love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

This has just been tweeted from the UK Civil Service account.

This is the craziest political weekend for a long time. pic.twitter.com/u4x0i6plHL

— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) May 24, 2020

Why? hits harder with the people it needs to hit hard with? Also no one in Grodno or Gomel was making any sacrifices, didn't even stop their league

Voters don't care about an enquiry, but they do care about being asked to keep away from their loved ones and shutter their businesses only for a representative of the elite (which is what Cummings is now) to just do what he wants. That the grievance you want to be exploiting because its all the rage Cummings has spent years whipping up, and it's blowing up in his face.

Difficult to wage a culture war when people have decided they want to go to war with you instead.

Also the pandemic is still ongoing and the government is going to have a shit load of unpopular decisions, a once in a lifetime recession and very possibly a second spike in deaths on its hands and this whole episode is going to make it much more difficult to communicate that. They've got this far on national goodwill which has well and truly soured now.

in realpolitik terms it might be better to leave Cummings there for a bit longer so if the anger continues to build it will attach to Johnson too, not that I'd attribute that level of cunning to Starmzy

Calling an enquiry increases the short term pressure and puts the people currently lying about Cummings on notice that someone might, in the future, be held accountable. It doesn’t matter whether it ever actually happens.

And I preserved it for all posterity upthread!

― santa clause four (suzy), Sunday, 24 May 2020 bookmarkflaglink

*Cough*

Just watched that press conference. Really incredible. Re-open the National Gallery and make a replay of that a permanent exhibit for the nation.

Just imagining a reworking of George the cunt and Gilbert the shit!

i enjoyed that tweet. if anything is a marker for the near death of the “print” media industry it’s be this.

Just watched that press conference. Really incredible. Re-open the National Gallery and make a replay of that a permanent exhibit for the nation.

All the hits #sackcummings pic.twitter.com/lKBqtAu5ru

— Malcolm Garrett RDI (@malcolmgarrett) May 24, 2020

in realpolitik terms it might be better to leave Cummings there for a bit longer so if the anger continues to build it will attach to Johnson too, not that I'd attribute that level of cunning to Starmzy

I mean the one thing you can say about Starmer is that up to now he appears to know when and when not to make a move, which is probably why he's leading the Labour Party while the likes of Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie are on the dole. This is probably a win-win for Labour for all the reasons you say, plus if Cummings does end up going it's a big scalp. But it's also not something Starmer has any control over so they might as well try and make hay with whatever happens.

It’s wise to wait for another hour to see what the Campaigning Newspapers have for tonight’s drop.

Hope they've some dirt on Starmer this time tbqh

I suspect what we're going to get before too long is a fawning puff piece about Cummings and his family combined with a cynical but highly popular policy announcement like two extra bank holidays to distract everyone.

EXCLUSIVE: Dominic Cummings reported to Durham Police over breaking lockdown rules.

This story isn't going away any time soon. https://t.co/l9PVXn1Srb

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 24, 2020

An unauthorised tweet was posted on a government channel this evening. The post has been removed and we are investigating the matter.

— Cabinet Office (@cabinetofficeuk) May 24, 2020

We might see scientists speaking out shortly, this is genuinely dangerous stuff.

still not going to expect this to change jack shit, however...

LOCKDOWN: Boris Johnson’s bumbling chickenfuck of a #DailyBriefings was so bad he’s managed to lose the support of Daily Mail readers.

Imagine being so inept you lose the Daily Mail; they’re the trained seals of Conservative voters. Just how shit do you have to be? #SackCummings pic.twitter.com/juT9Z3AsKd

— The DM Reporter (@DMReporter) May 24, 2020

This story isn't going away any time soon.

ok mea culpa, this is clearly getting ah well nevertheless’d in a cycle or two

This Thick Of It Special is just next level, honestly pic.twitter.com/C5I2PA3OHR

— William Kedjanyi (@KeejayOV2) May 24, 2020

When commentators talk about how the pandemic has affected Britain’s international standing, remember it’s not just Boris or Cummings or the overall death rate people will be shocked by. They’re shocked at Britain’s staggering racial inequalities too.https://t.co/8GsIuBnFdj

— Basit Mahmood (@BasitMahmood91) May 24, 2020

We might see scientists speaking out shortly, this is genuinely dangerous stuff.

