UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[Cassius]

Another politician gets caught taking Kissinger’s dubious advice about the properties of power to heart.

[Kingpoleon]

I'm having some Roy Moore-type flashbacks:

"It's not illegal, but it's wrong."

I guess it’s better in the sense that he.... complimented him instead of going on dates and having sex with him. I do have to ask: If it’s appropriate for these texts to be become public, would it be appropriate if the texts was an elected official sexting someone other than their spouse/cheating on them? We do have to be careful to distinguish between right and wrong, but we also have to ask: how much privacy do public officials deserve? I tend to give a great deal of leeway, unless they’re like the leader of their country or something, to the interests of privacy regarding legal, if immoral, personal matters.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

I'm having some Roy Moore-type flashbacks:

"It's not illegal, but it's wrong."

I guess it’s better in the sense that he.... complimented him instead of going on dates and having sex with him. I do have to ask: If it’s appropriate for these texts to be become public, would it be appropriate if the texts was an elected official sexting someone other than their spouse/cheating on them? We do have to be careful to distinguish between right and wrong, but we also have to ask: how much privacy do public officials deserve? I tend to give a great deal of leeway, unless they’re like the leader of their country or something, to the interests of privacy regarding legal, if immoral, personal matters.

That's true, it's not an exact analog. 

[CumbrianLefty]

It appears that Boris wants his bridge again.

[brucejoel99]

It appears that Boris wants his bridge again.

BoJo & vanity bridge projects. Name a more iconic duo.

[CumbrianLefty]

Speaking of which (or maybe not, depending on your POV) HS2 has been given the go-ahead.

[Silent Hunter]

https://news.sky.com/story/labour-could-be-fined-up-to-15m-for-failing-to-protect-members-data-11931643

That would be over half a year of membership fees.

[DaWN]

HS2 is certainly not a vanity project. It's a vital project in order to create capacity on a rail network that is stretched thin and increase regional connectivity. It is unfortunate the cost has spiralled out of control like it has but that is the way it is with British rail projects and it has been partially caused by the endless delay to construction caused by all the moaning anyway. I'm far from its biggest fan but I'm glad it's underway.

[EastAnglianLefty]

Javid has just resigned, after Johnson demanded he sack all his advisers and replace them with No. 10 nominees.

[CumbrianLefty]

Which makes him the first Chancellor not to deliver a Budget since Iain Macleod's short ill-fated tenure.

[brucejoel99]

At least we don't have chaos with Ed Miliband!

[CumbrianLefty]

It is noted that none of the Britannia Unchained gang any longer hold economic ministerial posts.

[brucejoel99]

It is noted that none of the Britannia Unchained gang any longer hold economic ministerial posts.

That depends on whether or not your definition of "economic ministerial post" includes or excludes posts held within BEIS & DIT.

[Green Line]

Boris has gone too far.  Sacking Theresa Villiers?  Traitor.

[brucejoel99]

Boris has gone too far.  Sacking Theresa Villiers?  Traitor.

Villiers gone? Be still my beating heart... until she gets replaced by somebody who's worse, that is.

[The Dowager Mod]

At least Larry still has a job, I was worried. 
https://twitter.com/Number10cat/status/1227879830324203521

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A month or so ago we were hearing lots of chatter about how, under the direction of D. Cummings, the entire structure of Whitehall was going to change, that departments, even big departments, were to be variously merged, abolished and created. This is not that. This is just mere politics.

[afleitch]

A month or so ago we were hearing lots of chatter about how, under the direction of D. Cummings, the entire structure of Whitehall was going to change, that departments, even big departments, were to be variously merged, abolished and created. This is not that. This is just mere politics.

From my civil service bunker, it's coming.

[CumbrianLefty]

Suella "cultural Marxism" Braverman wants the government to grab power from the judiciary.

Can't see any way that might go wrong at all

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A month or so ago we were hearing lots of chatter about how, under the direction of D. Cummings, the entire structure of Whitehall was going to change, that departments, even big departments, were to be variously merged, abolished and created. This is not that. This is just mere politics.

From my civil service bunker, it's coming.

Oh, I'm sure that's still the plan.* But it is interesting that it has not happened, yet, even though it was supposed to.

_{*For what end? Reform! Yes, but why? Reform! The contemporary obsession with re-organising the filing system is strange.}

[CumbrianLefty]

Of course, "reform" pretty much for its own sake was also a late period Blair obsession.

(and one that his remaining followers continue to incant even today)

[Silent Hunter]

A month or so ago we were hearing lots of chatter about how, under the direction of D. Cummings, the entire structure of Whitehall was going to change, that departments, even big departments, were to be variously merged, abolished and created. This is not that. This is just mere politics.

Even DFID hasn't gone, which would be an obvious target for the Tories.

[CumbrianLefty]

At least we don't have chaos with Ed Miliband!

His first term as PM still has a few months to run in another universe.

[Clyde1998]

At least we don't have chaos with Ed Miliband!

His first term as PM still has a few months to run in another universe.

Makes you realise how quickly everything has changed in such as short space of time.

[CumbrianLefty]

The way things are going we might be able to say quite soon "never mind chaos with Ed Miliband, we're having chaos with Boris Johnson instead"