Now is the winter of Britain’s discontent

All this talk of turkey reminds me of that sketch in the 'Royale Family' when everyone's telling the mum Barbara how much they dislike turkey, and when she says she wont bother cooking a turkey next year, they all have a go at her for being miserable.

.That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about the health of people in this country.

He has given ample proof that he doesn't care about the health of the people in this country.

At least we are getting an insight into the views of his apologists. 'He's just gaffe prone, underneath it all he's a lovely and deeply caring person. We don't have any evidence that this is so, of course, but having imposed him on the country we will defend him to the death.'

It's like the equivalent of protesting that all that misogynist, sexist stuff that men spew out is just 'banter'. Good old Boris, doesn't really mean it...

Smileless I enjoy Christmas Day but having to cook a large turkey for the family always puts a damper on it for me, would love to just do a ham or beef joint instead.Like the Royle Family though, there would be dark mutterings.?

MaizieD I don’t think that any of us can say that he is a deeply caring and lovely person, as we don’t know him at all.
That isn’t usually of prime importance to be a PM though.
We have no proof that he doesn’t care or want UK healthcare to be as good as it possibly can be, I think any PM of any
Political party would want that.
He is gaffe prone and always has been, that’s one thing he hasn’t been able to change.

So lemon what are the special qualities Johnson brings to PM? He's gaffe prone, he lies, he blusters, he insults, he prevaricates, his personal life is appalling. Apart from the fact that he is sort of posh what else is there?

trisher I don’t care or bother about his private life. I voted for him to keep Corbyn out and to carry out Brexit as he promised he would...and did.
Covid has been a huge strain on the whole country and has set us back, but I think on the whole he managed it well and we all
Received our vaccinations in good time.How he does for the next two years we shall have to see.

As I thought no special qualities. Effectively then a complete disaster except he Got Brexit done, apart from the N.Ireland problem, the boatloads of immigrants crossingthe channel, the shortage of HGV drivers and a few other minor inconveniences "Didn't he do well!".

That’s your view and you are entitled to it....as a left wing voter you would think so of course anyway.

Just to point out, the lack of HGV drivers is a problem all over Europe and the US.
Boatloads/ lorryloads of immigrants are also a problem all over Europe and the US.

lemongrove

trisher I don’t care or bother about his private life. I voted for him to keep Corbyn out and to carry out Brexit as he promised he would...and did.
Covid has been a huge strain on the whole country and has set us back, but I think on the whole he managed it well and we all
Received our vaccinations in good time.How he does for the next two years we shall have to see.

He's kept Corbyn out and "got Brexit done", so is it time to move on now?

We have had ( still have) Covid very much with us, no moving on from that just yet.

lemongrove

I see things as they are Alegrias
A more diplomatic PM would have said ‘ it isn’t about cancer outcomes or health, the policy of levelling up is about wage growth’ but the message would have been the same.

No, you see them from your bias.

As do we all.

But you are not the authority on how things “are”.

Your posts suggest that you don't see "things" from an objective point of view.

We can only speak for the way we see things Summer be it my bias or your bias.

lemongrove

I have just read the whole interview, and could clearly see what he meant....it’s part of who he is to speak in this way and no doubt he can’t change that, much as he may want to.He has always been gaffe prone.That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about the health of people in this country.He has foot in mouth syndrome yes, but that doesn’t negate the real aim of levelling up by driving up wage growth in the North and encouraging business opportunities there.

Were you letting Angela Rayner off, seeing it as a "gaff" lemongrove. Johnsons "gaffs" have left one little girl without a mother and a husband without a wife - and who knows when that will change?

Metric means quantifiable measure. What he is saying, while Covid numbers are rising, the only thing he cares about is the money paid in wages. Why? Because all he thinks about is winning the next time.

This is not the money that feeds hungry children or that keeps families warm. Not money for the increase of 5% since 2012 of pensioners who now live in poverty.

And most of all, he did not care about the money that wasn't made available to help the care homes when he sent people from the hospitals to spread the virus amoung the elderly and most vulnerable cases causing heaven knows how many deaths.

He is, and always has been, only interested in making sure those who have, get more and his own power. He is, after all, a Conservative.

Not at all growstuff .....although I could say the same about any posters on here.
What I saw was the PM using the wrong words, they were probably the only words that came to mind ‘ never mind cancer outcomes’ when he meant ‘ setting aside cancer outcomes’. That seemed obvious.

But lemon should a PM be "seting aside cancer outcomes"? Shouldn't they concern him?

I expect that the picaninnies with watermelon smiles, the tank topped bum boys and the 'letterboxes' all smiled forgivingly and said that it was just Borises little gaffe. He really meant something else much less racist and more respectful.

And, as trisher mentioned her, I expect that
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is indulgently saying that she's fine with his little gaffe getting her a few years in an Iranian prison. Silly old Boris, he can't find the right words sometimes, but hey, that's fine, his heart's in the right place...

He was answering a question about the main aim of ‘levelling up’. I suggest you watch Marr tomorrow and see what the PM says then.

I bet Johnson will make no mention of inflation at over 3% or fuel shortages or how energy providers are going bust while the few that are left are hiking prices just as winter kicks in. Similarly all those empty supermaket shelves and the shortage of HGV drivers or why there's too few people to get the harvest in won't get mentioned. He may condemn the EU for signing off on his oven ready Brexit deal and how the EU must re-open the Northern Ireland Protocol because they apparently tricked us into agreeing it. No mention of the 130,000 deaths in the pandemic or all the dodgy PPE contracts and the cut of £20/week in UC that goes into action on Wednesday will be given a swerve. But there will be lots of fact-lite unsustainable promises about levelling up that will distract the sheeple.

lemongrove

We can only speak for the way we see things Summer be it my bias or your bias.

Yes I know. Which is why I stated that. you stated that you see things as they are. As though you are the only one whose interpretation is correct

lemongrove

We can only speak for the way we see things Summer be it my bias or your bias.

That's not the same as seeing "things as they are".

lemongrove

Not at all growstuff .....although I could say the same about any posters on here.
What I saw was the PM using the wrong words, they were probably the only words that came to mind ‘ never mind cancer outcomes’ when he meant ‘ setting aside cancer outcomes’. That seemed obvious.

How lucky we all are that you can interpret what he meant correctly.

How lucky you are to have a mind link to know exactly how he meant it.

Do you read back what you write?

Cancer outcomes should be part of any levelling up agenda. There is no reason why any region(s) should have worse outcomes than others. Yet some regions (broadly corresponding to the poorest) consistently have worse outcomes.

Rather than "setting aside"/ saying they don't matter, they very much do matter, not only in their own right but as part of "levelling up".

I seriously wonder if Johnson has any idea what "levelling up" implies beyond it's appeal as a slogan.

lemongrove

Just to point out, the lack of HGV drivers is a problem all over Europe and the US.
Boatloads/ lorryloads of immigrants are also a problem all over Europe and the US.

And the lack of meat processors, care workers, vegetable pickers, food packers, poultry workers, hospital staff, clinicians, vets, abattoir workers, to name a few.

Is there a shortage of these throughout Europe.?