Westminster Politics

Drawfull said:
He refused to expand on his conference and refused to offer unconditional backing. Cummings is done.

He is asked why, if Cummings was unsure whether or not he was fit to subsequently drive back to London, his wife did not take the wheel instead.

Johnson says they are good questions but claims that, because Cummings has answered a lot of questions already, he will not add anything substantial. Johnson says:
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I’d wager good money that Cummings won’t be sacked.
 
Jippy said:
He said corona does seem bad for your eyes, so what the 'test drive' was ok?
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Conjunctivitis seems to be one of symptoms. Needless to say, one doesn't need a 30 minute trip to a beauty spot to find out if its cleared up or not. This is worse than Andrew's I do not sweat excuse or at least as bizarre.
 
And like that...he was gone.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
you’ve just asked me to get back to you and quoted my own post.

I must be missing something.
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You ignored the other one.

I said it matters if his wife drives as if she does why didn't she take the wheel instead of him driving the family 30 miles to a beauty spot to test his impaired vision?

The whole thing is bollocks let's be honest.
 
TheReligion said:
How about we all don't start acting like cocks just because Cummings did? We are better than that.
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What would you say to a person whom you stopped for breaking the rules and then they cited attorney general's support for man who broken the very same rules?
 
Watched the Cumming's conference and it massively reminded me of Arnie Vinnick in the last season of West Wing. Stay out there until you've taken and exhausted every question, so you can put it behind you. Looks like that was confounded by the "time to move on rhetoric" that was plastered all over twitter by Tory MPs, and Boris' refusal to get into it.

Although in the make believe TV show, it was done with good intentions and conducted with make believe honesty, rather than driving a car for an hour to see if your eyes worked.
 
The UK is completely and utterly fecked. Has been for a long time. Pathetic leadership, and a public all too willing to be repeatedly bent over. Complete laughing stock to serious nations.
 
Drawfull said:
He refused to expand on his conference and refused to offer unconditional backing. Cummings is done.

He is asked why, if Cummings was unsure whether or not he was fit to subsequently drive back to London, his wife did not take the wheel instead.

Johnson says they are good questions but claims that, because Cummings has answered a lot of questions already, he will not add anything substantial. Johnson says:
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Yeah, he won't answer any questions about Cummings. Nobody will. They'll all say "he's already answered questions". The problem being that those questions came before his excuses that are all clearly bullshit.
 
Times' Esther Webber: "Initial feedback from Tory MPs on the Cummings statement is... not encouraging."
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MaxiPaxi said:
What would you say to a person whom you stopped for breaking the rules and then they cited attorney general's support for man who broken the very same rules?
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Probably nothing really although I'd think they were a bit of a twat.

That's the point isn't it. Those who just go "Cummings has done it so I'll do what I want" are the same as him. The point is you have to be better than that surely instead of already trying to think of ways to get around things.

Early in the lockdown one guy was sat about and told me he was exercising. He then started pumping his fists and said grip strength. Why bother being a dick head? I don't get it.
 
DVG7 said:
The UK is completely and utterly fecked. Has been for a long time. Pathetic leadership, and a public all too willing to be repeatedly bent over. Complete laughing stock to serious nations.
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But compared to America.
 
Buster15 said:
And yet he clearly stated that he was going back to London to arrange child care.
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The point he was making was that was After the had isolated for 14 days and based on science shouldnt have been able to pass it on.
 
Sensible stuff from my local 'paper's comments section:

'Remember when Princess Leia says to Grand Moff Tarkin that the more you tighten your grip, the more systems will slip through your fingers? Tarkin replies that fear of the Death Star ensures compliance. That's what happening now. That's what the government wants.'
 
Drifter said:
But compared to America.
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both of them are as bad as each other. America doesn’t have to leave the European Union once all of this is done.UK was already heading for the biggest figurative car crash in its history with brexit, Covid added a couple of thousand lorries to the pile up.
 
