Current Affairs The General Election

[orly]

To give Johnson some credit though, he was getting grilled on specific questions by Paxman. This fella has been asked an open question by a morning TV host.

Very belittling. She's extremely competent, hence asking him a question she knew he'd have zero prep for.

 

[catcherintherye]

From Labour's perspective I really hope the lesson they have learnt from last time is that May was useless and Johnson isn't. I mean fair play they haven't got a bungled policy which attacks their own voters (which is one advantage) however if they have a bad manifesto, he will not be good enough to spin them out of it.

The message they should have learnt from last time, was if you have a shoddy, badly costed manifesto, you will fall apart.

 

[dannyboy]

I think thats exactly it. You can't blag this job though. The problem is he's filled with people who think he's amazing. Thats really dangerous.

The advice May had didn't work for her as she's robotic and needed to come out of her shell a bit. However the same advise is exactly what Johnson needs, as he just makes cock up after cock up. He's far too verbose to be effective in such settings.

It took a bit of time last campaign to realise May was useless. I sense we will have the same moment of reckoning with Johnson and in about 2 weeks everyone will be saying it.

There are sections of the right wing media that have built the belief that Johnson is one of the great orators of our time and he himself believes that hype. He rallies the troops in Parliament when he has his Tory bully boys backing up lines he's thought of earlier in the day. Unfortunately for him that's a world away from what the debates will be like.

 

[Kurt.]

But ... but... but.... @peteblue said he’s brilliant

 

[Blues Harp]

He's nailed himself. I know people seem to have the view this fella is some sort of secret weapon to Tory victory but I just don't see it. For me he's worse than May and streets behind Cameron/Osborne. Whatever idiot decided to risk his 40 odd point advantage over Corbyn on live debates needs sacking.

He has absolutely no idea why anyone can relate to him. Not a clue. And he is unable to lie in any way convincingly. I've said it a few times, it's Ben Johnson off the Thick of it.

And some on here thought he would crush Corbyn in the TV debates...well, one anyway. Loved The Thick of it. lol

 

[Kurt.]

And some on here thought he would crush Corbyn in the TV debates...well, one anyway. Loved The Thick of it. lol

I honestly believe he will pull out of the live debates at short notice ... he’s almost as bad as that Tory party chairman for not being able to answer a question

 

[Blue 1]

There are sections of the right wing media that have built the belief that Johnson is one of the great orators of our time and he himself believes that hype. He rallies the troops in Parliament when he has his Tory bully boys backing up lines he's thought of earlier in the day. Unfortunately for him that's a world away from what the debates will be like.

"PIFFLEPAFFLEWIFFLEWAFFLE" is all we'll get from him.

 

[gonetomorrow]

He should appear for the debates in white tie and tails. Suddenly, we'd all be transported back to Oxford. Nanny is in the house and "everyone's all right really."
Corbyn would slink away in his cheap squeaky shoes.

 

[Blue 1]

I honestly believe he will pull out of the live debates at short notice ... he’s almost as bad as that Tory party chairman for not being able to answer a question

If Labour start to close the gap in the polls I'd say that's an absolute certainty.

 

[street end]

Very belittling. She's extremely competent, hence asking him a question she knew he'd have zero prep for.

To be honest I don’t think she covered herself in any glory either, “have you ever used a mop”? “Your not even squeezing it out” cut to Boris squeezing the mop out. I’m in no way a Tory supporter but these type of interviews can also lead to a kind of sympathy vote because people will say what’s his mopping ability got to do with running the country, just an example.

 

[Blues Harp]

I honestly believe he will pull out of the live debates at short notice ... he’s almost as bad as that Tory party chairman for not being able to answer a question

If he did that, would he send someone from his "cabinet" instead? But who? The choice is totally uninspiring, isn't it? Or even gammons like Brigden. Francois etc
lol lol

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

He's nailed himself. I know people seem to have the view this fella is some sort of secret weapon to Tory victory but I just don't see it. For me he's worse than May and streets behind Cameron/Osborne. Whatever idiot decided to risk his 40 odd point advantage over Corbyn on live debates needs sacking.

He has absolutely no idea why anyone can relate to him. Not a clue. And he is unable to lie in any way convincingly. I've said it a few times, it's Ben Johnson off the Thick of it.

Your just frightened of Johnson amazing ability to connect with all people no matter their socio economic classification, is how it will go.

Very belittling. She's extremely competent, hence asking him a question she knew he'd have zero prep for.

She will go far, just not with the BBC... Thats two big no no's now.

 

[summerisle]

 

[tsubaki]

Well of course. Any comment that is not positive towards Labour is by default wrong, is it not?

No, I meant wrong as in "your statement is wrong". You said:

The trade unions bankroll the party, and now dictate policy.

This statement is not correct in two respects. Firstly, the majority of Labour income does not come from the unions, so it would be wrong to describe them as bankrolling the party in the way its used in terms of political finance (it would be if you used that word in its loosest sense of "offering financial support", but if you did that every donor or member bankrolls every party). The expansion of the membership has pulled in a huge amount of money (nearly £17 million in 2018, compared to £8 million in 2013), which combined with the debt being paid off has meant that the importance of the union contribution has gone down (in 2014, affiliate fees were 27.4% of the total income; in 2018 they were around 13%).

Secondly, "and now dictate policy" suggests that the unions didn't do this in the past. That is obviously wrong for a lot of the party's history - given that unions set it up and that there is ample evidence of them having a lot of influence over Labour and Labour governments - and I'd have thought everyone would recognize the influence they had over Miliband, given how he was elected, what happened in Falkirk and the subsequent reforms (though the biggest impact of those was down to a misguided Progress idea).

 

[tsubaki]

Plusnet is part of BT anyway, no?

I never knew that, thanks.