Realistically how long can he keep his job?
- Thread starter Archiestephens_elbow
- Start date
Duffman
Well-known member
Johnson is all the Tories have at the moment and with the crushing majority given to him at the last election irrespective of how wrong he gets it he’s going nowhere. The true catastrophe of the election result in December will be seen and felt in this country for years to come. You got what you asked for
Yes, this board seems to be full of people who have particular opinions, and assume that everyone else holds the very same opinions. I can understand that sometimes many people will share a particular opinion, but the more extreme the opinion, the fewer people will share it. So when discussing contentious political matters, there's going to be very few people who share the same extreme view, and most of them will be on internet forums. I think the majority opinion is Boris is doing a reasonable job, and he'll be around for a decade or so, health issues notwithstanding.
bear66
Well-known member
Opinion polls seem to be saying rubbish testing, rubbish with PPE, slow to lockdown but doing a government doing a good job (although the good/bad margin has dropped to 12% from 39% in a month).
FabioPorkpie
Well-known member
That’s because sadly, the majority of people are just not very well informed, and are unable to do any research or see beyond manipulative sound bites, Facebook propaganda or self serving media ‘guidance’.
anonn
Well-known member
December 31st; China alerts WHO to new virus.
January 23rd: Study reveals a third of China’s patients require intensive care.
January 24th: Boris Johnson misses first Cobra meeting.
January 29th: Boris Johnson misses second Cobra meeting.
January 31st: The NHS declares first ever ‘Level 4 critical incident’. Meanwhile, the government declines to join European scheme to source PPE.
February 5th: Boris Johnson misses third Cobra meeting.
February 12th: Boris Johnson misses fourth Cobra meeting. Exeter University published study warning Coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged.
February 13th: Boris Johnson misses conference call with European leaders.
February 14th: Boris Johnson goes away on holiday. Aides are told keeps Johnson’s briefing notes short or he will not read them.
February 18th: Johnson misses fifth cobra meeting.
February 26th: Boris Johnson announces ‘Herd Immunity’ strategy, announcing some people will lose loved ones. Government document is leaked, predicting half a million Brits could die in ‘worse case scenario’.
February 29th: Boris Johnson retreats to his Country Manor.
NHS warns of ‘PPE shortage nightmare’ Stockpiles have dwindled or expired after years of austerity cuts.
March 2nd: Boris Johnson attends his FIRST Cobra meeting, declining another opportunity to join European PPE scheme. Government’s own scientists say over half a million Brit’s could die if virus left unrestrained. Johnson tells country “We are very, very well prepared.”
March 3rd: Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands. Boris Johnson brags about shaking hands of Coronavirus patients.
March 4th: Government stops providing daily updates on virus following a 70% spike in UK cases. They will later U-turn on this amid accusations they are withholding vital information.
March 5th: Boris Johnson tells public to ‘wash their hands and business as usual’.
March 7th: Boris Johnson joins 82,000 people at Six Nations match.
March 9th: After Ireland cancels St Patrick’s day parades, the Government says there’s “no rationale” for cancelling sporting events.
March 10th - 13th: Cheltenham takes place, more than a quarter of a million people attend.
March 11th: 3,000 Athletico Madrid fans fly to Liverpool.
March 12th: Boris Johnson states banning events such as Cheltenham will have little effect.
The Imperial College study finds the government’s plan is projected to kill half a million people.
March 13th: The FA suspends the Premier League, citing an absence of Government guidance.
Britain is invited to join European scheme for joint purchase of ventilators, and refuses.
Boris Johnson lifts restrictions of those arriving from Coronavirus hot spots.
March 14th: Government is still allowing mass gatherings, as Stereophonics play to 5,000 people in Cardiff.
March 16th: Boris Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs, but allows them to stay open. During a conference call, Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called ‘Operation Last Gasp’
March 19th: Hospital patients with Coronavirus are returned to care homes in a bid to free up hospital space. What follows is a boom of virus cases in care homes.
March 20th: The Government states that PPE shortage crisis is “Completely resolved” Less than two weeks later, the British Medical Association reports an acute shortage in PPE.
March 23rd: UK goes into lockdown.
March 26th: Boris Johnson is accused of putting ‘Brexit over Breathing’ by not joining EU ventilator scheme. The government then state they had not joined the scheme because they had ‘missed the email’
April 1st: The Evening Standard publishes that just 0.17% of NHS staff have been tested for the virus.
