Boris Johnson

Indeed Bags - it would be very weird if, given the fact that Mr Ambitious has thrown his hat into the ring of the only show in town, we were not allowed to mention it on this thread.
But while some of us debate this thorny issue..

Dear members, please feel free to carry on discussing:
Boris the cyclist
Boris the baby/Churchill-faced lover of womankind
Boris the class clown
Boris the silver tongued wordsmith
etc

I'll kick off with his hair:
Is his hair sometimes deliberately ruffled before facing he cameras? Or is it that nightmare for the hair - the cycling helmet - that's to blame? Did he have his hair deliberately almost-tidied for the Marr Show? What hair products does he use?

Given that Boris is a prominent figure on one of the sides of the EU ref debate, and given that his "performance" in that debate was mentioned, a little overlap can be accommodated, I think.

This is the Boris thread, not the In/Out referendum thread.

My worries about democracy in the EU are not affected by anyone's "performance" on this issue. I'm focussing on democracy, not the people who are arguing about whether to stay in or leave the EU.

Playing the ball not the man/men , of whom Boris is only one of many.

rightly or wrongly - I mean that Luckylegs is probably right on that.

I have carried on reading this thread even though I havn't contributed for a while.
I was just coming on to say, yes! Luckylegs9 post is what I havn't been able to work out to date. Part of the reason I like him is because he says what he thinks and and not what is expected of him. And also, rightly or wrongly, I do think he has the country's interest at heart.

But then I read JessM's contribution and I agree. I too think his performance to date has been rather feeble and lacking in research.

I think Boris's performance on this campaign to date has been feeble. On the Marr show (still available for view I'm sure) he talked a lot, repeating himself, in the attempt to stop Marr asking him awkward questions. He came across as someone who had not bothered to research issues like what would happen if UK voted Out, the negotiation of trade deals etc. Relying on his gift of the gab and nothing much else.

He isn't my favourite person, but his bumbling, carefree attitude makes me smile sometimes, other times I just think shut up, but I do like people who say what they think and not say what is expected of them. Just because you support a political party, you can't agree with every comment that comes out of their mouths. Don't go along with a lot of what David Cameron is saying about the rererendum at the moment, but I would still vote for him, because I do think he has the countries interest at heart, same with Boris, he has made his decision that is not the opinion of his friend and leader, but he said what he thinks is right.

Hmm, the confusion thickens.
Apparently, Bernard Jenkin, who is Tory chairman of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, has asked for all emails and phone calls to Longworth be released.

Meanwhile, Boris has said that his staff had "complete freedom to say what they want" about the EU referendum (that they already have and he's fine with that) and that the email asking them not to was a cock-up he knew nothing about.

I,m getting the feeling, as I often do on political threads, that people are allowing their feelings about a person (in this case, Boris Johnson) to influence their thinking, e.g. that if they don't like him then he has to be in the wrong about everything.

I neither like nor dislike Boris Johnson. He has hardly, until the referendum raised its head, made any impact on me at all. I have had nothing to do with him or his political party so why would I waste brain space disliking him when I can just ignore him?

He has, recently, said some things that resonate with my way of thinking about democracy in the EU (as have people in other political parties) so, at the moment I'm listening to what he has to say on that topic. When the referendum is over I'll probably switch off from him again, along with a whole host of other EU referendum commentators.

I think there is some confusion here. It's not a clear cut picture.

Firstly, Boris has not gagged anyone.

Secondly, Longworth, the BCC chap, stepped down himself so that he could speak freely. It was reported, incorrectly, that he had been pushed. If Boris said what you say he said, thinking that the Tory administration had given Longworth the push, he was quite right: the Establishment should not gag people who are not part of it. Perhaps Boris thought Longworth had been pushed because of the reported "quiet word" from Downing Street. But from what I've read, that never in fact happened but if it did happen then Boris is right: it shouldn't have.

Longworth is not part of the government and should be able to say what he wants. It certainly would have been wrong of the Tory administration to try and stop him from speaking his thoughts on the EU referendum.

Evidence is in what he said about the sacking of BCC bloke thatbags read what I posted previously. He thinks the establishment shouldn't gag people who want to speak out about leaving the EU but he is quite prepared to apply similar restrictions to his own staff. So it is the people speaking in favour of the EU he wants to be kept quiet. As I said before he didn't need to comment about the sacking he chose to.

trisher said: "I have no objection to Boris placing restrictions on his staff in working time if he agrees that the same rules should apply to all organisations but he doesn't".

Evidence, please. You may well be right but you can't make a statement like that about someone and not back it up.

Of course he has a political agenda; he's a politician! Jeremy Corbyn has a political agenda too. I'd be worried if he didn't! All politicians have political agendas, even the ones with agendas one likes.

Perhaps Anniebach keeps notes...

Anniebach. Have you picked up the memory baton from a certain poster who is no longer with us. It seems like it.

What does that have to do with this thread though?

My, what a memory you have for things that I have said last year, quite amazing,ab
However, I didn't say what Corbyn said on holiday was silly.Although it is quite on the cards that it was.

Rosesarered, you had much to say because the Labour Party leader took a walking holiday in Scotland in the autumn

I have no objection to Boris placing restrictions on his staff in working time if he agrees that the same rules should apply to all organisations but he doesn't. I don't think Boris is silly I think he is devious and scary. He has a political agenda which he hides under the bumbling idiot persona and people fall for it.

because you don't like somebody or the political party they are in , does not mean that everything they do or say is silly. The world is not so black and white.

Whilst not a fan of Boris, I do think there is nothing wrong with what he has instructed staff to say.As other posters say, that is a work related matter, and outside their place of work they can speak to reporters about their own personal views if they want to.

Comparing it with rules on swearing in school is silly. What is the point of banning political views on certain days and times of day . This means one of his deputies can voice support for the in campaign on a Sunday on TVs but if questioned during working hours must say - no comment

I though he explained it quite clearly on the interview I saw.

Cameron made an exception to the rule when he said ministers of his government could support whichever side of the EU ref debate they wished.
Similar to a free vote on things like abortion, I suppose.

It,s the same sort of thing as asking kids not to swear in school. School rules. Do as school rules say.

And then swear all you like out of school and out of school uniform, i.e. when not representing the school.