For how long will we see Johnson at the Despatch Box?
So the greased albino pig has escaped his fate again – or has he? For the record: the result of yesterday’s confidence vote at the 1922 Committee was 148 against, 211 for Johnson. Depending on the political bend of their chief editors, the headlines of this morning’s dead-tree press are suitably lurid. Personally, I loved the one in the SUN: “Night of the blond knives” (link).
It’s the hour of the ‘opinion makers’, the political comment editors – but meanwhile we peasants are being kept in suspense which is another way of making us feel insecure about our and the country’s future.
Yesterday evening I switched on the news at five minutes to 9pm only, wanting to see the result announced ‘live’. The warbling of the TV commentators just before and just after was sufficiently nauseating to switch off immediately after. Not having watched ‘Telly News’ for a long time I was utterly amazed by the skill of those ‘reporters’ to say nothing at all while sounding suitably serious and knowledgeable. Do we really need such people to tell us how to think?
They, these visible representatives of the MSM, are only as knowledgeable as we are. They think they are entitled to ‘form’ our opinion while they are nothing more than disseminators of gossip from secretive ‘sources’ in Whitehall. Those who have connections to Madame J, a.k.a. Princess NutNuts, and those who have connections to ‘the Big Dog’ through former work relationships are at the top of that particular heap. They are the self-appointed aristocracy of political pundits.
I spare you their comments, the titles of their pieces are sufficiently indicative of their self-assumed ‘wisdom’. A quick look at the online editions of the DT (link) and The Times (link) are sufficiently nauseating. There are however a few gossipy pieces which give us some insight into the general thought processes of the Westminster MSM hacks. One, in The Times, is aimed at making us feel disgusted with the ‘Rebel MPs’ and commiserate with BJ. I love the headline and subtitle:
“Boris Johnson: Allies took their time in campaign to save Big Dog – Boris Johnson was enjoying the jubilee pageantry while his opponents were busy conspiring, write Steven Swinford, Henry Zeffman and Oliver Wright” (link)
Interesting, isn’t it, that the authors of this piece appear in the subtitle! Remember those names, they are the top conduits for Whitehall ‘sources’ providing spin. The subliminal theme of this article is: ‘you must feel sorry for the PM who was enjoying the Jubilee pageants, just like you plebs did’, accompanied by ‘aren’t the Tories horrible for sharpening their knives during such wonderful occasion’.
The DT meanwhile, still in the guise of being the Torygraph rather than another Guardian in disguise, has been given that memo circulating over the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend – the one which led to ‘that’ vote (paywalled link). Of course, there’s also the ‘poor Big Dog innocently enjoying that Jubilee while nasty Tories plotted his downfall’.
There is one point in that memo the DT published which for me is a clear and damning indictment. Unvarnished by the spin the author of that DT article slips in, here it is:
“The entire purpose of the Government now appears to be the sustenance of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. MPs are having to defend the indefensible, not for the sake of the party, but for one man. He is the only Minister given negative ratings by activists in the ConHome ratings (link, not working), meaning he is dragging everyone else down.” (paywalled link)
I have published that memo, unvarnished, separately, because it is a historic document and should be accessible to all, unspun. You can find it here.
The other report in the DT concerning us all is that, regardless of the vote yesterday, the hunt for a successor is on, the forerunner or main plotter being – Hunt. Yesterday afternoon he came out as a ‘No’-voter because ‘conscience’, to the consternation of cabinet colleagues. Under the headline “Westminster’s worst kept secret” the DT reports (my emphasis):
“Mr Hunt has been treading a narrow line for months over his leadership ambitions,notably not ruling out another run at the top job in January. He told The House magazine: “I won’t say my ambition has completely vanished, but it would take a lot to persuade me to put my hat into the ring.” On Monday, Mr Hunt, his team and MP supporters repeatedly stressed that he was not running for the leadership, well aware that many in the party’s supporter base might not thank him.” (paywalled link)
Yeah right – we believe him, don’t we, because it stands to reason that one isn’t running for the leadership while one has a team set up doing just that. Isn’t it wonderful how Hunt is able to make himself look clean and innocent because it’s not him plotting, oh no – it’s his friends who do it for him:
“One of his team said on Monday: “There is no official campaign from Jeremy. There can’t be.” A second member of his said: “He can’t campaign until he [Johnson] has gone.” Despite his statement, Mr Hunt is understood not to have submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson because he felt it was not the right time amid the war in Ukraine. However, his friends said he felt compelled to speak out because it was a case of “now or never” given that other MPs had submitted the necessary letters of no confidence to trigger the vote.” (paywalled link)
It’s quite stunning that the ‘war in Ukraine’ was used to cloak Hunt’s leadership machinations. I’m choking on my tears about his considerate attitude and on how he kept his hands clean: he didn’t write a letter, he only grasped the opportunity created by others … There’s more:
“Many of the team who fought on Mr Hunt’s campaign in 2019 are already in place. Indeed, even his slogan from 2019 – “Unite to win” – could apply in 2022.” (paywalled link)
If anyone believes that these ‘campaign friends’ weren’t already plotting to get Hunt into No 10 well before the weekend and that memo: sorry, my dears: you need some more lessons in developing a proper cynical attitude!
And so, while the PM is being described as ‘A dead man walking?’ (link, paywalled), the point really ought to be that the Tory Party is ‘A collection of dead men and women walking’ because they are now all bent on supplanting the ‘wounded’ PM instead of addressing the problems the courtly will have to deal with:
“Mr Hunt’s team is not the only unofficial leadership operation: one veteran Tory told me that there are as many as 10 campaigns getting ready in case Mr Johnson quits.” (paywalled link)
So, instead of working for the good of the country our elected representatives who’ve’ been doing eff all thanks to lockdowns and that ‘Ghost HoC’ on peak zoom, they are now busily wasting their time on plotting to create a new ‘Big Dog’. It’s the time for snakes in the grass, it’s the time for the Truss’ and Wallaces to come out of hiding and reap the rewards for being ‘tough on Russia’.