April 3rd: UK death toll overtakes China.
April 5th: 17.5m Antibody tests, ordered by the govt & described by Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’ are found to be a failure.
April 7th: Boris Johnson is moved to intensive care with Coronavirus.
April 16th: Flights bring 15,000 people a day into the UK - without virus testing.
April 17th: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says “I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky.”
The UK has now missed four opportunities to join the EU’s PPE scheme.
April 21st: The Government fails to reach its target of face masks for the NHS, as it is revealed manufactures offers of help were met with silence. Instead millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe.
April 23rd - 24th: Government announces testing kits for 10 million key workers. Orders run out within minutes as only 5,000 are made available.
April 25th: UK death toll from Coronavirus overtakes that of The Blitz.
April 30th: Boris Johnson announces the UK has succeeded in avoiding a tragedy that had engulfed other parts of the world - At this point, The UK has the 3rd highest death toll in the world.
May 1st: The Govt announces it's reached its target of 100,000 tests - They haven’t conducted the tests, but posted testing kits.
May 4th: The number of NHS staff that have died from Coronavirus overtakes the number of British Military personnel that died during the Iraq War.
May 5th: The UK death toll becomes the highest in Europe.
May 6th: Boris Johnson announces that the UK could lift restrictions by next week!
May 10th: Boris Johnson makes a divisive, confusing and vague announcement that divides the country.
January 23rd: Study reveals a third of China’s patients require intensive care.
January 24th: Boris Johnson misses first Cobra meeting.
January 29th: Boris Johnson misses second Cobra meeting.
January 31st: The NHS declares first ever ‘Level 4 critical incident’. Meanwhile, the government declines to join European scheme to source PPE.
February 5th: Boris Johnson misses third Cobra meeting.
February 12th: Boris Johnson misses fourth Cobra meeting. Exeter University published study warning Coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged.
February 13th: Boris Johnson misses conference call with European leaders.
February 14th: Boris Johnson goes away on holiday. Aides are told keeps Johnson’s briefing notes short or he will not read them.
February 18th: Johnson misses fifth cobra meeting.
February 26th: Boris Johnson announces ‘Herd Immunity’ strategy, announcing some people will lose loved ones. Government document is leaked, predicting half a million Brits could die in ‘worse case scenario’.
February 29th: Boris Johnson retreats to his Country Manor.
NHS warns of ‘PPE shortage nightmare’ Stockpiles have dwindled or expired after years of austerity cuts.
March 2nd: Boris Johnson attends his FIRST Cobra meeting, declining another opportunity to join European PPE scheme. Government’s own scientists say over half a million Brit’s could die if virus left unrestrained. Johnson tells country “We are very, very well prepared.”
March 3rd: Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands. Boris Johnson brags about shaking hands of Coronavirus patients.
March 4th: Government stops providing daily updates on virus following a 70% spike in UK cases. They will later U-turn on this amid accusations they are withholding vital information.
March 5th: Boris Johnson tells public to ‘wash their hands and business as usual’.
March 7th: Boris Johnson joins 82,000 people at Six Nations match.
March 9th: After Ireland cancels St Patrick’s day parades, the Government says there’s “no rationale” for cancelling sporting events.
March 10th - 13th: Cheltenham takes place, more than a quarter of a million people attend.
March 11th: 3,000 Athletico Madrid fans fly to Liverpool.
March 12th: Boris Johnson states banning events such as Cheltenham will have little effect.
The Imperial College study finds the government’s plan is projected to kill half a million people.
March 13th: The FA suspends the Premier League, citing an absence of Government guidance.
Britain is invited to join European scheme for joint purchase of ventilators, and refuses.
Boris Johnson lifts restrictions of those arriving from Coronavirus hot spots.
March 14th: Government is still allowing mass gatherings, as Stereophonics play to 5,000 people in Cardiff.
March 16th: Boris Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs, but allows them to stay open. During a conference call, Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called ‘Operation Last Gasp’
March 19th: Hospital patients with Coronavirus are returned to care homes in a bid to free up hospital space. What follows is a boom of virus cases in care homes.
March 20th: The Government states that PPE shortage crisis is “Completely resolved” Less than two weeks later, the British Medical Association reports an acute shortage in PPE.
