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

/ Briefly, this means anyone accusing an MP of abuse doesn’t have to have the accusation dissected in a parliamentary debate. Can’t wait to see the names who voted against it./

Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and some obscure backbencher called Theresa May.

Interesting to see how Kier Starmer has changed his tune from "get a grip you are risking a second wave" to "government is doing the right thing, we support them" isn't it.

Watched a bit of PMQs and this is the line of attack/deflection that Johnson has settled on, in answer to almost every question. In reality the Labour line has been consistent for weeks now, variants on 'we want them to succeed in getting the pandemic under control, why aren't they?' And that's pretty much where most of the country is right now.

The Starmer approach is very much asking a question knowing that the PM will either bluster through it, lie about the numbers or get them wrong, and then have the government's own numbers ready for the follow-up. It's probably better to create the impression that Johnson can't remember his numbers, as opposed to lying about them, because that contributes to the narrative that Johnson just isn't capable of doing the job, a narrative to which increasing numbers of Tory backbenchers also appear to subscribe.

A subplot to last night's vote was the number of new Tory MPs who were perfectly happy to vote against the government, probably because they don't believe they have a long-term future/career in Parliament and see this as the best way to prolong it.

There's also a definite factor of 'Labour were seen as needlessly obstructive over Brexit and can't be seen to be needlessly obstructive now'.

If that is the logic why Starmer would find some way to triangulate having a shit or telling someone the correct. Then that is why the gutless tory cunt will never amount to anything, triangulated his arse into the delta quadrant!

Correct time. Shit posting on phone!

Probably a bad idea to be seen to be actively hoping for Tory failure given that would mean thousands more avoidable deaths.

The actual lines of attack - on failure of test-and-trace and child poverty, were pretty well chosen. Johnson tried to bounce the child poverty question into an issue over schools so he could say "yo yo-ing" for the tenth time but I'm not sure it quite landed.

They concluded that Boris pulled that 400000 number out of his rectum re:child poverty on the R 4 stats show earlier, but nothing matters.

it’s always a good time to actively hope for tory failure

Nothing to see here.

.@eastantrimmp asks the Prime Minister to explain, “how Northern Ireland can remain a full part of the United Kingdom if people coming from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland have to pass through a border control post?”. pic.twitter.com/zN7h94mdK7

— DUP (@duponline) June 24, 2020

You tell 'em, Sammy.

People were always sitting that far from him even before the rona y/n

boris' little half-smirk as he blithely rolls out the purest bullshit in response to questions will never not be profoundly punchable

(xp) No need to sit too close when you could probably hear him standing on Westminster Bridge.

https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/uk-coronavirus-r-rate_uk_5ef1f629c5b645f5d4871f61/

https://t.co/Ha8bH2fp9E pic.twitter.com/cr4hMGbifc

— Gwdihŵ 🦉 (@youwouldknow) June 24, 2020

a bit a classic of its genre on twitter from much happier days.

Johnny Merk Ya

Bung a bob for a Billabong1965

Dismissing calls from medics and scientists into a review of second wave planning is going to backfire, massively.

Hmmm, no. https://t.co/FP3tP3zo09 pic.twitter.com/RetaGSUg8P

— Dawn “Join A Union” Foster (@DawnHFoster) June 24, 2020

wrong!

Only just watched this one, jfc

As the economy reopens and people head out with friends we need to be aware of the most risky places.

I asked @BorisJohnson how we can keep places like beachfront bars safe where it’s impossible to get customer addresses.

His answer: ‘show some guts’ 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤡 pic.twitter.com/LHiIjouUPF

— Peter Kyle MP (@peterkyle) June 23, 2020

one thing boris was probably correct about at PMQs today was that proximity apps are a dead end, especially in the densely populated cities and human based contact tracing is the correct way forward. Not that the UK govt have managed to implement a functional version of that. But Starmer is so weak and lacking in conviction on anything and treads so carefully, he will never be able to put any pressure on the govt on how much they are fucking this up. He's fucking useless. He's so easy to dismiss, because he is gutless and his barrister routine will come across as parody opposition through repetition. Fucking useless on every level is that cunt.

Jenrick won't have to go, even though they seem to have got him bang to rights here, but nothing matters.

