UK Politics: Another vote, just not for anyone who might change their minds

[A Horse Named Stranger]

But it would be funny, if Johnson ballsed up this ladership challenge. I mean, this is really his golden opportunity, presented to him on a silver platter.

Party in disarray, and his personal shortcomings, that have created this opportunity (with the party in disarray), and just Jeremy C. as the last obstacle to overcome. It cannot get any easier than that.

[A wilding]

3 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Is what could potentially have been domestic violence by the favoured candidate to be he next PM news? Of course it is, but i’m sure you have some kind of spurious reasons why it isnt to spew out

And note the not so subtle libellous smear:

Quote

and then sells it to a newspaper

[Heartofice]

4 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Is what could potentially have been domestic violence by the favoured candidate to be he next PM news? Of course it is, but i’m sure you have some kind of spurious reasons why it isnt to spew out

Except that it wasn't domestic violence as the police quickly discovered. The neighbour managed to find the time to get in contact with the Guardian and give them the tape of course. 

Of course the usual suspects jump on the whole 'Boris must be a wife beater because.. Tory'

[A wilding]

Obviously no one has said that it was definitely domestic violence.

But ... your proof that it wasn't is that the police report said that the woman said that everything was okay, when they turned up sometime later? Perhaps do some research on how domestic violence works, and how often the police ignore it until too late?

[BigFatCoward]

12 minutes ago, A wilding said:

 

But ... your proof that it wasn't is that the police report said that the woman said that everything was okay, when they turned up sometime later? Perhaps do some research on how domestic violence works, and how often the police ignore it until too late?

We often struggle to get people to make the allegations we need to proceed, but that isnt the same as ignoring it. This is what I suspect might have happened here. 'Get off me' is pretty clear indication that some degree of assault may have been happening. Why would you say that if someone wasn't using some degree of force against you?

[A Horse Named Stranger]

39 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Except that it wasn't domestic violence as the police quickly discovered. The neighbour managed to find the time to get in contact with the Guardian and give them the tape of course. 

Christ this is painful to read.

Are you sure, he gave it to the Guardian, and did not livestream it? And, why The Guardian, and not the Torygraph, you know the. We are not itnerested in how many children Johnson has. But Rory Stewart should really tell us about his service, in the Secret Service. Torygraph.

Anyway, since you are taking over as the press officer for Johnson over here. I am sure you can elaborate on resonable context of "Get off me!"

[Ser Hedge]

Not everyone's favourite newspaper (Komsomolskaya Guardinska) maybe, and again, sorry to report Iran's supreme leader is Shia, but still a nice collection of quotes 

#BringBackRory

 

“Boris, well, he’s the life and soul of the party but he’s not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening.” 
Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, speaking during a 2016 debate before the Brexit referendum

“It is a common mistake to suppose Johnson a nice man. In reality he often behaves unpleasantly.” 
Max Hastings, Johnson’s editor at the Daily Telegraph, in a 2018 column for the Times

“[He is] much diminished in terms of integrity, in terms of political courage and in terms of credibility… I used to think he would be fantastic at Number 10 but those days look a long time ago.” 
2018 BBC interview with Guto Harri, director of communications for Johnson’s mayoral administration, 2008-2012

“I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future. But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.” 
Michael Gove, launching the leadership bid that derailed Johnson’s attempt to become prime minister in 2016

“[Johnson is] a man who waits to see the way the crowd is running and then dashes in front and says, ‘Follow me’.” 
Michael Heseltine, Good Morning Britain interview in 2018

“The Johnsonian creed [is] that it is, in his own words, acceptable, sometimes desirable to lie. Certainly that approach has been advantageous to him. But it must come at a price.”
Sonia Purnell, Johnson’s biographer and one-time deputy in the Telegraph’s Brussels bureau, writing after he withdrew from the leadership race in 2016

“He’s lied his way through life, he’s lied his way through politics, he’s a huckster with a degree of charm to which I am immune. As well as being mendacious he’s incompetent.” 
Conservative former minister Chris Patten in May interview with Bloomberg

“I’m afraid he’s shown, especially during his period as foreign secretary, that he doesn’t have the necessary skills and capacity [to be leader].” 
Conservative MP and former attorney general Dominic Grieve in May interview with LBC

