U.K. Politics: Boris Johnson referred to police (AGAIN) over potential Covid rule breaches

[Artoo]

Probably driving to Barnard Castle as we speak

In fairness, if he is I’m well jealous as I love it there.

[bm08]

They delayed the inevitable....and for what?!

[Parkelife]

Probably driving to Barnard Castle as we speak

In fairness, if he is I’m well jealous as I love it there.

He will probably going to see his parents near the Honest Lawyer hotel in Durham.

Yeah, B/Castle is really nice. I live in Co Durham.

[Wayne]

This is turning into a major headache for Boris - I don’t see how she can stay in her position as Home Secretary following a finding that she’d breached the Ministerial Code...there is no precedent for this.

[Artoo]

This is turning into a major headache for Boris - I don’t see how she can stay in her position as Home Secretary following a finding that she’d breached the Ministerial Code...there is no precedent for this.

There is clearly a lot going on behind the closed door at no. 10 and I honestly think Boris isn’t as in control as he makes out... and he’s simply trying to keep his friends around.

I’ve heard rumours of Tory infighting and backbenchers not supporting him recently, and someone somewhere is leaking too much information to the press. I had thought Boris was doing this himself (the whole ‘let them get used to the idea of new measures before I announce them’ etc) but it’s been biting him on the arse for a while now as people are sick of the media having details on new restrictions and updates before it’s formally announced.

The whole Brexit mess has damaged his leadership too if I’m honest. It’s rare all living ex-PMs unite to condemn the decision of a sitting government to go back on the UK’s word.

[heppolo]

Priti and Boris aren't ever going to step down easily, they'll cling on to power for as long as possible.

[Thriller]

The Tory party are desperate to get Boris out.

Priti Patel is an abhorrent woman. A bigoted white man in an Asian woman’s disguise.

[Artoo]

The Tory party are desperate to get Boris out.

karma is a bitch

[heppolo]

The Tory party are desperate to get Boris out.

Yet they're still in line voting like the obedient servants. Those clowns will install Rees-Mogg as their leader right after Boris, so it won't get better.

[Wayne]

Yet they're still in line voting like the obedient servants. Those clowns will install Rees-Mogg as their leader right after Boris, so it won't get better.

Well, a small number of Tories rebelled against Boris in the recent lockdown vote - that number is expected to grow when it comes to MPs voting on the new stricter tiered system the U.K. is expected to move into coming out of lockdown 2.0.

I definitely think that in Boris, a lot of Tories have buyers remorse.

[Rihab]

Priti Patel is an abhorrent woman. A bigoted white man in an Asian woman’s disguise.

Oh wow.

[bm08]

Both Priti Patel and this Conservative government are both abhorrent. They all need to go.

[Artoo]

The conservatives sadly aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I’m not yet convinced Starmer could pull off a victory, though I have hope he can once we get to the next election.

Boris I think is still pretty popular with the public too.

[Thriller]

Oh god you think? I haven’t seen any ratings or polls but I get the feeling a lot of his voters from December have turned on him over his handling of the pandemic, for a variety of reasons. I mean, there are plenty to choose from.

We’re not due another GE until 2024 - I hope enough happens in that time to rid us of what will have been 14 years of Tory rule and ruin.

[heppolo]

their base tells Tories "no", so Priti aren't going to resign, I guess

[Artoo]

Oh god you think? I haven’t seen any ratings or polls but I get the feeling a lot of his voters from December have turned on him over his handling of the pandemic, for a variety of reasons. I mean, there are plenty to choose from.

We’re not due another GE until 2024 - I hope enough happens in that time to rid us of what will have been 14 years of Tory rule and ruin.

Sadly I do. He is always strangely popular - even as Mayor of London, people couldn’t quite work out why either. His approval ratings have dropped, but that’s to be expected I think - it’s very easy to criticise the response to a pandemic in hindsight, and a lot of the media has jumped on that.

I don’t think anyone envies him having the top job at the moment and frankly I’ve no idea who is in line to replace him. The Tory party seem to be of the idea lockdown isn’t needed, things are all blown out of context and we should all just get on with life. But death and creating poverty is not new to them.

[Wayne]

Post-Brexit trade talks at a very difficult point - No 10

Talks to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU are at a "very difficult point", Downing Street has said.

State aid subsidies, fishing and enforcement of new rules remain the key sticking points in negotiations.

If a deal is not agreed by 31 December, the two sides will trade on World Trade Organization rules, meaning the introduction of taxes on imports.

The UK has accused the EU of making last minute demands - a claim denied by the EU's negotiators.

Boris Johnson's spokesman said the government was "committed to working hard to try and reach agreement" but emphasised that the UK couldn't "agree a deal that doesn't allow us to take back control".

He added that "time is in very short supply and we are at a very difficult point in talks".

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier - who has cancelled a planned return to Brussels to continue negotiations - told reporters earlier that it was "an important day".