I was actually hoping to enjoy at least seeing Kier making the tories sweat a bit seeing as he is an establishment LOTO, even though I've got more respect for shit on the pavement than him. But no, even that doesn't make any difference when someone's first instinct is invariably be just slightly less tory than the Johnson govt.

This is the face of the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson being held to account for his disastrous record over COVID19. Not a pretty picture. #PMQs #BorisJohnson pic.twitter.com/5pIeKe1ogK

— Gerry Hassan (@GerryHassan) June 24, 2020

He looks fucked. There's the usual outrage that anyone has had the temerity to ask him a question but there's real bewilderment in there as well. Interested in who he's turning to look at there.

back in happier times...

Currently trying to figure out which circle of hell this picture of Boris Johnson and Richard Desmond originated from. pic.twitter.com/ZoxxXjCNMo

— Steven Sheil (@SSheil) June 25, 2020

Absolutely the plan now is to just brazen everything out and hope for the best.

If this was, say, the Blair era then Jenrick would have been made to resign by now after weeks of hostile front pages but I doubt most of the country even knows what the story is about.

How is it possible that the staring unnoticed child in the tunnel is not the creepiest thing about that photo?

Cursed image alert.

✈️

Irish Gov to exclude Britain from its plan to have ‘air-bridges’ to other EU countries.

Cabinet memo says this is because Britain’s attempt to tackle #Covid_19 has been “significantly poorer” than Ireland’s. https://t.co/tzgAnDLPnX

— Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) June 25, 2020

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/D3AC/production/_113088145_mediaitem113088143.jpg

RoI otm, the rona won't have had this much of a fun day out since the Cheltenham festival

xp I've got to be honest, I love to see it.

On the one hand yes, on the other hand not looking good for us getting to see family. 😔

oh come on ireland, show some guts

How about a...tunnel bridge.

back in happier times...

🐦[Currently trying to figure out which circle of hell this picture of Boris Johnson and Richard Desmond originated from. pic.twitter.com/ZoxxXjCNMo🕸
— Steven Sheil (@SSheil) June 25, 2020🕸]🐦

hah hah! Maxine Peake is basically calling the Labour leader a melt it seems

xxp yeah I'm not unconflicted, but I've been feeling like I've been going nuts hearing about the air bridges from the UK (7-day average deaths: 133) to Italy, France and Spain (36, 22 and 3)

It's not like Boris to fail to acknowledge a child.

One of the best things about that Bournemouth picture is all the nice people on Twitter with variations on "but where do they all pee?"

FWIW it's the video footage of everyone piling off the train that's really scary.

Yeah, have sort of accepted that outside gatherings are less of a risk and it's the cramped inside spaces that we need to be most careful about. Which makes the pubs reopening all the more terrifying.

RLB taking a lot of shite for calling Peake a 'diamond'

(also Jordan Peterson is trending after Cambridge university is actually standing with one of its lecturers for tweeting "Abolish whiteness")

Richard Desmond’s “we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe (sic) for nothing” was a reference to potential tax to Tower Hamlets Council, the borough with London’s highest child poverty rate (43%). pic.twitter.com/tNzGX7G1mc

— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) June 24, 2020

sleaze like this is just standard practise. I miss those days when at least you could have the satisfaction of seeing the odd politician getting pumped when they are caught out.

we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe

cos the price is two deer

I always remember Desmond as the arsehole an Express hack wrote an acrostic fuck you message to when he first purchased it.

he was the publisher of 'asian babes' amirite? not sleazy at all that guy

the Priyamvada Gopal quote is a complete wilful misrepresentation of what she meant, some arseholes have been trying to get her sacked.

I'm posting some of the greatest hits received overnight, then making an announcement at 9am before taking my two day weekly break from Twitter. What we now know is that much of this attack is from a site called 4chan (?) which is co-ordinating it. So targetted racist hate.

— Priyamvada Gopal (@PriyamvadaGopal) June 25, 2020

he was the publisher of 'asian babes' amirite? not sleazy at all that guy

he had a whole porn empire - mags, phonelines, videos, the lot

Andrew's post is a pretty good advert for not taking Twitter talking points as the starting point for discussions on things like this, because you end up discussing the noise rather than the signal. Everything gets distorted when your starting point is some crank with an axe to grind.

I'm not sure which half of my post you mean!