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What is Boris Johnson up to?

(76 Posts)
Ramblingrose22 Sun 04-Jun-23 23:48:11

I don't think think Boris's unredacted WhatsApp messages from May 2021 will be a great deal of use to the Covid enquiry so why is he claiming he is willing to help in any way he can?

He knows full well that the key stuff is probably from January/February 2020 onwards so he is only pretending to be helpful.

If the scientists are going to give evidence of their conversations with Minsters and their scientific advice to the Government from early 2020 onwards that should capture the real story of whether the Government were really following the science.

I am hoping that the PM's diaries from early 2020 will be given to the enquiry as they may also reveal why Boris never attended early Cobra meetings. Perhaps he was too busy partying at No.10 or on holiday knowing what was coming down the line.

Sunak promised "accountability, integrity and professionalism" but is hellbent on a cover up of his and other Ministers' actions and decisions during the pandemic. It is ironic that Boris's decision to hold a public enquiry with a wide remit is what will expose Sunak's hypocrisy and empty words.

Let's hope the courts rule that the enquiry should be the judge of what is relevant, not the Government, or the enquiry will be an expensive whitewash at the taxpayers' expense.

undines Fri 09-Jun-23 11:28:17

MadeInYorkshire I am so glad to see someone on here raise these points. There is a LOT that is not adding up. As for 'conspiracy theorist' - that's one of the labels being flung around to stifle debate. (That's the 'mad' one). 'Anti-vaxxer' is another (That's the 'bad') one. The days of the Truth Police are here. I'm often really scared at the way things are going.

Oreo Thu 08-Jun-23 16:42:01

MayBee70

I think Sunak is just plain out of his depth and having Johnson out to get him doesn’t help. According to Rory Stewart he is at least trying to run things like a grown up and is much better to work with. His days are numbered, though.

Not sure about that Maybee70 tho I often agree with you.
I think he’s well within his depth and doing well ( a bit worrying!)
Boris is not going quietly even if we wish he would and could cause trouble all the way.

Oreo Thu 08-Jun-23 16:37:41

maddyone

Yes, I know you were ill Whitewave and that was after your vaccinations, and yet it still floored you for a while. In my case, I emphasise that I was not in ITU nor on a ventilator, but I know how ill I felt. I was allowed home when my oxygen levels were 92 which my consultant said was acceptable for a Covid patient. As I said before, the lowest they were was 82. Nonetheless 92 is not great, 98/99 is normal. I couldn’t walk upstairs without my husband behind me, with his hand on my back, and I stopped three times to get my breath. I walked on the flat at the pace of a snail. In the hospital I refused a bedpan, although it was offered, or a commode, because I’m too stubborn. I walked to the bathroom, at the pace of a snail, with a nurse beside me holding my arm and carrying the portable oxygen cylinder,which she briefly detached from my mask whilst I used the toilet. I was so stubborn and proud, I was determined to toilet myself. What I’m saying is we can’t know how ill someone is because we don’t know how they were in hospital, we don’t know his oxygen levels, we don’t know how many drugs he was treated with nor if there was pneumonia on his lungs or clots. They discharged as soon as was possible because there were queues of ambulances waiting to bring more patients in. When I was admitted I was in a queue in an ambulance for about two and a half hours, though I hasten to add, I was being treated whilst I was in the ambulance. I expect Johnson was taken straight in, but probably any well known person, politician, royalty, etc would have gone straight in. But I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, and to claim people weren’t that ill because they weren’t in ITU or on a ventilator, or were discharged after a few days shows a lack of understanding. I know because I was there.

Brilliant post👏🏻👏🏻
What you’re missing tho is that a few forum members know everything about everything, real life flies on the wall with insider info on every topic there is😂

DiamondLily Thu 08-Jun-23 16:03:01

Well, whoever the Tories have as leader by the next election, it doesn't look as though they will have an easy time of trying to convince voters:

www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/labour-landslide-140-seat-majority-polling-expert/

Whitewavemark2 Thu 08-Jun-23 13:30:30

Maremia

Back to the original thread, 'what is he up to?' You could also ask, 'who is he trying to bring down?'. We will find out soon, if he delivers on his promise.

Apparently Sunak has bottled it (again) and has relented over Johnson’s honours list. It is thought that he is hoping that Johnson will leave him alone.