Fingeredmouse said:
You can disagree and "get it".

So, to be clear, this is Mr. Cumming's position:

I and my wife were unwell, likely both with CV19. I was concerned that this would result in a situation where we could not care for my child. I did not want to pass a potentially fatal illness to my wife's brother and sister who live close by in London. However, my 17 year old niece in Durham 260 miles away had offered to help. We felt her life was more expendable and the fact she resided on an opulent estate simply made this already convenient solution more so. We then made this journey in direct contravention of Government advice and I then returned to London to work also in direct contravention of Government advice. This is of course Government advice I was one of the prime architects of and has caused distress and suffering the country across as we attempted to control the outbreak of CV19. This is also Government advice that resulted in the resignation of Neil Ferguson, another architect of Government policy, for a lesser breach . Oh, and also, to test my eyesight I drove with my wife and child who I have already established the welfare of is of paramount importance, coincidentally on her birthday. I will then suggest that the Government advice did not relate to my circumstances, even though I was one of it's chief architects and suggest that the media are being unfair to me as I refuse to concede any wrong doing.

You're cool with all of this it seems. Most people aren't. You can "get" why I assume, whilst disagreeing?
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it’s quite difficult to know what I “don’t get” without you stating what it is, so thanks for now elaborating.

it’s pretty difficult to read one massive paragraph for a start, to accept my apologies in not reading in detail a massive block of text.

Do I see anything wrong in travelling to Durham in those circumstances, and if they don’t have other child care option - no.

do I see anything wrong in him picking up his child from hospital, who got taken awayin an ambulance - no.

is the story about his eyesight and the need for a test drive as fishy as hell - yes.

is this something the media and government should be focusing on and dedicating days to get to the bottom of - no.

is every political opponent jumping on this and making it more of a story to gain politically - obviously yes (as always happens in opposition).
 
TheReligion said:
You ignored the other one.

I said it matters if his wife drives as if she does why didn't she take the wheel instead of him driving the family 30 miles to a beauty spot to test his impaired vision?

The whole thing is bollocks let's be honest.
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I replied to @Cascarino who asked essentially the same question, and my reply was “fair point”.
 
arnie_ni said:
The point he was making was that was After the had isolated for 14 days and based on science shouldnt have been able to pass it on.
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Yeah but the whole point of leaving London was because he couldn't get childcare. So he then returned to London to get childcare? It's a load of shite tbh.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
it’s quite difficult to know what I “don’t get” without you stating what it is, so thanks for now elaborating.

it’s pretty difficult to read one massive paragraph for a start, to accept my apologies in not reading in detail a massive block of text.

Do I see anything wrong in travelling to Durham in those circumstances, and if they don’t have other child care option - no.

do I see anything wrong in him picking up his child from hospital, who got taken awayin an ambulance - no.

is the story about his eyesight and the need for a test drive as fishy as hell - yes.

is this something the media and government should be focusing on and dedicating days to get to the bottom of - no.

is every political opponent jumping on this and making it more of a story to gain politically - obviously yes (as always happens in opposition).
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Did Cummings do the opposite of the guidelines he was architect of? Yes.

....that's the only question that should be asked, btw. We're wasting time on everything else which is exactly what they want.
 
People keep laughing at Trump and the US but honestly we're outdoing them.

Imagine tryint to claim you drove 30 miles to try and test your eyesight and being so stupid you think people will actually believe this. You might as well say you drove 30 miles to make sure you hadn't turned into a squid.
 
In all that waffle, I find that I'm asking myself one question. Who drives 30 miles with their 4 year old kid in the back to test their eyesight?
 
noodlehair said:
People keep laughing at Trump and the US but honestly we're outdoing them.

Imagine tryint to claim you drove 30 miles to try and test your eyesight and being so stupid you think people will actually believe this. You might as well say you drove 30 miles to make sure you hadn't turned into a squid.
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I know we're bad but we don't have our politicians saying this whole thing is a Democratic plot and that we should inject bleach, refuse to wear masks and storm government buildings to demand they let us go back to work.
 