March 23rd: UK goes into lockdown.
March 26th: Boris Johnson is accused of putting ‘Brexit over Breathing’ by not joining EU ventilator scheme. The government then state they had not joined the scheme because they had ‘missed the email’
April 1st: The Evening Standard publishes that just 0.17% of NHS staff have been tested for the virus.
April 3rd: UK death toll overtakes China.
April 5th: 17.5m Antibody tests, ordered by the govt & described by Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’ are found to be a failure.
April 7th: Boris Johnson is moved to intensive care with Coronavirus.
April 16th: Flights bring 15,000 people a day into the UK - without virus testing.
April 17th: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says “I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky.”
The UK has now missed four opportunities to join the EU’s PPE scheme.
April 21st: The Government fails to reach its target of face masks for the NHS, as it is revealed manufactures offers of help were met with silence. Instead millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe.
April 23rd - 24th: Government announces testing kits for 10 million key workers. Orders run out within minutes as only 5,000 are made available.
April 25th: UK death toll from Coronavirus overtakes that of The Blitz.
April 30th: Boris Johnson announces the UK has succeeded in avoiding a tragedy that had engulfed other parts of the world - At this point, The UK has the 3rd highest death toll in the world.
May 1st: The Govt announces it's reached its target of 100,000 tests - They haven’t conducted the tests, but posted testing kits.
May 4th: The number of NHS staff that have died from Coronavirus overtakes the number of British Military personnel that died during the Iraq War.
May 5th: The UK death toll becomes the highest in Europe.
May 6th: Boris Johnson announces that the UK could lift restrictions by next week!
May 10th: Boris Johnson makes a divisive, confusing and vague announcement that divides the country.
Archiestephens_elbow
Well-known member
I would not trust him to make a round of tea and coffee
C
Cooper671
Guest
That’s because sadly, the majority of people are just not very well informed, and are unable to do any research or see beyond manipulative sound bites, Facebook propaganda or self serving media ‘guidance’
In no fault of Fabio but bit ironic that the next post is a someone copying and pasting an anti government Facebook propaganda post
In no fault of Fabio but bit ironic that the next post is a someone copying and pasting an anti government Facebook propaganda post
Jonny Ingbar
Well-known member
Polls suggest that the majority of people seem to think the government has made a bit of a hash of the whole thing, being generally apathetic throughout.
But the thing that may save Boris is the fact that he's only recently been elected and, generally speaking, the majority of voters aren't well informed and have very short memories.
The only saving grace is an opposition leader that is actually credible for the middle majority - thats what my hopes are resting on anyway.
But the thing that may save Boris is the fact that he's only recently been elected and, generally speaking, the majority of voters aren't well informed and have very short memories.
The only saving grace is an opposition leader that is actually credible for the middle majority - thats what my hopes are resting on anyway.
r00fie1
Well-known member
"A week is a long time in politics"
r00fie1
Well-known member
"There`s none so blind as those who will not see"
r00fie1
Well-known member
I wouldnt give him the steam off my........tea
SmallTown
Well-known member
I wouldn’t describe killing people, hiding when things hit the fan and providing incomprehensible guidance is doing a reasonable job
go-nads!
Well-known member
Until the press start to report accurately, until the party are unable to massage figures, mistruth and downright lie and until measures are brought in to prevent the way the Tories are abusing social media, there is not a chance Boris will lose his job.
The electorate are lazy and stupid.
The electorate are lazy and stupid.
Duffman
Well-known member
The whole Tory PR machine and the 90% of the country’s press that is right leaning are already finalising their plans to distance the government from what has happened.
Stay alert moves the blame to us - we didn’t do the right things and were not alert to the problems.
It was a global issue (bit like the financial crash which the Tories blamed on Labour) - we did the best we could in the circumstances.
Boris was a new inexperienced leader who almost paid the ultimate price ( don’t mention through his own stupidity) - what a guy.
We protected people with Furlough and business loans (they didn’t have an option as other countries had already done this and not to follow suit meant people broke curfew and worked or starved).
We based everything on the best scientific advice available to us - depends who you asked.
By August they will paint themselves as heroes and any criticism will be fake news or unpatriotic.
In media terms we live disappointingly in a country where press barons and the governing elite still control what we see and hear.
