Have they even watched stuff like Have I Got News For You which relentlessly mocks everyone and has had the likes of Johnson and Reece-Mogg on as guests.
I'd be willing to argue the only reason Johnson has attained high office is because of the likes of HIGNFY presenting him as a Wodehouseian lovable moron, and not the narcissistic, self-absorbed, dangerously incompetent goose that he is.
And the idea of the political right in this country getting in a twist over the fact that the BBC gently pokes fun at them would itself be funny, if it wasn't so frustratingly pathetic.
Have they even watched stuff like Have I Got News For You which relentlessly mocks everyone and has had the likes of Johnson and Reece-Mogg on as guests.
I'd be willing to argue the only reason Johnson has attained high office is because of the likes of HIGNFY presenting him as a Wodehouseian lovable moron, and not the narcissistic, self-absorbed, dangerously incompetent goose that he is.
And the idea of the political right in this country getting in a twist over the fact that the BBC gently pokes fun at them would itself be funny, if it wasn't so frustratingly pathetic.
It feeds into the "BBC is biased" narritive that the government have been pushing for a while.
I think he appeared twice on HIGNFY, total. I'm not going to argue that they shouldn't be presenting these fuckers as lovable jolly rogueish types, but he attained high office largely by running for it and getting votes. London voted him in as mayor twice, though partially this was down to Ken Livingstone not realising he should have gotten off the stage and made way for someone else, even saying he'd run as an independent if he didn't get the Labour nomination, thus splitting the vote and ensuring Johnson would get in again. He got the Labour nomination and lost, and is today to be found asking passersby you know who else lost?
Probably more important in his rise to power was the fact that an entire paper acts as his personal propaganda machine, and the fact that his carefully tailored personality goes over very well with large segments of the voting public. That's an indictment of the voters as well as a supine media. More than once he's been skewered in public by someone not playing along (Eddie Mair, for instance, on the BBC), but it hasn't caused his downfall. Johnson's real face has been shown to the public many times, but while you can lead a horse to water you can't make the stupid fucker drink.
And in HIGNFY's defence on his first appearance Ian Hislop dragged him over the coals for conspiring with Darius Guppy to have a journalist beaten up. Shame the rest of the press were happy to gloss over that kind of behaviour.
He was on HIGNFY more often than that, and it led directly to a boost in his popularity. I think the showrunners have actually acknowledged that they have some responsibility for his rise, and feel incredibly guilty/angry about it.
And yeah, the news panel shows tend to dunk on the tories most. Because the tories are the ones in charge, doing the newsworthy things (and generally making themselves easy to dunk on in the process). I don't think they were particularly lenient on Corbyn and Labour when they were screwing up.
They certainly helped to make the Lib-dems look weak and ineffective while they were in the coalition. Which they were, but still.
You make the jokes about the things that are happening that you can make jokes about.
I definitely agree it wasn't what got him into office but it is galling that HIGNFY was then like "it's ridiculous to say we had anything to do with it" when his first exposure to the public was HIGNFY for many people
They definitely didn't have nothing to do with it, and Hislop taking umbrage at the mere suggestion was a low point of the show.
Yeah, they were one of a million dominoes falling that allowed Bojo to get power but laying the whole thing at their door is a tad harsh.
What must have helped enormously was running against Ken Livingston for mayor of London when he was unpopular for a variety or reasons. He then inherited a bunch of stuff, the big one being the Olympics, which he took credit for. By the time Boris left, I want to say people were just starting to see beyond the curtain; the bikes, the buses, the bridge, changing the definition of affordable housing.
London certainly knew what a waste of oxygen he was, the rest of the country just hadn't been paying attention.
Today I got to experience first hand just how fucked up the NHS' home testing system is.
Call this morning for a test and the third party system they use says I just.... don't exist. Despite paying council tax, being registered to vote, lived at my address six months, providing an NHS number, an national insurance number - I do not exist.
What are my options?
"Try to book online?"
Same issue
"Use your previous address?"
Same issue
"Walk/cycle to the nearest test center"
It's 8.8 miles away
"Errr... Isolate for two weeks?"
I mean seriously this is insane. It shouldn't matter if you've been in the country ten minutes, you should be able to get a test. My bfs flat which is in a divided Victorian house? Doesn't exist. I was debating cycling to the test centre with a cough, what if you're old or disabled or have it worse?
(I managed to get one in the end after three hours and an NHS person overriding the system but Jesus).