Some hope. “Hell hath no fury like a PM scorned”

Johnson will never forgive Sunak.

Maremia Thu 08-Jun-23 13:15:56

Back to the original thread, 'what is he up to?' You could also ask, 'who is he trying to bring down?'. We will find out soon, if he delivers on his promise.

Maremia Thu 08-Jun-23 13:13:22

I agree MaizieD, and I don't think HPQ was laughing at his illness either, which is how this diversion began. Just had a wee look back at the account given by one of his nurses, (a good evidential source). During the night, they had great chats about her coming from New Zealand. Not quite 'operation last gasp' was it? What a disgusting name to come up with.

MaizieD Thu 08-Jun-23 12:59:40

No opinionated poster can ever say any patient was not at death's door

It works both ways, Louella. Those who are trying to convince us that Johnson was at death's door are equally 'opinionated'.

He didn't die. Can we leave it at that?

MayBee70 Thu 08-Jun-23 12:48:16

I think Sunak is just plain out of his depth and having Johnson out to get him doesn’t help. According to Rory Stewart he is at least trying to run things like a grown up and is much better to work with. His days are numbered, though.

rosie1959 Thu 08-Jun-23 12:46:53

maddyone

Haha Maybee and now we’ve got Rishi and I’m not too sure about him to be honest. He was fined too.

To be fair poor old Rhisi was fined for turned up to a meeting early and being in a room where something was taking place and in the grand scheme of things hardly the crime of the century he doesn’t even drink alcohol

MayBee70 Thu 08-Jun-23 12:45:26

I do actually remember the night that Johnson was taken to hospital. It made the whole covid situation very real and I was concerned for him in a way that surprised me given how much I loathe him. I don’t think I slept much. Which is probably one reason why I feel that I was misled regarding the seriousness of his illness.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 12:31:45

Haha Maybee and now we’ve got Rishi and I’m not too sure about him to be honest. He was fined too.

MayBee70 Thu 08-Jun-23 12:08:21

If the man hadn’t spent his whole life lying about everything we wouldn’t even be discussing this now. Anyway, the country was left in the capable hands of Raab who is now….oh dear. Another disgraced Conservative MP on the back benches..

knspol Thu 08-Jun-23 11:56:05

Hard to believe some of these posts, the man was ill, went into hospital, recovered. Yes, he probably got preferential treatment because of his position which others did not get but it's over and done with now.
Imo he was as bad a PM after his illness as before but I don't in any way condone some of the comments made here about him.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 11:14:44

That’s exactly my point Louella. It is not acceptable to put forward a point of view about how ill a person is when we actually have no idea. BJ is undoubtedly disliked by many people but dislike simply isn’t a medical qualification. I put my belief in the medics who treated him, and me, and all the others admitted to hospital with Covid. They saved our lives, not all our lives, sadly so many died, but how many lives were saved?

Louella12 Thu 08-Jun-23 10:56:24

My friend's husband was taken into hospital with covid.

We would all have said he wasn't at death's door.

We were wrong.

And as an ex NHS nurse I've seen many patients with a variety of illnesses who weren't expected to die.

But they did

No opinionated poster can ever say any patient was not at death's door

Doodledog Thu 08-Jun-23 10:45:15

I have no opinion on this one way or the other (the origin of the virus, not about BJ) but are those things mutually exclusive?

Couldn't something coming from an animal have found its way to a lab (deliberately or accidentally) and been released from there?

Whitewavemark2 Thu 08-Jun-23 10:39:44

I know that recently there has been a suggestion that covid escaped from a Chinese lab, but my daughter - a microbiologist - amongst other things says that evidence still points to it originating from a wild animal. She used another term, can’t remember what it was, but basically the genetic makeup of the virus leads back to an animal origin.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 10:35:07

Incidentally there is now a question over some painful neuropathy that I have in my arm and hand. It has been investigated to the hill but there seems to be no reason. It’s now suggested it maybe to do with the Covid I had as it’s becoming apparent that Covid has caused nerve damage in some people.
Who knows what, if any, longer term effects BJ may have. We don’t know. None of us know. It’s not acceptable for posters to assume they know better than the medics, who did their best for every one of us affected by this horrible illness.
I’m rather more interested in what the Chinese actually know about this. They seem to have escaped scot free.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 10:28:09

