here nor there. If the Conservatives do okay in the local elections then they'll keep Boris Johnson in post.

If they go badly then they'll ditch him and rebrand.

Sam Coates Sky
@SamCoatesSky
·
18m
Multiple sources confirm Boris Johnson didn’t tell his cabinet of the police investigation *despite knowing before cabinet started the announcement was imminent*
This has caused Cabinet incredulity, I understand.
No10 says it was too “sensitive” to share with cabinet

Boris Johnson has NOT seen what Sue Gray has passed to the Met Police, No10 spokesman said
Asked if Boris Johnson would resign if he’s interviewed under caution, the spokesman said this was a hypothetical
Boris Johnson does not believe he broke the law, his spokesman said
The spokesman wouldn’t repeat that all coronavirus rules were followed at all times

PM willing to speak to police he says. How very gracious of him

That's setting the bar pretty low given that he appears not to have understood what the law was and that he believes that the law doesn't apply to him.

No one told him and he was unable to tune into the No 10 broadcasts detailing the changes to the law as he was working* when they were on.


*'Real work' as opposed to 'cake, cheese and suitcases of wine work'.

Looks like Boris Johnson is relying on a supply of dead cats:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-6...ost_type=share

Sadly, I think that he's right. Another week or so and we'll all be bored of it. Another month or so and we'll have forgotten all about "Partygate" :mad:

This is how they get away with everything wait until the public are distracted by something shiny.