[0762]

Its much better for labour if the tories do the damage to themselves Ritchie. If Starmer gets tore in then it makes it more likely they will just all rally round the flag, and the media might turn on them. There might come a time for them to go for it, but not yet.

The polling figures show Starmer is playing it right so far I think.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavir...spartandhp

This article summarises Johnson "in a nutshell". The consistency of misdemeanours and unanswered questions is actually breathtaking and the current situation re Cummings is so full of arrogance and contempt for public opinion and there is a general outcry for Cummings removal even from the Tory heartlands. Aye, let them damage themselves! However, I still think the Cummings story diverted attention from a bigger story that is the massive loss of life due to coronavirus and the utter incompetence of this Brit govt. Btw I listened to the most unbelievable comments from two particular Tory ministers Gove and Hancock, two shameless liars with previous history during the Brexit debacle - in Hancock's case, his unimpressive defensive comments re Cummings' non-violation of any rules looked like it was taken straight out of the political manual of the Kremlin - a shocker. As for Gove's embarrassing comments on LBC - utter gibberish in defence of Cummings, a car crash interview with LBC's Ferrari. It was a no 1 top trending topic on Twitter and Piers Morgan even entered the fray commenting, "Michael Gove is trending No1 in the UK. It's because nobody believes a word he's saying. So many Cabinet ministers are destroying their own reputations at the altar of a lying hypocrite adviser. Quite extraordinary"! Remember we haven't entered the next phase of real confrontation when they engineer a no deal Brexit and they try to profess no blame, NOT OUR FAULT. This was their cynical plan all along. Note on the same weekend of Cummings' lockdown transgressions actually "surfacing", The Sunday Times produced detailed charts showing how the UK govt's complacency and incompetence had resulted in the needless deaths of thousands of its citizens. IMO Cummings' story was not the bigger one, not even the story of the year so far. Our gaze has been averted from what else has been going on.
When the tide of this pandemic recedes, it will be interesting to examine what other political shit it has left behind. What other seedy little transactions were being conducted "under the radar". Thus far, we know that the Brexit govt is hurriedly drawing up plans to cut tariffs on US agricultural imports to hasten a trade deal with the Americans. The plan to ease tariffs will lead to cheaper US goods and undercut British farmers, while stricter UK hygiene regs will also be bypassed - that's a laugh when one considers the current climate of hi hygiene to tackle the threat of a virus!!!! Elsewhere, The Guardian has reported that £1B worth of public sector contracts have already been awarded to private companies WITHOUT ANY TENDER PROCESS THAT IS REQUIRED UNDER SET UK LEGAL REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE A FAIR COMPETITION FOR CONTRACTS. These contracts have been awarded on an emergency basis and amount to a Klondyke for some of the govt's "pet firms" such as Deloitte, PWC and Ernst & Young. There has been no scrutiny of pricing or conditions. These firms will make many millions out of the coronavirus pandemic and are just among the few we know about. IMO long after emergency funding has ceased for small businesses and individuals, large firms will continue to use the "coronavirus effect" as an excuse for sacking staff and shutting down operations they don't consider sufficiently profitable. Lets not kid ourselves, the UK economy will suffer from the effects of this pandemic. IMO many sectors and individuals, already rich, are "feeding" on it!!