“He’s an enormous character but not a team player… And he doesn’t know if he’s a journalist or a politician, but he does know it’s all about him. The more he repeats what everyone can see is not credible, the more his own credibility disappears.” 
Former foreign office colleague Sir Alan Duncan, 2018 interview with the Times

“The worst foreign secretary we’ve ever had... Disinterested and out of his depth he cared nothing for our situation. Good riddance.” 
John McKendrick, attorney general of Anguilla, bidding farewell to Johnson as foreign secretary with criticism of his response to the British Overseas Territory’s devastation during Hurricane Irma in 2017

“I think he honestly believes it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else.” 
Johnson’s Eton housemaster, Martin Hammond, in 1982 school report

[Heartofice]

45 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Christ this is painful to read.

Are you sure, he gave it to the Guardian, and did not livestream it? And, why The Guardian, and not the Torygraph, you know the. We are not itnerested in how many children Johnson has. But Rory Stewart should really tell us about his service, in the Secret Service. Torygraph.

Anyway, since you are taking over as the press officer for Johnson over here. I am sure you can elaborate on resonable context of "Get off me!"

Well the neighbour has stated he phoned the Guardian and gave them the tape. The  Rory Stewart spy story was ridiculous and the torygraph is a rag I wouldn’t touch, but let’s not pretend the Graud isn’t swimming around the gutter the entire time as well.

The police have concluded there was nothing to report here. People have fights and arguments all the time and I’m not sure it’s a public interest story that a politician had an argument with his girlfriend. 

( and btw yes, ‘Get off me’ could be relating to any number of circumstances. For instance Boris could be apologising and trying to hug or kiss her, he could be trying to hold her hand. Maybe he grabbed her by the arm or maybe he hit her. It could be any number of situations we are not privy to. The police don’t seem to think it was anything worth taking him in for.)

[Jen'ari]

On 6/21/2019 at 5:08 PM, SeanF said:

You should meet some lawyers. 

(For the avoidance of doubt, I am one).

Yes,lawyers,terrible people the lot of us .

On 6/21/2019 at 6:34 PM, BigFatCoward said:

I'm going to be nicer on the board. I just got totally wiped out on my bike on way home. Karma. 

Sorry to hear that, hope you’re not hurt and recover quickly .

Regarding my perception of the police, most of the police officers I’ve ever encountered have seemed like normal,decent people.

I won’t lie and say I agree with every law you have to enforce, particularly in regards to certain traffic ones, and I strongly think the drug laws need rethinking completely,but overall of course a police force is needed, society would fall apart without one.

It does seem to be an increasingly thankless task though, particularly in London, officers being investigated for knocking people off mopeds who think it’s ok to go around robbing and stealing anything they want whilst stabbing/throwing acid at others seems deeply unfair to me.

I didn’t move too far out but I’m glad to have left London to be honest.

[Varysblackfyre321]

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

The police have concluded there was nothing to report here. People have fights and arguments all the time and I’m not sure it’s a public interest story that a politician had an argument with his girlfriend. 

No, they made clear a woman was unwilling to accuse her partner of domestic abuse. Not at all rare, or bizarre occurrence in these types of cases regardless of the guilt or innocence of the party’s involved.

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

( and btw yes, ‘Get off me’ could be relating to any number of circumstances. For instance Boris could be apologising and trying to hug or kiss her, he could be trying to hold her hand. Maybe he grabbed her by the arm or maybe he hit her. It could be any number of situations we are not privy to. 

Yeah you seem to not get  that such physical abuse being a possibility is what makes this news. How dare people cover an event an event that may point to a man whose going to be given a great position of power being an abuser?

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

The police don’t seem to think it was anything worth taking him in for.)

 

You do understand they can’t without her making an allegation of abuse right? Which This detail of a partner not pressing charges does not prove innocence or guilt. It is really common in Domestic abuse cases. 

Stop treating this as proof that abuse definitely didn’t happen. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

Domestic abuse can be verbal or emotional.

[SeanF]

14 minutes ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

No, they made clear a woman was unwilling to accuse her partner of domestic abuse. Not at all rare, or bizarre occurrence when someone is suffering in this type of abusive relationship.

