Boris and his lockdown birthday party

janeainsworth

Alegrias the word ‘ridiculous’ is derived from the Latin verb ‘ridere’ meaning to laugh.
The Cambridge Dictionary definition of ridiculous is ‘stupid or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at’.
I can’t help suspecting that was what Kali had in mind when she described us as a laughing stock.

Sounds about right to me.

Yes I know. But thanks anyway.

A bit of a classical education is the one thing I have in common with our PM. Although mine stopped when I was 17.

However, we are a still laughing stock. And we deserve it.

Alegrias the word ‘ridiculous’ is derived from the Latin verb ‘ridere’ meaning to laugh.
The Cambridge Dictionary definition of ridiculous is ‘stupid or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at’.
I can’t help suspecting that was what Kali had in mind when she described us as a laughing stock.

Whitewavemark2

The only way May is preferable To Johnson is that she appears honest and has a modicum of integrity.

Well, most people are higher in those stakes than Johnson.

May was totally controlled by the ERG, hard Brexit, 'Free' markets, deregualation, wing of the tory party in just the same way that Johnson is now. It was the ERG that brought her down.

There's absolutely no reason to believe that she could do any better the second time around.

Any leader that tried to tame them would split the party and that is what the party is most frightened of because it would mean losing power.

I've come to the sad conclusion that we're stuck with Johnson until the next GE.

And she’s not stark, raving bonkers

The only way May is preferable To Johnson is that she appears honest and has a modicum of integrity.

Well, most people are higher in those stakes than Johnson.

For starters ...

www.itv.com/news/2022-01-13/darkest-days-the-worlds-media-reacts-to-boris-johnsons-party-scandal

Are other countries actually making fun of us, and enjoying the spectacle?

Yes.

BJ is appalling and must go but I don't agree Theresa M is a pillar of perfection: look at her hostile environment approach to immigrants and the incompetent actions of the Home Office, both when she was in charge there. She is better than BJ though.

So I looked up the meaning of laughing stock in the online Collins dictionary:

If you say that a person or an organization has become a laughing stock, you mean that they are supposed to be important or serious but have been made to seem ridiculous.

Seems apt. No actual laughing involved.

Are other countries actually making fun of us, and enjoying the spectacle? That’s what ‘laughing stock’ implies.

Untrustworthiness is a very serious charge, I agree, but very different from being a laughing stock.

Being described as a ‘laughing stock’ perhaps says more about those doing the laughing than those being laughed at.

I see nothing to laugh at in our present situation. If others want to laugh, let them.

janeainsworth

^It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him^.
I don’t think we need you to rub salt into our wounds Kali.
Personally I don’t care what you or the rest of the world thinks of our country.
What I care about is the fact that our young people are growing up in a country where sleaze, corruption and dishonesty in public life are now seen as the norm.
I don’t have much faith that we can recover from this either.

Well, I care what the rest of the world thinks of the UK.

Despite not being a flag-waving "patriot", I've always been quite proud to be part of a country which was admired (warts and all). It's really not nice to be made fun of - and there certainly are people in other countries who know what's been happening in the UK.

I do hear complaints from people who actually live in those countries whose politicians are held up as shining lights on GN.

Callistemon21

^It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him.^

From what I hear, there is so much worry and so much dissatisfaction with politicians in general around the world that they barely give Boris or the British a thought.

The people I know from around the world certainly aren't devoting hours of their lives to worrying about our PM, but they are wondering what on earth has happened to the UK, and Boris is the figurehead that represents what has gone wrong.

The idea that every politician is bad is partly what got us into this situation in the first place.

janeainsworth

^It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him^.
I don’t think we need you to rub salt into our wounds Kali.
Personally I don’t care what you or the rest of the world thinks of our country.
What I care about is the fact that our young people are growing up in a country where sleaze, corruption and dishonesty in public life are now seen as the norm.
I don’t have much faith that we can recover from this either.

I hope that he will do the decent thing and go and that he can be replaced with someone of integrity but with more strength and forcefulness than, for example, Theresa May. A woman of integrity in a sewer of sleaze needs to be very strong indeed.

Alegrias Because if everybody else thinks we're untrustworthy, that we renege on our deals and that we're no better than a banana republic, we don't get trade deals worth anything, we are excluded from international discussions
Yes you’re right and I get that.
What I meant was that high standards in public life are of fundamental importance, and everything is secondary to that.
It’s no good the apple being shiny on the outside, but rotten at the core.

It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him.

From what I hear, there is so much worry and so much dissatisfaction with politicians in general around the world that they barely give Boris or the British a thought.

Peter Brooks today

Boris's birthday is the same day that my daughter and her fiance were supposed to get married. Only they didn't.

Happily, they are married now but Boris had more people to his birthday party on the postponed date than she had on her actual wedding day (she could only have 15).

He's a hypocrite, a liar, and his handwriting sucks!

Personally I don’t care what you or the rest of the world thinks of our country.

I do. I care. Because if everybody else thinks we're untrustworthy, that we renege on our deals and that we're no better than a banana republic, we don't get trade deals worth anything, we are excluded from international discussions and the young people about whom you are so concerned are facing a future that is very different to the lives we've had.

It would be wrong to think we can just behave as we like and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of us. (I know you're not saying we can behave as we like)

It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him.
I don’t think we need you to rub salt into our wounds Kali.
Personally I don’t care what you or the rest of the world thinks of our country.
What I care about is the fact that our young people are growing up in a country where sleaze, corruption and dishonesty in public life are now seen as the norm.
I don’t have much faith that we can recover from this either.

On a lighter note- do you remember some of us saying that you 'can't have your cake and eat it' ?

In the House, one MP just asked 'is the Prime Minister getting rid of all the Covid rules because he doesn't understand them?'

growstuff

If this were an investigation into whether Jo or Joan Bloggs had been having illegal meetings, I would agree that it's an excessive use of police time. However, this is about more than that. Many of the public are outraged that the PM of the UK, the person who is ultimately responsible for making the rules, flouted them himself and then lied in an attempted cover up. It's about the government's integrity. I think most of us know that, although some don't seem to care. If it all gets swept under the carpet, I think it reflects badly on the overall integrity of the country and what we are prepared to accept from our government.

This
How can Johnson be taken seriously on the world stage - never mind in the Uk. He lies, denies, obfuscates in response to any question. This was known when he was elected leader, them PM. It’s familiar to anyone who has worked with or studied the charming lying abusive men that partners stay with - somehow believing he;ll change just for them. Only this time it’s our country being played

Exactly- the 'parties' are no longer the point in so many ways- it is the deception, the lies- and the fact he can't be trusted, and he is supported by others at the top who can't be trusted either.

It truly grieves me to see the UK a laughing stock all around the world, because of him. Just as the USA was because of Trump. It hurts, deeply. And it will take a VERY long time to recover from this.

If this were an investigation into whether Jo or Joan Bloggs had been having illegal meetings, I would agree that it's an excessive use of police time. However, this is about more than that. Many of the public are outraged that the PM of the UK, the person who is ultimately responsible for making the rules, flouted them himself and then lied in an attempted cover up. It's about the government's integrity. I think most of us know that, although some don't seem to care. If it all gets swept under the carpet, I think it reflects badly on the overall integrity of the country and what we are prepared to accept from our government.