[ali k]

My money is on b) not bothered reading.

Are you suggesting Johnson isn’t a details man?! How dare you.

[SA Chris]

He's not been an anything man so far. Just when he I think he can't sink any lower in my estimation, bam!

[mrjonathanr]

World beating inadequacy. Right at the front of a small (but sadly competitive) field.

[Oldmanmatt]

He seems worse than usual, I think.

I read somewhere that he’s been avoiding committees and briefings. His behaviour reminds me of somebody suffering from Depression. I remember blustering on, when I was ill, some years ago; whilst actually really not being in the game.

He might genuinely be way out of his depth, aware and deeply unhappy.

Or, he might be a total wanker.

His haggard appearance, of late, seems suggestive.

[Nutty]

I'm no fan of Johnson, so not making excuses for him, but I do wonder if he's suffering lingering effects of the virus that aren't being publicly acknowledged.

[rich d]

I'm no fan of Johnson, so not making excuses for him, but I do wonder if he's suffering lingering effects of the virus that aren't being publicly acknowledged.

I thought he was well known for always being absent (prior to covid infection) and that his way of operating was to play an upper class bumbling fool who was also a man of the people (as he rugby tackles Germans during a football match and calls ping pong wiff waff) I just assumed that he can't play the comedy card during briefings where deaths are being discussed and he's doing his best "concerned" act.

[tomtom]

Classic in the media today about the TTI figures. Govt (and the BBC) praising 30k people tracked. Sky news - and guardian saying 1/3 were unable / unwilling to be traced...

[tomtom]

Dido sounded very convincing in the presser today.

Until you see what the figures might actually mean 😱 Jeez - I know I don’t like the government but stuff like this really doesn’t help...

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-data-on-test-and-trace-scheme-raises-worrying-questions-12004924

[sdm]

I'm no fan of Johnson, so not making excuses for him, but I do wonder if he's suffering lingering effects of the virus that aren't being publicly acknowledged.

He has been:
- Largely absent
- Workshy
- Oblivious of the major details of his own policies
- Incapable of completing a coherent sentence
- Incapable of telling the truth
- Incapable of recognising/acknowledging his own failings (64,000 dead so far and he is proud of his response)

Has he been suffering from the after effects of covid-19 for the past 15 years?

[Nutty]

He has been:
- Largely absent
- Workshy
- Oblivious of the major details of his own policies
- Incapable of completing a coherent sentence
- Incapable of telling the truth
- Incapable of recognising/acknowledging his own failings (64,000 dead so far and he is proud of his response)

Has he been suffering from the after effects of covid-19 for the past 15 years?

Quite possibly! Can you get pre-effects?

I was agreeing with Matt that he actually seems worse than usual, and suggesting another possible reason. It could just be that the pandemic magnifies his flaws and limitations.

[Oldmanmatt]

He has been:
- Largely absent
- Workshy
- Oblivious of the major details of his own policies
- Incapable of completing a coherent sentence
- Incapable of telling the truth
- Incapable of recognising/acknowledging his own failings (64,000 dead so far and he is proud of his response)

Has he been suffering from the after effects of covid-19 for the past 15 years?

Quite possibly! Can you get pre-effects?

I was agreeing with Matt that he actually seems worse than usual, and suggesting another possible reason. It could just be that the pandemic magnifies his flaws and limitations.

He appears to be floundering.

I don’t actually believe he isn’t aware of it. I don’t think he expected this. He probably thought he could have the glory of being PM and leave the work to others, stand at the head “getting Brexit done”. He probably thought his backers really had a plan for that. Now he’s facing something totally unprecedented, that he cannot bluff, that is going to put a massive dent into the economy and quite probably exacerbate all the negatives of Brexit. He knows he’s going to get the blame, he can already see his polls tanking. He’d have to be truly psychotic to not be affected by it all.

Wrong man, in the wrong job, at the wrong time.

Can’t see history being kind to him.

[TobyD]

He has been:
- Largely absent
- Workshy
- Oblivious of the major details of his own policies
- Incapable of completing a coherent sentence
- Incapable of telling the truth
- Incapable of recognising/acknowledging his own failings (64,000 dead so far and he is proud of his response)

Has he been suffering from the after effects of covid-19 for the past 15 years?

Quite possibly! Can you get pre-effects?

