Half a million tax payers money to repair Sunak’s image?

Johnson writing on political ambition and coddling the stooges

Aspiring politicians should assemble a disciplined and deluded collection of stooges to get out the vote. Brisk, stern women, running to fat, but backing their largely male candidates with a porky decisiveness. For these women, politics offers human friction and warmth. The tragedy of the stooge is that she wants so much to believe that her relationship with the candidate is special that she shuts out the truth. The terrible art of the candidate is to coddle the self-deception of the stooge.

Max Hastings writing in June 2019 about Johnson's unfitness to lead

Johnson’s graver vice is cowardice, reflected in a willingness to tell any audience, whatever he thinks most likely to please, heedless of the inevitability of its contradiction an hour later. He would not recognise truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade. It is impossible that a man who is false to his friends and neighbours should be true to the public.

Almost the only people who think Johnson a nice guy are those who do not know him …

… the Johnson premiership could survive for three or four years, shambling from one embarrassment and debacle to another, of which Brexit may prove the least.

Approaching the three year anniversary, we can only hope Hastings proves to be correct about that last paragraph.

Dinahmo
He's a Tory and with their majority he can do what he likes. As can Johnson and the rest of the Cabinet - until such time as the Tory back benchers stand up to them. Can't see that happening since they are all too cowardly - or dumb not to notice what's going on. Maybe they don't care.

Absolutely they don't care. They're in government to give themselves power. Not to help others.

Sunak is so wealthy, he could have paid for the think tanks etc himself, which to be honest, would have done him more good with the electorate, knowing he was putting his own money where his mouth is. But knowing he's wasting ours? Disgusting.

Sadly, the Cons will get in again, regardless of who/what the opposition is. I said it after the GE and I say it again. We don't live in a democracy anymore. Elections results are bought. By Russia last time. Not sure who'll fund it next time. British tax payers probably, from stolen taxes.

Sadly we cannot believe that our government can be that bad, can it?

Sago

Plenty took advantage of the business loans and furlough money, nobody was complaining then.

I didn't mind the help given to the genuine, but £5 billion has been lost in fraudulent claims, and only £5 million recovered.?

And that's without the billions lost with equipment/schemes that didn't work, and dodgy contracts given to chums and donors.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/covid-fraudsters-conned-taxpayers-outof-27029853

Sago

Plenty took advantage of the business loans and furlough money, nobody was complaining then.

The government did its DUTY in providing financial support during the pandemic. Even our dreadful government could see that abruptly stopping all business activity apart from the basic essentials, would be a major catastrophe for individuals, businesses and the economy.

It's forgotten that little lapse of responsibility for the citizens of the UK now and is happy to let millions slide into poverty and need rather than spend a bit more money on supporting them. Anyone would think that it was 'their' money they were hoarding. It isn't, it is public money and they are elected to look after 'the public', not starve and freeze them to death.

Sago

Plenty took advantage of the business loans and furlough money, nobody was complaining then.

Why would people complain. The financial help was needed but unfortunately it was insufficiently controlled. If it hadn't been given the Tories would have lost thousands of voters.

And if Sunak could quickly arrange finance for those groups there is no reason why he can't do it for the poorer members of our society. But he won't because the govt doesn't care about them. The poorest are much easier to screw into the ground by making it very difficult for them to claim financial assistance.

Plenty took advantage of the business loans and furlough money, nobody was complaining then.

I see nothing in government behaviour the eight months since this report to suggest that any heed has been paid to it, especially by the Prime Minister, so what was the point?

Johnson knows that nothing can get him out of No.10. He doesn't care what the electorate think; all he has to do is refuse to budge. He's having a great time being King and that really is all he's bothered about.

In the meantime, everyone seems to be going through the motions of pretending this is a normal government when it looks more and more like a coup.

In July and August 2021, Deltapoll conducted an online poll and Zoom focus groups culminating in a September 2021 report titled Research Report from Deltapoll for the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

It sampled less than 1600 people. The Zoom groups were from B, C1, C2 social groups and excluded group D which is people with semi-skilled & unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations. Group D accounts for over a quarter of the adult population.

You can find it here:

Deltapoll_Research_Report.pdf - GOV.UK
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

It concluded:

The public have a firm belief that ethical standards are integral to democracy itself, and that politicians have a fundamental duty to the public to abide by ethical codes and rules. However, the public lack confidence that MPs and ministers abide by such standards, and see some politicians as possessing neither the core values expected from leaders in public life, nor matching up to the higher ethical standards displayed by other respected public sector leaders, such as judges, doctors and teachers.

This negative perception of UK politicians has been exacerbated by Covid, and the ease with which politicians were able to bypass the pandemic rules which the public had to strictly adhere to. The undermining of official tendering processes during Covid was considered to be a breach of ethical standards, provoking the use of the terms ’cronyism’ and ‘one rule for us and another for them.’

... and more of the same.

I see nothing in government behaviour the eight months since this report to suggest that any heed thas been paid to it, especially by the Prime Minister, so what was the point?

Money talks.

It's hard to argue with money, especially with the billionaires who control the majority of our national newspapers.

Just ask Rupert Murdoch.

There has not been a single PM elected in a UK general election since Harold Wilson in 1974, without the support of Rupert Murdoch

Why bother asking us to vote? Just ask Rupert Murdoch who he wants to be PM. Job done.

He's a Tory and with their majority he can do what he likes. As can Johnson and the rest of the Cabinet - until such time as the Tory back benchers stand up to them. Can't see that happening since they are all too cowardly - or dumb not to notice what's going on. Maybe they don't care.

If they lose their seat at the next GE they will receive 2 months salary after tax and NI and will also get a loss of office payment which is the equivalent of twice their statutory redundancy payment. That should give them a few months grace in which to find a new job.