FlyTheNest

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 6:21 pm**

I think the other thing that Starmer should now - immediately, as soon as possible - be doing is to make a long clear statement about how important it is to continue to take care despite the hypocrisy of the government - that we can continue to take care of each other even if they will only ever care about taking care of their own. Time to lead.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 7:39 pm**

Oops.

Tony Gardner
‏
Verified account

@Tonygardner
Follow Follow @Tonygardner
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That’s it. Sky New reporter just confirmed the number plate seen in Barnard Castle was Cummings’ car.

6:12 PM - 24 May 2020

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:01 pm**

frog222 wrote:No TV for Shapps , but all Liveblog etc reports ....... the same !
THIS is far more important than "Will he go, or stay, or be fired ?"
The Great Heist continues ---
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Ok. Here’s my prediction. Cummings will be ceremonially sacked.

But he will carry on working for Gove behind the scenes with even less transparency & less accountability.

There is far bigger more consequential play going on here & Cummings is at the heart of it:

Carole Cadwalladr
@carolecadwalla
Why does the Cummings story matter? And what does it obscure? The real story is the huge transfer of government assets to private companies that he is overseeing under cover of a pandemic while restructuring the Cabinet Office into his & @michaelgove's private fiefdom
1/

(cJA bold)
Yes, that's my take on this brouhaha too.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:04 pm**

Lost Soul wrote:Responsibly, legally and with integrity...

So.

My mum's funeral is on Wednesday. We'll have ten minutes in a gazebo next to the crematorium.
I did not follow my instinct to drive to York to hold her hand - I said goodbye over a mobile phone on speaker...

I feel such a fool.

Bastards.

Oh, jesus, I'm sorry.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:11 pm**

Good evening, everyone.
I've been vacuuming.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:45 pm**

The 'experts' revolt !

https://twitter.com/ReicherStephen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:46 pm**

@lostsoul

Thinking about you and yours x

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 9:48 pm**

@LostSoul

So sorry to hear that. Can only imagine what you and others in your situation must be going through.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 10:01 pm**

Turning point?

Daily Mail lambasts Johnson.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 10:13 pm**

Yes, tomorrow's front page is an absolute belter

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I really can't see how he can survive this. All that public sympathy that he had when he was ill - all gone.

He might get away with it if Cummings resigns and admits that he lied to the PM.

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 11:10 pm**

frog222 wrote:22 days of dither and delay on coronavirus that cost thousands of British lives

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news ... -05sjvwv7g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I’ve got a FreeRead Times password somewhere, but I think we all know pretty well all of it ?

Here it is outside the paywall.

http://archive.vn/qbvY7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Sun 24 May, 2020 11:11 pm**

RogerOThornhill wrote:Oops.

Tony Gardner
‏
Verified account

@Tonygardner
Follow Follow @Tonygardner
More
That’s it. Sky New reporter just confirmed the number plate seen in Barnard Castle was Cummings’ car.

6:12 PM - 24 May 2020

The retired teacher and Durham Lib Dem councillors have made official complaints to the police.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 12:24 am**

Goodnight, everyone.
love,
cJA

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 9:59 am**

It's day purpleton-thrice-times-cold through the looking glass, and Weston-Super-Mare hospital has closed its wards to new arrivals because of an influx of Covid patients.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 10:36 am**

Helen-Ann Hartley
@h_ahartley
Level 1:
Integrity, trust and leadership were never there; just a driven misguided ideology of power that has total disregard for the most weak and vulnerable, and those who work to protect and care for us with relatively low pay.

The Bishop of Ripon.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 10:42 am**

Cummings' family and some of the commentariat are pushing the line that they must understand that he'd just lost his uncle. Firstly - well, in context, why does that make you any different from anybody else in all of this who did what they were told to do. Secondly, his uncle was Lord Justice Laws and he died in London. Why does that mean Cummings having to go to Durham?

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 10:57 am**

What did you think would happen?

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 11:55 am**

adam wrote:Cummings' family and some of the commentariat are pushing the line that they must understand that he'd just lost his uncle. Firstly - well, in context, why does that make you any different from anybody else in all of this who did what they were told to do. Secondly, his uncle was Lord Justice Laws and he died in London. Why does that mean Cummings having to go to Durham?