Compton22 said:
In all that waffle, I find that I'm asking myself one question. Who drives 30 miles with their 4 year old kid in the back to test their eyesight?
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More to the point, who drives 260 miles across the country when very likely to have a contagious disease in the middle of a national lockdown?

Poking holes in the details of his excuses is all well and good but the first and most basic point remains. He should not have been making that drive, as anyone with an ounce of common sense recognises.
 
The big guns of Boris Caligari's Cabinet (Hancock, Sunak etc) arrive on cue with natural, unsolicited and spontaneous messages of support.
 
TheReligion said:
Probably nothing really although I'd think they were a bit of a twat.

That's the point isn't it. Those who just go "Cummings has done it so I'll do what I want" are the same as him. The point is you have to be better than that surely instead of already trying to think of ways to get around things.

Early in the lockdown one guy was sat about and told me he was exercising. He then started pumping his fists and said grip strength. Why bother being a dick head? I don't get it.
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Exactly, but we have a government who is enabling people to do that.
Saying we have to be better than that is admirable but I know a few people who are already intent on breaking the rules because they don't like the fact that it's one rule for them and another for us.
Don't get me wrong, I followed government lockdown rules to a t and
I'll still follow the guidelines, but not because the government tells me to, but because I don't want some vulnerable person to die because of me. But my trust in this government is completely gone, although, I do live in Northern Ireland so we're not under the same leadership but still.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
Did Cummings do the opposite of the guidelines he was architect of? Yes.

....that's the only question that should be asked, btw. We're wasting time on everything else which is exactly what they want.
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he didn’t though did he.

if you take him at his word (whether you believe that is a different question), then he didn’t do the opposite of the guidelines.

You can argue that the guidelines could have/ should have been clearer - but it’s near impossible to give guidelines for every single possibility - again that’s a different point.

At the start of this, half the police force were implementing different interpretations of what you could and couldn’t do. This is why laws, rules and regs take lots of time and iterations to get right, but clearly the government had to get guidance out quickly.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
I know we're bad but we don't have our politicians saying this whole thing is a Democratic plot and that we should inject bleach, refuse to wear masks and storm government buildings to demand they let us go back to work.
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Unusual for robbers like Trump and Johnson to resist wearing masks...
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
so it would be ok for him to travel to the Midlands or Leeds for example? If 260 miles is not acceptable, would 30, 60, 90,150 miles.
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Well I was replying to and expanding on the previous question:

ArmchairCritic said:
Do we really believe there is no one within 260 miles that he can trust with childcare
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But a poor choice or wording from me. The thrust of what I meant is he shouldnt have been going anywhere under the circumstances.
 
The simplest answers are usually the true ones. So did Cummings breach the guidelines because;

A) he couldn't get childcare in London so he went 260 miles North to stay with family so that they could watch the kid and then took a trip to test his eyesight before coming back to London for childcare that had magically just appeared.

Or

B) he took his family up to his parents' country estate for a holiday and got caught.

And the answer doesn't matter because the problem was breaching the guidelines in the first place.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
it’s quite difficult to know what I “don’t get” without you stating what it is, so thanks for now elaborating.

it’s pretty difficult to read one massive paragraph for a start, to accept my apologies in not reading in detail a massive block of text.

Do I see anything wrong in travelling to Durham in those circumstances, and if they don’t have other child care option - no.

do I see anything wrong in him picking up his child from hospital, who got taken awayin an ambulance - no.

is the story about his eyesight and the need for a test drive as fishy as hell - yes.

is this something the media and government should be focusing on and dedicating days to get to the bottom of - no.

is every political opponent jumping on this and making it more of a story to gain politically - obviously yes (as always happens in opposition).
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Are you saying you struggle with paragraphs? Fair enough. I'm done here.
 
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