By the time Boris left, I want to say people were just starting to see beyond the curtain; the bikes, the buses, the bridge, changing the definition of affordable housing.
I think that's been the rule for every job he's had. I despise him to a degree unmeasurable by any technology we have, but I will credit him for knowing when consequences were about to hit him and jumping out.
I just wonder if he's going to do it this time, or hold on for dear life because he can't fail any higher.
By the time Boris left, I want to say people were just starting to see beyond the curtain; the bikes, the buses, the bridge, changing the definition of affordable housing.
I think that's been the rule for every job he's had. I despise him to a degree unmeasurable by any technology we have, but I will credit him for knowing when consequences were about to hit him and jumping out.
I just wonder if he's going to do it this time, or hold on for dear life because he can't fail any higher.
That is not strictly true when he was mayor. He was given a safe tory seat and could not stand for Mayor again.
It’s not like he was forced into standing in a safe Tory seat. He wanted one, got one, and moved away from being Mayor before things blew up in his face.
Boris will increase his speaking fees after leaving office and be earning millions within 5 years of overseeing Europe's worst response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said it wrote to Mr Johnson five times to request a meeting.
Asked by reporters about the letters, the PM said he would "of course" meet anyone bereaved by Covid-19.
But days later he wrote to the group to say he was "unable" to meet them.
The group, which says it represents 1,600 families, said it was "devastated" to receive the letter, which it has made public.
Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said: "The prime minister has done a 360 - dodging five letters, then agreeing on live TV to meet with us, and now quietly telling us he's too busy. It's heartless."
"Of course we know the prime minister can't meet every bereaved person, but we really feel he should be meeting one of the largest groups of bereaved families in the country."
Ms Goodman, who lost her father Stuart to the virus, added: "It feels like we're the wrong type of bereaved people - like the prime minister only wants to meet with people who will smile and not ask difficult questions."
A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM remained committed to meeting people who have been bereaved as a result of Covid-19, and that he was "resolute in his determination to beat this virus" to prevent further "dreadful loss".
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Why would anyone want to meet Boris? If I'd lost a loved one being shoved in a room with Bojo is just about the last thing that would make me feel better. Even if you're just doing it because you want to say "why did you fuck up so bad that lots of people died unneccisarily?", what exactly do you expect to happen? An honest answer? Accountability? A good faith attempt to do better? Do you think you might make Boris feel shame?
You may as well ask for a unicorn while you're at it. He'll bluster some confidence man bullshit, claim that they're already doing a great job and that they're going to be even better in the future, then nothing will happen. These people are completely and totally unaccountable for anything while they're in office.
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Fuck's sake, Boris. This was a dire performance, even by your dismal standards.
Why would anyone want to meet Boris? If I'd lost a loved one being shoved in a room with Bojo is just about the last thing that would make me feel better.
Some times, you just want to look them in the eye and really see if there's an actual human being in there, or just a fathomless abyss.
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Which allowed labour to bring up Claire Fox's peerage.
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Fuck's sake, Boris. This was a dire performance, even by your dismal standards.
Perhaps next time he could save us all some time and just stick with 'no u'?
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Fuck's sake, Boris. This was a dire performance, even by your dismal standards.
Perhaps next time he could save us all some time and just stick with 'no u'?
He also looked a useless cunt at PMQs today, to the extent of getting his knuckles rapped by the Speaker for flagrantly ignoring a question to bark on about Starmer somehow being a supporter of the IRA or something.
Fuck's sake, Boris. This was a dire performance, even by your dismal standards.
Perhaps next time he could save us all some time and just stick with 'no u'?
Time Davie seems like nothing more than a tory stooge - which is hardly surprising considering he literally stood for council for the tories and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham conservative party in the 90's. Everything he has done so far certainly indicates he's going to bend over backwards for them. The talk of 'impartiality' seems to be exactly in line with the right wing 'complaints' about the BBC. For example, targeting comedy where impartiality wasn't a requirement for good reason. The comments on social media come across as targetting the likes of Gary Lineker rather than any part of their woeful news and politics team. There's also the mysterious 'capitulation' to the right wing nuts over the proms - a compeltely manufactured controversy that barely warranted a response, except they decided to publically do a u-turn mere days after Davie took up his post.
Perhaps he'll prove me wrong, but certainly looks like a useless tory stooge and nothing more.