Strikingly not that many, though.

Be in no doubt - they have majorly f***ed this.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 12:46 pm**

Good morfternoon.

According to 10 Downing Street, Dominic Cummings will be making a public statement and taking questions later today (Sky TV news).

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 12:50 pm**

God, I hope he doesn't try emotion.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 1:05 pm**

PorFavor wrote:God, I hope he doesn't try emotion.

The mere thought of it makes me feel queasy.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 3:31 pm**

Dominic Cummings in the Rose Garden with the lead piping. How lovely. He's got a nice day for it.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 3:43 pm**

Joel Golby

As reviews for Barnard Castle go, “I drove 260 miles, broke a pandemic-enforced nationwide lockdown that I personally helped introduce, risked the health of my extended family, rocked the stability of my own career, and torpedoed the reputation of both myself and the actual prime minister of the United Kingdom just to go there and see the Silver Swan automaton” takes some beating. (Politics Live, Guardian)

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:16 pm**

Seriously, it’s well worth the trip in normal times, but the Bowes Museum will be closed and he’ll have seen it before. School trip if nothing else.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:30 pm**

While we wait here's my first bloom of the year, just popped open this morning.

An Oriental lily I think.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:37 pm**

Good afternoon, everyone.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:39 pm**

Sky'sGoneOut wrote:While we wait here's my first bloom of the year, just popped open this morning

An Oriental lily I think.

(cJA edit)
Beautiful. Mr citizen and I have a pair of orchids. They're both a joy.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:42 pm**

Somerset hospital closed to new patients to halt spread of coronavirus
Weston general hospital also shuts A&E department after ‘spike’ in infections
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... oronavirus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:44 pm**

adam wrote:It's day purpleton-thrice-times-cold through the looking glass, and Weston-Super-Mare hospital has closed its wards to new arrivals because of an influx of Covid patients.

I saw this. I posted the article because there's another having closed too, due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 4:53 pm**

gilsey wrote:Seriously, it’s well worth the trip in normal times, but the Bowes Museum will be closed and he’ll have seen it before. School trip if nothing else.

Apparently, the region is a good place for eye testing.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:00 pm**

All the fault of the media.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:03 pm**

PorFavor wrote:All the fault of the media.

His goading is blatant and intentional.
What are he and government up to?

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:12 pm**

One of the few bits of Cummings story that so far has remained consistent is that his wife had symptoms of Covid-19 prior to the decision to move to Durham, it's been repeated many times, so it's a bit weird that this seems to have changed with her now not suffering the classic symptoms of a temperature or persistent cough at all but was, in fact, being sick. How did all the people who have previously told this true and moving story of a family facing adversity manage to get such a basic fact wrong? Now we know his wife was being sick, the 5 hour car journey makes so much more sense, who doesn't think driving across the country when being violently ill is the best option.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:20 pm**

"My niece is expendable."

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:22 pm**

Can Mary Wakefield drive?

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:36 pm**

Hmm....I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks driving 30 miles with a 4 year old in the car when you have concerns about whether you can see properly is somewhat irresponsible and reckless. When I experienced my first ever migraine aura I was at work. Not knowing what it was, I got my husband to come pick me up rather than drive home myself in case it came back because, weirdly, I've always considered driving with impaired vision to be a bit on the dangerous side.

Edited to change danger to dangerous, which I could swear I typed. Ruddy predictive text.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:40 pm**

FFS, BBC straight into defensive mode for him.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:41 pm**

https://twitter.com/DaveRoss86/status/1 ... 2695452673

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:45 pm**

PorFavor wrote:Can Mary Wakefield drive?

I urge caution here. Let me try to explain what I mean. Let's not get sucked into his story; he'd like us doing that. He wants people attempting to make sense out of his preposterous spinning.

Is this theatre a distraction attempt covering the fact UK peoples continue dying in the hundreds daily due to COVID-19? That UK hospitals are closing due to new cases of COVID-19 occurring now?

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:45 pm**

I should clarify - I wasn't referring to my own niece (above).

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 5:53 pm**

refitman wrote:FFS, BBC straight into defensive mode for him.

