Boris Johnson

[aqua]

Emily Maitlis has been my most respected TV journalist/presenter for a long time.

I too wish Boris a speedy recovery, for all the same reasons as Shabbychic and Fulmar.

[Oddquine]

Have to laugh when folk go on about Nicola and the SNP being cultish...they have nothing on the cult of Boris. It is as irrational as the cult of trump in the USA. I see there is a crowdfunder been set up for £1000 to buy him a pair of Purdey sterling silver duelling cufflinks wirh a personal message saying "thank you". Thank you for exactly WHAT, I wonder...it's certainly not for being a half decent prime minister for the UK?

[aqua]

I was pleased to hear Boris is out of intensive care.

I wonder how his experience will effect his approach to his job. I hope he will take a more diligent approach to detail and stop surrounding himself with human mirrors. How about a national government at Westminster?

[Gronnuck]

I am happy that Boris is out of intensive care and on his way to recovery. I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone. I hope that his experience will help him and his colleagues reflect on his tory government’s treatment of the NHS and the fact that in 2017 they rejected a pay raise for nurses and other emergency service staff.
I also hope that this crisis will give this tory government an opportunity to re-asses Priti Patel’s value and description of ‘low-skilled’ workers. It is these workers that are at the front line in this fight to keep us all safe while the hedge fund managers cower in their mansions. Yet I fear since arrogance and hypocrisy are embedded in conservative DNA, I doubt there will be any significant change, anytime soon.

[Fulmar]

I have a bit more hope of change as outlined by Gronnuck and surely, it should now start with Boris- but have to say that most probably don't agree. Maybe though it is up to us to insist on change. I believe that the new leader of the Labour party will be saying it at every opportunity and this time, he will be listened to and the message less easily rubbished and dismissed and that can't be a bad thing.

[aqua]

It’s good that we can all agree on something for once! Well, nearly all.

Amazingly, we are discussing Boris and agreeing! This won’t last.

[Oddquine]

It’s good that we can all agree on something for once! Well, nearly all.

Amazingly, we are discussing Boris and agreeing! This won’t last.

Be fair..I#m not saying I don't want him to recover...I just don't see why he should get a better chance of recovering in an NHS hospital than any other peron in the UK with the virus gets.

[Corky Smeek]

I believe that the new leader of the Labour party will be saying it at every opportunity and this time, he will be listened to and the message less easily rubbished and dismissed and that can't be a bad thing.

I don't share your optimism re SirKS. Did you happen to view the John Pilger video I linked to in the Coronavirus thread? Labour have been almost as complicit as the Tories in the dismantling of the NHS in England according to JP. For all that I admire him he was just talking about the English NHS. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows that there are 4 distinct NHS organisations in the UK and that he just chose to talk about the biggest. Fortunately, the day to day running of the Scottish NHS is not in the hands of the Tories or Labour.

[aqua]

I don't share your optimism re SirKS. Did you happen to view the John Pilger video I linked to in the Coronavirus thread? Labour have been almost as complicit as the Tories in the dismantling of the NHS in England according to JP. For all that I admire him he was just talking about the English NHS. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows that there are 4 distinct NHS organisations in the UK and that he just chose to talk about the biggest. Fortunately, the day to day running of the Scottish NHS is not in the hands of the Tories or Labour.

Ouch! Maybe I should have watched the JP video before making my previous post. I will do so later and reconsider if necessary.

[aqua]

I have a bit more hope of change as outlined by Gronnuck and surely, it should now start with Boris- but have to say that most probably don't agree. Maybe though it is up to us to insist on change. I believe that the new leader of the Labour party will be saying it at every opportunity and this time, he will be listened to and the message less easily rubbished and dismissed and that can't be a bad thing.

As you may have picked up already, I’m a big fan of Keir Starmer. He is one of the few non-Corbynista senior Labour politicians who worked with Corbyn, stuck it out, and enhanced his reputation in the process. Neither Corbyn nor Ed Miliband had that ‘something’ that would convince voters they were potential prime ministers. Keir Starmer has the forensic lawyerly skills to pick away at Boris’s sloppy way of dealing with everything and everyone. He’s chosen a balanced team of ministers, now he has to hold Boris to account and convince the voters he can lead the country.

I wonder what his approach to Scotland will be.

[aqua]

I am happy that Boris is out of intensive care and on his way to recovery. I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone. I hope that his experience will help him and his colleagues reflect on his tory government’s treatment of the NHS and the fact that in 2017 they rejected a pay raise for nurses and other emergency service staff.
I also hope that this crisis will give this tory government an opportunity to re-asses Priti Patel’s value and description of ‘low-skilled’ workers. It is these workers that are at the front line in this fight to keep us all safe while the hedge fund managers cower in their mansions. Yet I fear since arrogance and hypocrisy are embedded in conservative DNA, I doubt there will be any significant change, anytime soon.

Priti Patel is one of the most cold hearted cabinet ministers I can recall in my lifetime. I doubt she’ll ever change.