I was agreeing with Matt that he actually seems worse than usual, and suggesting another possible reason. It could just be that the pandemic magnifies his flaws and limitations.

He appears to be floundering.

I don’t actually believe he isn’t aware of it. I don’t think he expected this. He probably thought he could have the glory of being PM and leave the work to others, stand at the head “getting Brexit done”. He probably thought his backers really had a plan for that. Now he’s facing something totally unprecedented, that he cannot bluff, that is going to put a massive dent into the economy and quite probably exacerbate all the negatives of Brexit. He knows he’s going to get the blame, he can already see his polls tanking. He’d have to be truly psychotic to not be affected by it all.

Wrong man, in the wrong job, at the wrong time.

Can’t see history being kind to him.

Longing for the halcyon days of tossing off a thousand words or so of xenophobic childish bullshit for the telegraph after a boozy lunch and getting paid fifty grand for it, just in time for some adultery and some equally lucrative after dinner speaking doing one of his two jokes.

I was all up for giving him the benefit of the doubt in march, now he's a fucking embarrassment and he needs to go.

[TobyD]

In fact, it appears that I'm not the only one who holds the above opinion, this is worth reading: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/06/why-i-broke-boris-johnson

It's by one of his former advisors.

[ali k]

...he's a fucking embarrassment and he needs to go.

The trouble is, as much as you, me and now the majority of the British public think this recent events have shown where the power lies. Johnson is just the useful idiot, but the symbiotic relationship probably means him and Cummings come as a package. And I suspect Covid is just seen as an inconvenience on the way to finishing off their no-deal Brexit wet dream. So we’re stuck with them until at least 1st Jan unfortunately.

[TobyD]

...he's a fucking embarrassment and he needs to go.

The trouble is, as much as you, me and now the majority of the British public think this recent events have shown where the power lies. Johnson is just the useful idiot, but the symbiotic relationship probably means him and Cummings come as a package. And I suspect Covid is just seen as an inconvenience on the way to finishing off their no-deal Brexit wet dream. So we’re stuck with them until at least 1st Jan unfortunately.

If I were a betting man, I'd put a fiver on Sunak or Gove to be PM in a years time

[ali k]

If I were a betting man, I'd put a fiver on Sunak or Gove to be PM in a years time

I’m becoming more convinced by the day that Johnson won’t be in post by the next election. I think he’ll be kept there to ride out the worst of the pandemic and ‘get Brexit done’ by 1st Jan then ditched for someone else (Gove or Sunak?) in time for 2024.

I agree. My money is on Sunak as he’ll be perceived as being associated less in the public’s mind with the Vote Leave campaign and therefore can blame any fallout from Brexit on others.

[Ged]

If I could be arsed, I'd love to trawl back through this thread and find all the predictions made by the collective, and see what the success rate is.

[tomtom]

If I could be arsed, I'd love to trawl back through this thread and find all the predictions made by the collective, and see what the success rate is.

It’s not in a thread called Shootin’ the shit for nothing 😃

[ali k]

If I could be arsed, I'd love to trawl back through this thread and find all the predictions made by the collective, and see what the success rate is.

Like a Covid UKB enquiry? You’ve got the whole summer to do it so no excuses! Isn’t this what football people do as a hobby? Endless armchair discussions and predictions...

[petejh]

If you did then I predict you’d find mine were all correct. Except maybe this one. I did predict bojo getting worse and being hospitalised, plus a few others things.

[mrjonathanr]

You’re a climber. You should be bringing this round to a grade debate.

[Oldmanmatt]

You’re a climber. You should be bringing this round to a grade debate.

V Fucking Awful (minus) 6 bollocks.

[tomtom]

It’s like grading rubble...

[Ged]

By the way I wasn't intending that as a criticism of people making predictions. I know its just interesting conversation. I genuinely thought it would be interesting to see how good people have been at predicting the madness of the last few months unfold

[Ged]

If I could be arsed, I'd love to trawl back through this thread and find all the predictions made by the collective, and see what the success rate is.

Like a Covid UKB enquiry? You’ve got the whole summer to do it so no excuses! Isn’t this what football people do as a hobby? Endless armchair discussions and predictions...

Football is way easier to predict than this. All these unpredictable rogue players. Boris Johnson is the Bruce Grobbelar of politics.