Where are those who will be ‘tough on green crappery’ and on reining in the galloping inflation? Will we see a resurrection of Remain, will ‘candidates’ try to win by cosying up to the EU again? Let’s not forget that the one Tory who might, just might, be able to get to grips with Whitehall the EU has been denied a place in the HoC by not being given the candidacy in the coming by-election in Wakefield on the 23rd of this month.
The Tory Party has gone beyond having a death wish – they are all dead people walking. Moreover, I suggest it’s not just the Tory Party full of dead people walking – so are the Westminster MSM whose boys and girls have been working so hard for a Labour government.
And a Labour government, dear friends, would mean that our country will become ‘a dead country walking’. What fun!
Viv, you continue to do a wonderful job. Thank you very much.
I am now glad that Bojo has not been toppled and I wonder whether ‘the vote’ was deliberately orchestrated by his supporters, in such a way as to ensure that he did win it.
The main reason for not wanting him toppled is that realistic alternatives in that Party are worse.
The prospect of other main parties winning an election is even worse of course.
Here is Nigel Farage’s assessment – it is grim.
Boris’s power base is Brexit. And its available for whoever increases the fishing zone, opens the Irish border and removes EU contamination, and finally, starts on repealing EU nastiness laws.( Including VAT )
This applies to Newspapers, Telly, individuals and organisatio, andns
I would add that the nations long term prosperity mainly depends on getting a grip on country, company, individual and public waste of time and bureaucracy by education in the skills of computing, not its pornography,( which includes over-use, over-reliance, ignorant programming/coding/IT, etc as well as directly anti-social ), without destroying its beauty as a tool.
Another useful action that could be pushed politically, could be intelligent focus on the enormouly foolish new and wasteful government and EU invented industries of HR, Elf n safety, Agencies, Tariffs,And all the hundred or so Taxes designed to be invisible .
TG- totally agree. A credible candidate advocating real Brexit as we all voted for voted for – not a sell out ‘deal’, would be a candidate many would follow. But fat chance with the 600 plus remainers in parliament.
I would throw my money at anyone getting us out. Meanwhile, my (abscent?) mp is a true remainer. At the next election if the opposition is not all extreme left, as per last election, I shall support them financially best I can.
I also notice the betting against rejoining the common market have been falling over the last year or so (means rejoining is becoming more likely).
Unfortunately, the ‘minor parties’ have little or no presence – cancelled / ignored by the msm et al. A charismatic leader is just not yet out there.
Q. Is there anyone out there who wants to ‘make Britain Great again’?
I don’t like to think about Johnson too much, even if he had been ousted last night, he’d just be replaced by somebody just as bad or most likely much worse.
Talking about green crappery, here’s a video by Jeff Taylor where he talks about the now demonisation of electric vehicles that apparently burn more rubber and thus cause more pollution. Jeff thinks that what is really happening is that the globalists want to get rid of all personal transport.
I’d like to apply a bit of schoolboy science to the above as well. “You can’t make or destroy energy, you can only change it from one form to another.”
If we take fossil fuels and burn them in an internal combustion engine to change this energy into mechanical energy, we can assume maybe fifty percent of that energy is lost – largely as heat – during the process. So we can say that an internal combustion engine is fifty percent efficient and one thousand watts of energy will become five hundred watts of mechanical energy.
If we take fossil or nuclear fuel and turn it into mechanical energy to create five hundred watts, then turn it into electric energy at say sixty percent efficiency and then back into mechanical energy with a further sixty percent efficiency, then our five hundred watts becomes one hundred and eighty watts.
These electric cars are far, far less efficient and we have to burn much, much greater amounts of nuclear or fossil fuels to power them.
We’ve been had!! It’s amazing that given that this is such simple schoolboy science, that so many people have been taken in by this electric car scam, it’s really sad.
Ban them all!
Jeff Taylor
Stop talking sense Flyer you will frighten the children and will certainly wind up the EV lobby! The public will continue to follow most of what the media and marketing people tell them is good to have or even a must have. Good ol’e Britsh snobbery at it’s best I’m afraid, Remember the ‘ patio decking’ of a few years ago, just where did all that imported wood go when it was rotten . The next ‘must have’ is an E.V ( the bigger and faster the better ) most will have to learn the hard way about depreciation , charging and servicing costs , not forgetting end of live disposal costs the early ones are now twn years old . There are now calls to stop the subsidies and also ‘Tax’ them as they use the roads the same as everything else, who knew! Anyway I’m just off out to town now, I need to get the latest ‘flag’ and ‘wristband’ to show my virtue for something or other. Great post , always enjoy your comments.
Anyone that thinks there is much of a future here has not been looking at the the public sector in general, local and central government and the huge mass of the public who only want more free lunches. The media seems only to draw its opinions from various well financed lobbies together with the responces on twitter and social media. The political class and the click bait media respond to the thumbs up thumbs down mentality of that and the lets shout loud and we will get our way mentality of generations who as ‘ Super Mac’ was famous for saying ‘ have never had it so good’. A country as Viv suggests but is probably already a dead country walking. Should be fun as state and private money runs out . Remember the 1970s good, well most don’t and I fear we have seen nothing yet. Welcome to the world of Blair and his centuary of social democracy ( socalism to you and me ) what a pity so few have noticed.