Or a super expensive, and very rare $2 comb or brush.
Perhaps hair combs are the new toothbrushes in the UK?
Moderators: LawBeefaroni, $iljanus
Or a super expensive, and very rare $2 comb or brush.
Fancy haircuts... I get my haircuts at Great Clips for $17 and it looks a hell of a lot better than Boris' hair. It makes me wonder what he actually pays to look that bad. I assume much more.El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 9:38 am I think part of Johnson's schtick is that he tries to present himself as some semi-dopey man of the people who can't be bothered to be slick and spend a lot of money on fancy haircuts like the professional politicians who are constantly talking down to a robbing the common man. So his haircut is part of that image presentation.
The political reality is that a crisis caused by someone else in a faraway country may have saved Britain’s prime minister from a crisis caused by himself at home.
If one week could somehow sum up Boris Johnson’s chaotic premiership, this was it. Last Saturday, Johnson was feted after becoming the first G7 leader to travel to Kyiv since the Russian invasion. He was hailed by Volodymyr Zelensky, cheered by Ukrainians in the streets, and even grudgingly praised by his enemies at home and his critics abroad. Yet within 72 hours, he was once again facing calls to resign, after becoming the first British prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law while still in office. He is in every sense the minister of chaos.
In normal circumstances, being fined for breaking lockdown rules to attend his own birthday celebration might well have forced him from office, particularly if it had happened a few months ago, when a tidal wave of revelations about illegal office “parties” in 10 Downing Street during the pandemic appeared to be close to submerging his premiership. The problem was not necessarily one specific party or another but the general deceit, hypocrisy, and disrespect that his rule-breaking seemed to symbolize. Yet by the time the news of the fine dropped on Tuesday, the country seemed to have moved on. The announcement caused an early surge of acrimony, but barely seemed to lap at Johnson’s feet by the end of the day, even if plenty of polling evidence suggests that his popularity has been permanently damaged. The prime minister simply apologized, paid the fine, and vowed to continue in his post. The Conservative Party did not move against him.
Johnson’s luck may still run out: Britain’s Metropolitan Police is investigating a series of other potentially illegal parties that took place at Downing Street on his watch and could issue more fines, triggering another potentially fatal crisis. Yet, for now at least, he survives.
In one sense, Johnson is simply lucky. The timing of the fine—a paltry £50 ($65)—could hardly have been better for the prime minister. Not only did it come during the Easter break, when Parliament was not sitting and much of the country was on holiday, but it came at the very moment when he was basking in the glory of his visit to Kyiv and the diplomatic success of the hawkish position he has taken toward Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that the war in Ukraine may have saved Johnson.
Yup. Honestly I don't know enough about the situation in Britain to fairly assess the corruption / political pressure angle here, but treating it as plum luck seems naive to me.malchior wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 3:46 am Simply lucky? That's an interesting way to shrug away that when he was under maximum pressure the Grey report was delayed for this investigation to begin. And it just happened to drop the fine when no one is around. It is preposterous to think this is just happenstance. It's sleaze all he way down.
A Conservative MP has submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson and accused the Prime Minister of not being ‘worthy’ of his position.
Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper made the damning intervention on the first day that the PM appeared in the Commons following his fine for breaking his own Covid laws.
Mr Harper tweeted his letter to the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench
Conservatives, Sir Graham Brady, stating that he no longer has confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership.
He also told MPs: ‘Our country needs a Prime Minister who exemplifies those values.
‘I regret to say that we have a Prime Minister who broke the laws that he told the country they had to follow, hasn’t been straightforward about it and is now going to ask the decent men and women on these (Conservative) benches to defend what I think is indefensible.
‘I am very sorry to have to say this but I no longer think that he is worthy of the great office that he holds.’
Edit: If you want to see the insanity in action - here is an interviewer asking straight forward questions to the Education Minister and he gives absolutely absurd answers and tries to deflect. I can't imagine what the British public thinks about this.Boris Johnson suggested that Sue Gray should drop her plans to publish her report into lockdown-breaking parties in No 10 during a secret meeting.
Downing Street admitted yesterday that it had requested the face-to-face consultation between the senior civil servant and the prime minister earlier this month but refused to disclose what was discussed.
Two Whitehall sources said the prime minister suggested that Gray did not need to publish her full report, given the investigation by Scotland Yard. “He asked her is there much point in doing it now that it’s all out there,” a source said. “He was inferring that she didn’t need to publish the report.”
That's the tough part. The PM's office is obscuring the context. If her boss the PM ordered her to meet, what were the alternatives then? I don't know their civil service rules but it's definitely a real pickle conceptually. The PMs office rightly should be dragged for intentionally throwing mud on the investigation. The report is released tomorrow and if she doesn't mention/explain that meeting then she will be asked a lot of tough questions herself.
Right. With a helping that like here perhaps nothing matters anymore and being indecent has a power all its own.