As one of those involved in SPI-B, the Government advisory group on behavioural science, I can say that in a few short minutes tonight, Boris Johnson has trashed all the advice we have given on how to build trust and secure adherence to the measures necessary to control COVID-19.

— Stephen Reicher (@ReicherStephen) May 24, 2020

fucked up that for the most part you have to go to the opinion pages to get this level of reporting

xpost

Osama thumbs up

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8350223/Dominic-Cummings-wife-described-collapsed-spasms.html

comments on this one are a tonic too

what has the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland done to deserve this treatment?

My god that press conference clip is astonishing. It's like a foolproof cure for impostor syndrome.

I agree with Michael. Tonight, I’m really embarrassed to have ever backed Boris Johnson for high office. https://t.co/Q1NpbOc8kh

— Tim Montgomerie (@montie) May 24, 2020

On one hand it's hilarious that they've lost the likes of Tim Montgomerie and Julia Hartley-Brewer over this. On the other hand, imagine being this credulous.

Well, either credulous, or soulless, hypocritical and believing in nothing but furthering the agenda of the wealthy.

they need to feel that embarrassment and suffer it for years, the wankers. They stanned for an incompetent who just did a buy one Guy Goma get two for free show and you fucking idiots backed him!

Gettin' shouted at like Johnson when Carrie wouldn't get off his laptop.

I don’t think the people like ⁦@BorisJohnson⁩’s decision. pic.twitter.com/1zzFJWHg2e

— LiveInUK-LoveEU (@LiveInUKLoveEU) May 24, 2020

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51JHzbYLCdL._SX315_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

if only someone could have warned us he was a useless, lazy, corrupt lying idiot.. he didn't have any previous on his cv!

Hahahaha I immediately thought of Guy Goma too.

hard to be a shadowy populist when put in the spotlight and a deeply unpopular figure, eh

Cummings is loving every minute of that walk though, I reckon. Look at those houses, he can stand to be heckled by those people.

Even before this the number of times there have been press waiting outside his house reminds me of only one other person (Corbyn but you'd expect it more for the LOTO). I'm a big 'chase all Brexiters out of anywhere with a London postcode' bolsh tho.

Starmer saying he would have sacked Cummings and calling for him to go now

A lot of the people in those houses will be council or HA tenants - there’s a lot of on-street social housing in Islington.

When you’ve lost the neighbours like that, though... observe dude giving him the finger as he passes.

domcum’s response: “ok I’ll bite who is keir starmer”

are we still waiting on the Campaigning Newspapers to drop or is "he gets spoken to by police?" meant to be the next chapter?

(that sounds snarkier than I mean it to)

what was that about the mood of the nation?

Teacher: Cummings junior, can you put contagious in a sentence.

Cummings junior: Dad should've self isolated in London, but he chose to drive 250 miles to try and kill my grandparents, and the journey took the contagious.

— SkewSpewBarmyHairdo (@SkewSpew) May 23, 2020

A lot of the people in those houses will be council or HA tenants - there’s a lot of on-street social housing in Islington.

I thought I recognized that street, just trying to think where it is exactly.

Hypothesis circulating on medic lists on why DC is keeping his job:

"most of the cabinet and the ruling class, including PM, have been flouting the rules so many could fall if he does. And he could spill the beans"

Explains the coordinated tweets from half the cabinet y'day

— Trisha Greenhalgh 😷 (@trishgreenhalgh) May 24, 2020

... granted that lots of streets in London look the same, of course.

This is now stories 1-6 on the Mail; schools coming in at 7.

lol who is trisha greenhalgh i follow her on twitter and i'm never sure who she is

New line! Now he went because he was grieving for his uncle. No video-streaming funerals for him. Utter, utter cunt.

🚨 New: Why did Dominic Cummings go to Durham?

I spoke to his mother. She told me what no one has yet reported – Cummings’ time in Durham coincided with his uncle’s death.

"We have been a grieving family," she says, "there's been no recognition of that." https://t.co/pdhTdUGynK

— Harry Lambert (@harrytlambert) May 24, 2020