Stay alert moves the blame to us - we didn’t do the right things and were not alert to the problems.
It was a global issue (bit like the financial crash which the Tories blamed on Labour) - we did the best we could in the circumstances.
Boris was a new inexperienced leader who almost paid the ultimate price ( don’t mention through his own stupidity) - what a guy.
We protected people with Furlough and business loans (they didn’t have an option as other countries had already done this and not to follow suit meant people broke curfew and worked or starved).
We based everything on the best scientific advice available to us - depends who you asked.
By August they will paint themselves as heroes and any criticism will be fake news or unpatriotic.
In media terms we live disappointingly in a country where press barons and the governing elite still control what we see and hear.
American_Mary
Well-known member
Johnson has lost some support of the right wing media recently, The Times in particular seems to be keen to challenge his decision making and general competence and he isn’t held in high regard by a lot of his back bench MP’s, today it’s those in tourist areas saying they don’t want out of towners visiting even though the Prime Minister has said day trips and picnics are fine, you can see the cracks beginning to appear in the Party facade, the opinion of Johnson around Westminster is that those that like him are those he hasn’t met, he’s made a long list of enemies in his time with various actions and he’s tolerated by his Party because of his popular appeal to Pro-Brexit Britain once a very useful tool in the last election.
But he’s not seen as a long term option by the Conservative Party mandarins and at some point there will be a power struggle, he’s given too much power to the likes of Cummings and in the short term the Party will allow him enough rope as they know eventually what he’ll do with it....the interesting tidbits doing the rounds of Farage rejoining the Conservative Party and finding a nice safe seat in the next 18 months could mix things up a bit, plus Starmer is a much less divisive leader than Corbyn.
But I think once normality returns and the very hard work, with no short term reward, of pulling the country out of the Covid caused financial depression and potential Brexit repercussions Johnson will decide that enough is enough and simply retire from public life to enjoy time with his young son and someone else like so often in his life will be left to pick up the pieces, Johnson is not in politics not to change but merely a vessel used propel himself into the limelight.
But he’s not seen as a long term option by the Conservative Party mandarins and at some point there will be a power struggle, he’s given too much power to the likes of Cummings and in the short term the Party will allow him enough rope as they know eventually what he’ll do with it....the interesting tidbits doing the rounds of Farage rejoining the Conservative Party and finding a nice safe seat in the next 18 months could mix things up a bit, plus Starmer is a much less divisive leader than Corbyn.
But I think once normality returns and the very hard work, with no short term reward, of pulling the country out of the Covid caused financial depression and potential Brexit repercussions Johnson will decide that enough is enough and simply retire from public life to enjoy time with his young son and someone else like so often in his life will be left to pick up the pieces, Johnson is not in politics not to change but merely a vessel used propel himself into the limelight.
Randy
Well-known member
But the trust in the media is at an all time low. I think Joe Public have seen how some journalists and broadcasters have behaved recently and had enough of the constant barrage of bad news, gotcha moments, self service and some outright lies designed to get the public to do what the media wants.
A prominent Swedish epidemiologist recently stated that the problem with locking down a country, is finding a way to open up. He wasn't wrong. And we're all just beginning to realise. It doesn't matter what the PM does, it will be the wrong thing because there's no historical basis for decisions.
Would anyone else have done any better than Johnson? Whoever was in power would have had the same lack of basic infrastructure and the same systemic failings to deal with.
The country was far better able to deal with a pandemic in 1957 (though they complained about lack of preparedness even then - seems we never learn). The Asian flu pandemic in 1957 started oddly enough in China, and by late June hit the UK. Potentially 14,000 people died of the virus. It would have been worse, but somehow between May 1957 when a vaccine was first developed and October that year, they had a vaccine in production, and this evidently prevented further deaths.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2714797/#b3
Would anyone else have done any better than Johnson? Whoever was in power would have had the same lack of basic infrastructure and the same systemic failings to deal with.
The country was far better able to deal with a pandemic in 1957 (though they complained about lack of preparedness even then - seems we never learn). The Asian flu pandemic in 1957 started oddly enough in China, and by late June hit the UK. Potentially 14,000 people died of the virus. It would have been worse, but somehow between May 1957 when a vaccine was first developed and October that year, they had a vaccine in production, and this evidently prevented further deaths.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2714797/#b3