Re: Who should be the next PM

I thought this was a pretty smart and accurate summing up of Boris's suitability for the position of PM...
Simon Kelner in today's i


"Boris Johnson has many of the attributes of a good journalist.

First of all, he is an excellent writer, gifted with a fine turn of phrase and an ability to leaven a serious piece with a casual colloquialism or a self-regarding aphorism from a classical text. His weekly columns in The Daily Telegraph, for which he snaffles an annual stipend of £275,000, are expressive, illuminating and entertaining.

His frequent incautious public utterances, his rather sketchy private life, and his ability to trim his sails, so to speak, should the occasion demand it, do not detract from his qualities as a writer.
In fact, precisely the opposite.

He also has the nerveless self-confidence and insouciant charm that are the hallmarks of an Eton education, and people of all classes seem to like him.

When he was the editor of The Spectator, I liked him. I didn’t know him very well, but at parties he was ready with a cheery bon mot, and in our minimal professional dealings, he was courteous and diligent.

If I were still the editor of a national newspaper, I would hire him tomorrow as a columnist.
Who cares that he’s a liar, a love-cheat, a bit of a boor and best mates with some thoroughly unpleasant types?
I wouldn’t mind that at all. He can visit every bedroom in town if he wants.

He’s got a searing intelligence, strong opinions and a way with words.
Sign here, Boris, and let me have 1,200 words by Wednesday morning.

Except that’s not what the deal is.

I find it utterly fantastical that he is even considered for high office, never mind that he’s the favourite to become the next First Lord of the Treasury.
Other public figures would have had their career prospects torched by some of the things Johnson has said or done.
But not Asbestos Boris. Not good old BoJo, beloved of cabbies and tabloid papers.
Who else would have survived lying to his party leader?
Or accusing Liverpudlians of wallowing in their “victim status” after Hillsborough?
Or asserting, mendaciously, that the UK gave the EU £350m a week, money that could be spent on the NHS?
The full charge sheet extends back a long way.

And then there’s his very recent contribution to the debate on police funding, in which he suggested that the money being spent on investigating historic child sex offences is being “spaffed up the wall”.
That’s a horribly crude reference to male ejaculation, in case you wondered, in a discussion about the rights to justice of people who had been sexually abused.

Can you imagine if this had been said by, say, Dominic Raab or Matt Hancock?
Their run for leader would have been over before it had begun.
Yet no one has paid much attention to this gross error of judgement, which betrays Johnson’s insensitive and arrogant nature.

I am all in favour of a prime minister with human failings to which we can relate, but we are not talking about a few private indiscretions here.
Boris Johnson has said and done enough in public life to have him run out of town.

OK, he’s funny, clever, well bred and, in a certain light, charming.
But we shouldn’t ever forget that he is, in Eddie Mair’s unforgettable phrase, “a nasty piece of work”.


The idea that he will be our next prime minister makes me shudder."

Re: Who should be the next PM

Good post Ruthio, but I had to get out the dictionary to understand some of the big words.....

Re: Who should be the next PM

I think the biggest influence in the next Tory leader will be Nigel Farage.

If he supports someone like Steve Baker I think it will gona long way with the membership leavers.

Re: Who should be the next PM

Rory Stewart

''Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart has said he would double the amount of foreign aid spent on fighting climate change, and revealed he wants to reform Britain's spy agencies.

The international development secretary also wants to double Britain's diplomatic budget and shift its foreign policy focus away from the Middle East and more towards Asia and Africa.''

Let's hope he doesn't get in then

Anyway, he looks too weak faced imo, the sort of bloke that shakes when he is making a sandwich.

''

Re: Who should be the next PM

Yeah spend our money on other countries while British Steel goes bust because of the EU Emissions regulations.

Thanks Rory !

Re: Who should be the next PM

Hi

British Steel did not go bust because of EU Emissions Regulations, it went bust because it was asset stripped.

Meanwhile, the man is an idiot.

We have a lot wrong , we need to be reducing Foreign Aid and using our money here in the UK.

We should also stop having delusions of power and getting involved in others proxy wars.

I think our Politicians, of both main Parties have got their priorities wrong.

Re: Who should be the next PM

It was asset stripped and went bust in the end for sure.

This goes way back to when Tata had the plant and it ended up selling it off to Greybull because of the millions of pounds owed in carbon credits. This was never paid up so ended up getting flogged off for a quid then asset stripped .

That's how I understand it.

Re: Who should be the next PM

Would that be the same Rory Stewart who, when appointed as Prisons Minister last year promised to halve the prison population - he has about two months of his time limit to go. Perhaps he too should stand in the dock with Johnson.

Re: Who should be the next PM

I am pretty sure Rory Stuart never 'promised to halve the prison population' I have heard many interviews with him and what he actually said was reduce drugs and violence .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45214414

This demonstrates how easy it is to twist someone's words to put ones own spin on them .

Re: Who should be the next PM

Out of that list theres only one is a decent possibility...'Demonic' Raab !

Please gawd not Micheal Gove, he's lied too much in the past for me.
Seriously esther McVay ! No way ! Or Andrea Leadsom.
The rest are not worth mentioning, Imo.

Glad Boris-hasnt got a clue- the waster, johnson isnt included ! Wot an idiot !