Yes, I know you were ill Whitewave and that was after your vaccinations, and yet it still floored you for a while. In my case, I emphasise that I was not in ITU nor on a ventilator, but I know how ill I felt. I was allowed home when my oxygen levels were 92 which my consultant said was acceptable for a Covid patient. As I said before, the lowest they were was 82. Nonetheless 92 is not great, 98/99 is normal. I couldn’t walk upstairs without my husband behind me, with his hand on my back, and I stopped three times to get my breath. I walked on the flat at the pace of a snail. In the hospital I refused a bedpan, although it was offered, or a commode, because I’m too stubborn. I walked to the bathroom, at the pace of a snail, with a nurse beside me holding my arm and carrying the portable oxygen cylinder,which she briefly detached from my mask whilst I used the toilet. I was so stubborn and proud, I was determined to toilet myself. What I’m saying is we can’t know how ill someone is because we don’t know how they were in hospital, we don’t know his oxygen levels, we don’t know how many drugs he was treated with nor if there was pneumonia on his lungs or clots. They discharged as soon as was possible because there were queues of ambulances waiting to bring more patients in. When I was admitted I was in a queue in an ambulance for about two and a half hours, though I hasten to add, I was being treated whilst I was in the ambulance. I expect Johnson was taken straight in, but probably any well known person, politician, royalty, etc would have gone straight in. But I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, and to claim people weren’t that ill because they weren’t in ITU or on a ventilator, or were discharged after a few days shows a lack of understanding. I know because I was there.

DiamondLily Thu 08-Jun-23 10:19:40

Being in ITU is usually a very different thing to being in hospital, whatever the illness.

Those in ITU are usually desperately ill, not those capable of "normal" activities. And, not by appointment.

He obviously had it - I think his "prognosis" was bigged up though.

MaizieD Thu 08-Jun-23 10:15:34

. And nor can we pretend he wasn’t ill.

Oh, for heaven's sake!

NOBODY IS SAYING THAT JOHNSON WASN'T ILL.

People can believe what they like, but the evidence points to the fact that he was NOT AT DEATH'S DOOR

Whitewavemark2 Thu 08-Jun-23 10:11:05

maddy I absolutely do not pretend that he wasn’t I’ll. I am 100% certain he had covid.

But I am also 100% certain that he was not at deaths door.

People I know who were very ill with covid - not a single one was discharged after a week, and not a single one was back working within a couple of weeks. Many are now suffering from long covid - in fact I was speaking to a young person this morning who also had covid in and she is still struggling.

I had covid and felt very ill indeed - but I was not at deaths door. However, I took at least three weeks to recover sufficiently to begin to do more than rest all day and do a little normal activity.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 09:55:47

Whitewave
It was a horrible remark. I could easily have been one of the bodies. No one should have said that, no one. But two wrongs don’t make a right. I cannot pretend I know how ill he was because I don’t. But I was in hospital and during those twelve days I used my iPad and even had some very breathless conversations with my husband on my phone. It didn’t mean I wasn’t ill. He was in hospital too and what I do know is that no one was in hospital with Covid at that time unless they needed to be.
He was ill and hospitalised. It doesn’t excuse that disgraceful remark. And nor can we pretend he wasn’t ill.

Primrose53 Thu 08-Jun-23 09:53:11

maddyone

I was in hospital with Covid for twelve days. I had pneumonia in one lung. I was scanned for blood clots on my lungs but I was lucky in that respect because I didn’t have clots although I was on a clot busting medicine the whole twelve days. I was also on oxygen for the whole twelve days but thank God, not on a ventilator. I was given eight, or was it nine, different drugs to help me recover. Without this hospital care I have little doubt that I would have died. My oxygen levels were at 82 when I was admitted.
All these people who know so much about how ill BJ was annoy me. None of you know anything about how ill he was because hospitals don’t release medical information to the public, over than he was there and being treated. It’s horrible when people allow personal dislike to colour their views and to lead them to think they actually know, and their knowledge becomes fact to them. They don’t know, it’s nothing more than opinion and not nice opinion at that. However much I dislike a politician or their politics, I would never express such views which lack any kind of basic humanity in my opinion.

Very true. It’s just an awful, spiteful thing to say. I remember seeing BJ on TV when he came out of hospital and he looked awful. His face was ashen and he looked as though he was still struggling to breathe. Even his lips were colourless.