GE December 2019
BBC: “If Boris Johnson gets the victory he so deserves”

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 6:04 pm**

citizenJA wrote:
PorFavor wrote:Can Mary Wakefield drive?
I urge caution here. Let me try to explain what I mean. Let's not get sucked into his story; he'd like us doing that. He wants people attempting to make sense out of his preposterous spinning.

Is this theatre a distraction attempt covering the fact UK peoples continue dying in the hundreds daily due to COVID-19? That UK hospitals are closing due to new cases of COVID-19 occurring now?

I don't get this; that's all. Cummings's actions prohibited, Johnson government ministers' support alarming, bewildering press conference given an unelected employee telling a preposterous story.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 6:07 pm**

Hands up if anyone believes he drove to a local beauty spot 30 miles away to test his eyesight.

Fuck off Cummings you utter piss taker.

This press conference has changed nothing, would he seriously have us believe that there was nobody in the entirety of London who could have left food at his door? And I notice now the story has changed about his wife's symptoms when they drove up to Durham, previously we've been led to believe she had Covid 19 symptoms but because driving someone with Coronavirus the length of England sounds realy bad he's casting doubt on that. Everything he said has been carefully massaged and managed to paint him in the best light possible and yet ultimately he's admitted to doing the very things he was accused of. His only defense is that we understand that he made a judgement that the vast majority in this country have not made, and that is to break the lockdown rules if they aren't convenient. And he did it twice.

My dad got sent home by the police for driving less of a distance than Cummings did for his eyesight test at exactly that time, there are plenty of country roads in Durham Cummings could have driven around but he just happened by sheer chance to find himself in Barnard Castle by the river? Fuck off.

There was absolutely nothing in government messages at the time about 'exercising your judgement', the message was simple, stay at home, in fact it wasn't even a message it was an instruction and no amount of quoting a poorly phrased loophole can distract from the fact Cummings disregarded his own government's instruction because it didn't suit him.

If he thinks his performance is going to get him and Johnson out of the hole they've dug for themselves then he's got another thing coming.

At the very least he should have apologised but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Arrogant prick.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 6:17 pm**

Are hospitals in your areas currently allowing new patients' admissions or are they all closed now?

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 6:48 pm**

Now waiting and hoping for Boris Johnson's next balls-up at 7pm.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 7:37 pm**

It's kinda weird that the same people who were sounding off about "taking back control" and "It's democracy innit!" seem to be so keen on defending an unelected No 10 special adviser.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 7:46 pm**

I think I might have to change my trousers after laughing so much at our bloated dissembling buffoon of a Prime Minister telling others they should 'stick to the facts'.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 7:48 pm**

That was yet another impressive appearance by the country's Deputy Dominic Cummings.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 7:59 pm**

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

david allen green@davidallengreen
Replying to @davidallengreen and @Independent

This is how you write witness statements

No normal person writes like this, only lawyers in preparing witness statements - and it is very different from Cummings' usual rambling blogging style
7:19 PM · May 25, 2020

You have to take what crumbs of victory you can and it gives me a certain amount of satisfaction to know that Dominic Cummings has spent the best part of this glorious bank holiday Monday closeted with a lawyer mapping out this sad, transparent figleaf of implausible denial.

Posted: **Mon 25 May, 2020 8:18 pm**

Sky'sGoneOut wrote:Cummings disregarded his own government's instruction because it didn't suit him.

Admirable summary, sky.

I follow someone on twitter who was sure we were being lured in, and Cummings would have some magic explanation that would make us look like fools.
I understand why they would think that, given these people are, after all, supposed to be populists and have their finger on the nation's pulse. The only reassuring thing about the whole episode is how wrong they are, Cummings quite clearly doesn't get it.

My first thought on hearing him was, hadn't he broken the rules twice before he even went to Durham? Are we supposed to believe he doesn't see Johnson from one week to the next? He said Johnson phoned him to tell him he had been diagnosed with the virus and then DC went to work the next day? Then he went home to see his wife because she had symptoms and went back to work again afterwards?
He wouldn't have needed to worry about the drive home if he hadn't gone in the first place. Taking the piss.

Has there ever been a better demonstration of Healey's first law? When you're in a hole, stop digging.

pto

FlyTheNest

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