Cursing Boris, in Latin, on the steps of Number 10, and then grinding his cigarette underfoot would have been good.
Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzQ-O3r7KU4
Yes I would, but humming as though it’s just one more little chore out of the way is adding insult to injury.
And, from a journalist’s point of view, it’s just unusual. It’s not so long ago that all this hooha on the steps of No. 10 wouldn’t have happened at all, over the last few years it’s become more and more solemn and pseudo-grandly historical (quite unnecessarily, IMO), so on this occasion, when it is all full of fairly dramatic implications, it’s just, well, remarkable that he reacts like that.
Things journalists overhear when someone forgets to switch off their mike are, of course, catnip for the headlines. Gordon Brown sabotaged himself in the 2010 election by letting an unguarded remark about someone who’d harangued him about immigration get out.
Humming nonchalantly as his career goes up in flames is exactly what we expect of old Etonians. I imagine Lord Cardigan humming a light ditty as the Light Brigade charged towards the Russian guns. It’s the sort of quixotic behaviour we expect from the ruling class. Jeremy Corbyn could probably get away with such behaviour too; Angle Eagle less so.
Does “his career goes up in flames” mean “he’ll be sitting in the Lords in six months or so”? Because we also expect that of old Etonians.
With such a slim majority, the Tories won’t want to risk a by-election.
Witney is a safe seat.
If that career path is good enough for Floella Benjamin it’s good enough for former PM, David Cameron.
I don’t think anyone doubts Cameron’s career and legacy have just taken a substantial hit. A hit so big that no stint in the Lords will ever fully recover his reputation.
Indeed. A former PM’s “place in history” tends to wander up and down (or more commonly down and up) over the long term, as new concerns lead to re-evaluations. We might settle down into a different and constructive relationship with the EU, which might also resolve its various structural and policy problems. And there might be jam for everyone, some day. But in the long historical term, this may turn out to be as great a turning point as, say, the US Senate walking away from the League of Nations, and all that followed from that.
Just watching Dave head off to the Palace with his family. I am struck by the fact that, even although I follow UK politics pretty closely, I have never seen his kids before. I knew he and Sam have some - and had another that died young - but that’s about it.
There was also that amusing incident where one of them got left at a pub…
Ha, yes, but who of us hasn’t done the same?
Boris, as Foreign Secretary.
I’ll be in the corner , slowly looking out of one eye, then the other, as you do when absolutely filthy drunk and wondering why reality is out of focus.
.
Seats are never safe in by-elections. Imagine if Farage were to try there.
imagines Farage standing in a Witney by-election
It’d be a comfortable CON hold. It’s not ever going to be fertile hunting ground for UKIP - look at the last few election results.
The new Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has an IMDB credit for Four Weddings and a Funeral as “Aristocracy Co-ordinator”. Not even kidding.
Screenshot of credits:
https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/214468948576575488
What a strange country.
This. I can’t help but wonder if the whole country is being punked.
Michael Gove was an actor in an obviously very forgettable film a few years back as well…
At least the men in England don’t wear skirts. Make sure your skirt is ironed before the Lincoln Red Imps turn up at Parkhead…
Sorry, you’ve lost me?