He had been due to brief EU member state ambassadors about the talks but this has been cancelled and a European Commission spokesperson said "a full day of negotiations" is taking place in London.

The Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said it was important for the 27 EU member states to give negotiators "the space to conclude these talks". He added that he "fervently hoped" a trade deal can be agreed.

Meanwhile, France's Europe minister, Clement Beaune, warned that his country could "veto" a deal if it did not satisfy their demands.

An EU source told the BBC: "Both sides are giving it their all - we'll try and get this done this weekend if at all possible."

The European Parliament would need to ratify any deal before it can be implemented and UK MPs are likely to get the chance to vote on legislation implementing the agreement.

And the 27 EU national parliaments could also need to ratify an agreement - depending on the actual contents of the deal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55191432

This is painful - I wonder if we'll get a deal at all.

[Artoo]

This is painful - I wonder if we'll get a deal at all.

I wouldn’t bet on it. Wasn’t one of the criticisms of Boris that he was perfectly happy with a no-deal Brexit?

[heppolo]

Brexit is never going to end. It's easier for Boris to make a U-turn and make an "up yours, we're back in the EU, baby!" statement

[Artoo]

Brexit is never going to end. It's easier for Boris to make a U-turn and make an "up yours, we're back in the EU, baby!" statement

Brexit ends this month

The next 10 years will be spent sorting the fall out from it and the following 10 years spent wondering what we actually gained from leaving.

Britain is changing. In the span of a decade we’ll have left the EU, survived a pandemic and (most likely) buried the Queen. In a 100 years when people look back on this period of history, they’ll probably say this transitional period is where Britain’s history in the 21st century really began.

Unless I’m forgetting something, the first 17 years or so were pretty uneventful for Britain weren’t they?

[heppolo]

Brexit ends this month

The next 10 years will be spent sorting the fall out from it and the following 10 years spent wondering what we actually gained from leaving.

Britain is changing. In the span of a decade we’ll have left the EU, survived a pandemic and (most likely) buried the Queen. In a 100 years when people look back on this period of history, they’ll probably say this transitional period is where Britain’s history in the 21st century really began.

Unless I’m forgetting something, the first 17 years or so were pretty uneventful for Britain weren’t they?

EU is taking legal action against the UK Government, so I am not going to bet on the Brexit thing being over just yet.
After all, Boris is a part-time comedian (I even remember him hosting "Have I Got News For You") with all of his shenanigans. It might just get crazier, like Rees-Mogg taking over as a PM and trying to invade some former colonies because he's still living in the XVIII century.

[Rihab]

The talks should have been broken off when Tories voted to violate international law. A deal with people like that isn't worth the paper it's written on. We can try again when a Labour PM moves into No 10.

With Trump out, Boris is basically the last man standing among those who owe their careers to the 2015-17 nationalist wave in developed Western nations. Trump out, Salvini out, Strache out, Le Pen flopped, Wilders flopped, AfD flopped. An internationally isolated political dinosaur. The clock is ticking for him, too.

[Artoo]

With Trump out, Boris is basically the last man standing among those who owe their careers to the 2015-17 nationalist wave in developed Western nations.

I’m not a Boris fan, but that’s not true - he had a very successful career in politics for 20 years, has been Mayor of London and been a life long eurosceptic, writing about his distaste for the EU since the 1980s. He’d been one to watch for a long time before the nationalist wave you refer to, and only got the top job after 2017.

Why, I have no idea. Any other MP that had as many affairs as he had would have hounded into oblivion by the media. He even denied getting his mistress pregnant and the fact she’d had two abortions, even though it was true.

Despite being Prime Minister no one is quite sure how many kids he actually has - his wiki page says ‘Children: at least 6’

[Wayne]

I’m not a Boris fan, but that’s not true - he had a very successful career in politics for 20 years, has been Mayor of London and been a life long eurosceptic, writing about his distaste for the EU since the 1980s. He’d been one to watch for a long time before the nationalist wave you refer to, and only got the top job after 2017.

Why, I have no idea. Any other MP that had as many affairs as he had would have hounded into oblivion by the media. He even denied getting his mistress pregnant and the fact she’d had two abortions, even though it was true.

Despite being Prime Minister no one is quite sure how many kids he actually has - his wiki page says ‘Children: at least 6’

Very good points - whilst some of his views and behaviours are as foul as Trump’s, he is eminently more qualified to do the job (though I can’t stand him and think he’s made loads of bad decisions).

I still mourn the Brexit decision and what it means for the U.K. - not because I’m in love with the idea of the E.U. but because we are so much better in it than out of it.

[Artoo]

I still mourn the Brexit decision and what it means for the U.K. - not because I’m in love with the idea of the E.U. but because we are so much better in it than out of it.

Take comfort in the fact that we might live to see the day we can vote ourselves back in