He doesn't seem to have any particular trade expertise, beyond having been in power at a time when a couple if significant Australian deals were struck
By all accounts he doesn't seem to have been particularly involved in their negotiation
Posts
I'd be willing to argue the only reason Johnson has attained high office is because of the likes of HIGNFY presenting him as a Wodehouseian lovable moron, and not the narcissistic, self-absorbed, dangerously incompetent goose that he is.
And the idea of the political right in this country getting in a twist over the fact that the BBC gently pokes fun at them would itself be funny, if it wasn't so frustratingly pathetic.
It feeds into the "BBC is biased" narritive that the government have been pushing for a while.
Probably more important in his rise to power was the fact that an entire paper acts as his personal propaganda machine, and the fact that his carefully tailored personality goes over very well with large segments of the voting public. That's an indictment of the voters as well as a supine media. More than once he's been skewered in public by someone not playing along (Eddie Mair, for instance, on the BBC), but it hasn't caused his downfall. Johnson's real face has been shown to the public many times, but while you can lead a horse to water you can't make the stupid fucker drink.
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And yeah, the news panel shows tend to dunk on the tories most. Because the tories are the ones in charge, doing the newsworthy things (and generally making themselves easy to dunk on in the process). I don't think they were particularly lenient on Corbyn and Labour when they were screwing up.
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You make the jokes about the things that are happening that you can make jokes about.
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I mean they made The Thick of It!
Yeah, they were one of a million dominoes falling that allowed Bojo to get power but laying the whole thing at their door is a tad harsh.
What must have helped enormously was running against Ken Livingston for mayor of London when he was unpopular for a variety or reasons. He then inherited a bunch of stuff, the big one being the Olympics, which he took credit for. By the time Boris left, I want to say people were just starting to see beyond the curtain; the bikes, the buses, the bridge, changing the definition of affordable housing.
London certainly knew what a waste of oxygen he was, the rest of the country just hadn't been paying attention.
Call this morning for a test and the third party system they use says I just.... don't exist. Despite paying council tax, being registered to vote, lived at my address six months, providing an NHS number, an national insurance number - I do not exist.
What are my options?
"Try to book online?"
Same issue
"Use your previous address?"
Same issue
"Walk/cycle to the nearest test center"
It's 8.8 miles away
"Errr... Isolate for two weeks?"
I mean seriously this is insane. It shouldn't matter if you've been in the country ten minutes, you should be able to get a test. My bfs flat which is in a divided Victorian house? Doesn't exist. I was debating cycling to the test centre with a cough, what if you're old or disabled or have it worse?
(I managed to get one in the end after three hours and an NHS person overriding the system but Jesus).
Do not engage the Watermelons.
I just wonder if he's going to do it this time, or hold on for dear life because he can't fail any higher.
That is not strictly true when he was mayor. He was given a safe tory seat and could not stand for Mayor again.
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But not everyone has the wherewithal to slink out the back while the mob is still trying to remember where they had put the pitchforks.
And fewer still manage to repeat the feat.
(None of the above should be taken as endorsement of Boris.)
Discworld Igors have better ethics, are far more likable, and have the sense not to pick such a terrible coiffure.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
And are better looking!
I'd put money on this prediction.
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You may as well ask for a unicorn while you're at it. He'll bluster some confidence man bullshit, claim that they're already doing a great job and that they're going to be even better in the future, then nothing will happen. These people are completely and totally unaccountable for anything while they're in office.
Fuck's sake, Boris. This was a dire performance, even by your dismal standards.
Some times, you just want to look them in the eye and really see if there's an actual human being in there, or just a fathomless abyss.
Which allowed labour to bring up Claire Fox's peerage.
Absolutely astonishing misplay by Johnson.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Perhaps next time he could save us all some time and just stick with 'no u'?
Do not engage the Watermelons.
Change it to 'No EU', and that's probably right.
That's too French!
Do not engage the Watermelons.
I'm sure this won't apply to nutters like Andrew Neil who tows the government's line.
Jim is the media editor for The Guardian.
Perhaps he'll prove me wrong, but certainly looks like a useless tory stooge and nothing more.
like at least 50-50
So does this mean Laura K will have to stop repeating everything that comes from Doms mouth? Sorry, unnamed senior government source?
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
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They keep saying this but like, is he?
He doesn't seem to have any particular trade expertise, beyond having been in power at a time when a couple if significant Australian deals were struck
By all accounts he doesn't seem to have been particularly involved in their negotiation