Edit:L One of the two minister's who resigned Sajid Javid gave a resignation statement directly after PMQ to Parliament. It was not kind to Johnson to say the least.PMQ wrote:Has the PM ever used the phrase 'Pincher by name, pincher by nature' - "yes or no?" asks Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Johnson did not answer the question.
It was actually a little angry to be honest. Keir Starmer is a stern, prosecutorial type (he was one at one point) and it is straight accusation which he clearly knows is provable. The whole thing is a bit sad to be honest. I hate seeing another long time democracy at the mercy of a garbage demagogue like Boris Johnson.Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:56 am LOL! Was that question delivered in typical British deadpan humor style?
Hilarious.
So what's the process (if any) by which the Tories would force him to leave? And how can Johnson still have majority support in Parliament at this point?malchior wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:13 am I've seen enough from this PMQ - Boris Johnson won't leave unless his party makes him. Keir Starmer asked him specific questions about his judgement in this and other questions. Johnson just pretended the questions weren't asked and stammered, blustered, and bullied his way through non-sequiturs. It's pretty obvious that Johnson is chaos. Now it's the slow grind to see if/when his government collapses.
Edit:L One of the two minister's who resigned Sajid Javid gave a resignation statement directly after PMQ to Parliament. It was not kind to Johnson to say the least.PMQ wrote:Has the PM ever used the phrase 'Pincher by name, pincher by nature' - "yes or no?" asks Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Johnson did not answer the question.
The most likely path people are talking is either waiting a year to have another no confidence vote. Perhaps circumstances will have changed. The other being bandied is that there is an upcoming internal Tory election that could impact the ability to change party rules and force another no confidence vote. You can already hear the argument against it (I JUST WON ONE AND YOU CHANGED THE RULES!) but the UK is facing governmental chaos right now.
This is the argument Johnson makes. He blusters about how he won a vote and it's a democracy. I think the explanation I heard best is this flies in the face of British political norms. It is the party politely showing them the door and giving the PM time to wrap up affairs. If it was not especially close, you could argue he has the vast majority of a majority. In the recent case, he showed had little over half of the majority. And for historical perspective, he lost his no confidence vote worse than Thatcher or May. They both left in this scenario. Worse, their votes were about disagreements over policy (e.g. May's inability to deliver Brexit). His issues are almost entirely about his actual integrity so the scandals have a different character. 2/3s of the British public wants him to go at this point.Also - what exactly is the point of a no confidence vote if the PM has to go if he loses, but also has to go if he wins?
Remains to be seen. It looks like another front just opened against him as another senior cabinet member said he needs to go tonight (Michael Gove). Other MPs in his own party just demanded his resignation as well. If he survives this, it will be because he refuses to be decent. Then it'll be on the Tories to figure out how to extricate them from the mess they made of their nation.
Isn't it worse if he's meeting the guy on a "personal engagement"?malchior wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:28 am In more crazy, back in 2019 the Observer ran a story that Johnson met a former Russian agent by himself when he was Foreign Secretary during a trip in 2018. He has been repeatedly asked if it was true. His answer today? He "probably" met the agent. This is important because he has been pressed about not sanctioning that agent.
That was a panel directly after PMQ. It definitely is a representative for a weaker version of the GOP cult. Luckily, it appears he is essentially in a minority group that views loyalty as what matters most. So fuck that guy.Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:56 am I'd listened for about 30 minutes this morning to the BBC news hour and it was interesting to try and follow. First I'd heard from someone claiming that any effort to remove Johnson would "inject toxicity" into the democratic process as he'd been rightfully placed by the will of the people to enact a mandate in 2019. Shades of American politics, quite frankly.
What's breathtaking is he is in front of the Liaison Committee which is sort of a watchdog Committee where he admitted the Russian agent stuff. Then word got into the room that his minister's are walling up to confront him. He was told about it which he deflected and then they got into the sort of discussion that is usually reserved for a backroom. Out in the open.But then the next set of guests going over the process for what should happen next - either he resigns or they remove him was my take. Opinions varied on how long that would be. One of the guests said by tomorrow, another was saying it could be weeks. The general opinion though was that it wasn't a question of "if" anymore, only "when" - that Boris Johnson was effectively out and it's just a matter of him accepting it now or later.
It's hard but Johnson like a Trump is a unique force. He knows where all the gaps are and is exploiting them. He is a uniquely dangerous man but there is also zero chance there will be a 1/6 type of response. Mostly because of a lack of a cohesive cult there.I don't understand the Parliamentary process at all but the idea that they could actually do *something* was fascinating to listen to.
Always.Also, F Mitch McConnell.
The party thing was what got the ball rolling. It turned the whole country against him. The last few months have been just ethical issue after ethical issue falling out of the sky. And they are all whoppers on their own.Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:05 pm Is this ultimately a result of the COVID party faux pas? Or a bunch of smaller stuff just piling up? Seems like there are tons of little niggling things as opposed to ONE BIG THING.
LOL.Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:52 pm The thing on top of his head looks just slightly flatter today, for some reason. Perhaps it's an empathetic organism.