In case anyone is in any doubt just how corrupt politics is in the UK

[francovendee]

I believe there's a big story about how Boris stumbled during a speech when he lost his place in his notes. Lots of delighted opinion givers in left leaving papers saying how he's finished. It was a fluffing of his lines and not even a matter of getting the details of his brief wrong. Bad optics but not incompetence, he's got other matters to show that up.

A good few years back Abbott was on TV or radio talking about her brief in Corbyns/opposition Labour shadow cabinet. She floundered big time in a way that wasn't just bad pr image or optics but incompetence with figures that really should have been known and understood. However that was written off as right wing media bias. OK one case but back then she had quite a run of those poor understanding or control of her brief. Eventually she stopped getting put in front of the media. That's not a right wing media bias but her own party leadership benching her in favour of more competent people like Raynor.

It's one thing loosing your thread in a speech because your notes got mixed up but quite another continuing to ramble on about Peppa Pig for quarter of an hour!
Any sane man would've apologised,stopped held up his hand,sorted out his notes and then carried on with the speech as intended.
But Johnson being Johnson said the first thing that came into his head,rambled on about it and showed himself up for what he is,incompetent buffoon.
If your happy for your PM to act in such a way(which by now half the world will have seen it) you leave me lost for words other than to say.
Have you seen Nadine Dorries lastest interview:- https://youtu.be/yqwJGKjo4xk another Tory minister way out of her depth,the latest in a long line of Tory incompetents,the list is endless!

Diane Abbotts gaff has been mentioned in this thread.
For sure she'd lost the plot when being interviewed whilst she was shadow home secretary.
It's being dragged out to deflect the stupid uttering of Boris. What the CBI thought of it is anyones guess.
In Ms Abbott's defence I belive she was unwell at the time of the interview.
Just remember this buffoon has control of our army and can wage war if he chose. Really frightening prospect.
I don't see every Tory as evil but this lot certainly have a number amongst them.

[reohn2]

Diane Abbotts gaff has been mentioned in this thread.
For sure she'd lost the plot when being interviewed whilst she was shadow home secretary.
It's being dragged out to deflect the stupid uttering of Boris. What the CBI thought of it is anyones guess.
In Ms Abbott's defence I belive she was unwell at the time of the interview.
Just remember this buffoon has control of our army and can wage war if he chose. Really frightening prospect.

My bold
Diane Abbott's interview was toe curling without doubt(I wasn't aware she wasn't well at the time),but given that perspective Johnson mustn't be well ALL the time!

I don't see every Tory as evil but this lot certainly have a number amongst them.

I see the party collectively as an evil entity with it's own pocket filling self interest at the country's cost foremost in it's black heart

yes a worrying prospect and with his finger on the nuclear button

I struggle to understand how anyone can defend this creep and his party given their track record,which is a very poor one

[Bonefishblues]

Diane Abbotts gaff has been mentioned in this thread.
For sure she'd lost the plot when being interviewed whilst she was shadow home secretary.
It's being dragged out to deflect the stupid uttering of Boris. What the CBI thought of it is anyones guess.
In Ms Abbott's defence I belive she was unwell at the time of the interview.
Just remember this buffoon has control of our army and can wage war if he chose. Really frightening prospect.

My bold
Diane Abbott's interview was toe curling without doubt(I wasn't aware she wasn't well at the time),but given that perspective Johnson mustn't be well ALL the time!

I don't see every Tory as evil but this lot certainly have a number amongst them.

I see the party collectively as an evil entity with it's own pocket filling self interest at the country's cost foremost in it's black heart

yes a worrying prospect and with his finger on the nuclear button

I struggle to understand how anyone can defend this creep and his party given their track record,which is a very poor one

I watched a number of interviews she gave before her media disappearance, and I remember saying to my wife at the time that she seemed 'absent' and unable to form thoughts clearly.

[reohn2]

I watched a number of interviews she gave before her media disappearance, and I remember saying to my wife at the time that she seemed 'absent' and unable to form thoughts clearly.

Thanks,it seems to confirm she wasn't well at the time.

[Jdsk]

Corruption is different from incompetence. And structural corruption is different from individual.

We haven't seen anything like this in the UK before. And our safeguards are not holding up too well.

Jonathan

[reohn2]

Weasels do Weasely things,these sickly people have Weasels beat for Weaseliness.

[Jdsk]

Speciesism! Some of my favourite animals are weasels.

; - )

Jonathan

[reohn2]

Speciesism! Some of my favourite animals are weasels.

; - )

Jonathan

None of my favourite animals are Tories

[slowster]

A good few years back Abbott was on TV or radio talking about her brief in Corbyns/opposition Labour shadow cabinet. She floundered big time in a way that wasn't just bad pr image or optics but incompetence with figures that really should have been known and understood. However that was written off as right wing media bias. OK one case but back then she had quite a run of those poor understanding or control of her brief. Eventually she stopped getting put in front of the media. That's not a right wing media bias but her own party leadership benching her in favour of more competent people like Raynor.

I don't recall those. Can you give examples apart from the one case you have cited about getting her figures wrong?

In the absence of a reply I presume that you are unable to give any examples apart from that specific instance. I had expected that you would give that particular example. As the other posts above have indicated, she was unwell at the time. It was disclosed in the press subsequently that Diane Abbott was diabetic, having only been diagnosed with the condition something over a year previously, and the unusual circumstances of a high pressure election campaign, when she undertook multiple back to back interviews without eating sufficiently in between, resulted in her blood sugar levels getting out of control. Hence her confusion and the incorrect numbers she gave in that interview.

This was fairly well publicised afterwards, so I am slightly surprised that you evidently were not aware of it (otherwise presumably you would not have given it as your sole example of her incompetence). Maybe you are not as an astute observer and judge of politics and politicians as you seem to think.

Furthermore, Diane Abbott receives more abusive online communication than any other MP, e.g. during the last election she received ten times more abusive tweets than any other MP and nearly half of the abusive tweets directed at female MPs were directed at her. Apart from Jeremy Corbyn, the only other MP you mentioned in your first post was Jess Phillips 'putting her foot in it a lot too'. She is another MP who receives far more online abuse and even threats to her life than the vast majority of MPs.

It seems to me that you draw false equivalences using those two MPs as examples to compare against corrupt and incompetent Conservative politicians, and that you do so to justify your own bias.

I also think it is not a coincidence that you pick two MPs, both female and one black, who receive the most online abuse and threats, as your (unsubstantiated) examples of incompetence. I am not remotely suggesting that you would engage in such abuse and threats, but I am suggesting that the bias and prejudice that you demonstrate towards those two MPs is shared by those online abusers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40319561

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... g-election

https://www.politicshome.com/news/artic ... tion-runup

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... reats.html

[Bonefishblues]

That makes complete sense to me now, I hadn't seen that she'd been diagnosed as diabetic.

[reohn2]

That makes complete sense to me now, I hadn't seen that she'd been diagnosed as diabetic.

Yes it does make a lot of sense,and I thank Slowster for bringing it to our attention with such a thorough comment on her situation at the time.

I would also be interested to learn what TM thinks about it,an to offer an apology to Diane Abbott wouldn't go amiss even if she isn't a forum member and unlikely to read such an offer.

[Jdsk]

Corruption is different from incompetence. And structural corruption is different from individual.

We haven't seen anything like this in the UK before. And our safeguards are not holding up too well.

"There is more corruption and corruption risk in and around this government than any British government since 1945":
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpoli ... orruption/

A thoughtful, informed and cautious piece. With which I disagree.

Jonathan