Yeah you seem to not get  that such physical abuse being a possibility is what makes this news. How dare people cover an event an event that may point to a man whose going to be given a great position of power being an abuser?

 

You do understand they can’t without her making an allegation of abuse right? Which This detail of a partner not pressing charges does not prove innocence or guilt. It is really common in Domestic abuse cases. 

 

Innocent, until proven guilty, surely?

Sure, Johnson is a serial philanderer, with little sense of right and wrong, but, I'm not going to make the assumption that he was knocking his girlfriend around.

That said, I do think choosing him as party leader would be a bit like choosing Jeremy Thorpe.  He can reach sections of the electorate that other candidates can't, but there's a real risk of him being overwhelmed by scandal.

[Varysblackfyre321]

Just now, SeanF said:

Innocent, until proven guilty, surely?

Sure, Johnson is a serial philanderer, with little sense of right and wrong, but, I'm not going to make the assumption that he was knocking his girlfriend around.

I didn’t really say he’s guilty. I mostly objected to the reasoning HOI used to claim why abuse definitely didn’t happen, and this idea this story deserves no news coverage. 

[Chaircat Meow]

3 hours ago, Ser Hedge said:

#BringBackRory

Amen.

Still heartbroken.

To hell with Johnson, the worthless, lying, opportunistic piece of shit. If the conservative party really think he is fit to be PM fuck them. They deserve everything they get, including scumbag Corbyn.

[Spockydog]

2 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Domestic abuse can be verbal or emotional.

...see also throwing furniture around and punching holes in walls. That kind of shit is terrifying to most people.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Well, just because Johnson refused to press charges, doesn’t prove he wasn’t being physically or emotionally abused by his partner, right...That argument goes both ways.

This really is a non-story. By the way, the neighbour, in an attempt to clear his own name, has bizarrely tried to do so by making it quite clear that he was a Remain voter.

Yep, no ulterior motives whatsoever.

[Ser Hedge]

 

Fake News professionals at work:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/22/russians-spread-fake-plot-to-assassinate-boris-johnson

 

Didn't know their activities extended to creating facebook profiles for RL people with their pics. But I guess we shouldn't be surprised at anything in this age of deep fake videos.

 

"The Russians pretended to be an unnamed senior Labour party figure at Westminster. They created a fake Facebook page, using the person’s genuine photo and bio, and shared real articles from the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn. Two similar fake Facebook parliament-linked pages were set up – one in the UK, and another in Spain."

[Heartofice]

The Russians are losing it. Like anyone even uses Facebook any more!

[Varysblackfyre321]

3 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Well, just because Johnson refused to press charges, doesn’t prove he wasn’t being physically or emotionally abused by his partner, right...That argument goes both ways.

Yeah. If someone used the argument of “he didn’t press charges so abuse didn’t happen” that person would be wrong to do so as well. It’s a genuinely ignorant point to make regardless of which partner it’s used in relation to one of these disputes.

I don’t know why you think this point should stump anyone not buying “she didn’t press charges therefore he definitely didn’t do anything” as ironclad reasoning.

3 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

This really is a non-story.

It really isn’t. You not liking that it’s being covered doesn’t make it non-news. 

Hell, suppose Johnson really is the victim in this case-he’s still a person whose going to be possibly given an extremely important position in government, do you honestly not see a problem if he’s being physically abused by his partner? 

 

[Spockydog]

I'm sure it comes as no surpirse to anyone to hear that Johnson has, once again, been caught in a lie.

On suggestions that he was working closely with Steve Bannon, he said, in April, "As for the so-called association with Steve Bannon, I am afraid this is a lefty delusion whose spores continue to breed in the Twittersphere."

Turns out Bannon helped write Johnson's resignation speech from the Foreign Office last year.

Quote

 

New evidence suggesting close links between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump’s controversial former campaign manager Steve Bannon can be revealed, calling into question the former foreign secretary’s previous denials of an association with the influential far-right activist.

Video evidence obtained by the Observer shows Bannon, who helped mastermind Trump’s successful bid for the presidency but was later exiled from the White House, talking about his relationship and contacts with Johnson, and how he helped him craft the first speech after his resignation as foreign secretary, in which Johnson tore into Theresa May’s Brexit strategy.