What hope do we have of preventing illegal migrants from crossing the Channel if even the army is trafficking them?
From the BBC: Armed forces to take over Channel migrant operations
Is this not part of ‘operation red meat’? Like destroying the BBC?
Well I’m sure the voters will be active in “operation deadmeat” if he survives this …latest poll shows labour with a 13 point lead, not that polls really reflect the reality , but I bet a few Tories will be worried
It’s what the All Blacks have been famous for. Peaking between World Cups.
Labour should, by rights, have a much bigger lead right now. Tories will definitely be concerned but equally they know something about timing. If Johnson had any integrity he’d have resigned by now, but for the pretenders to his crown now might be a bit too soon to come out of the shadows.
It’s totally unfair for so many of them to put such huge pressure on Sue Gray’s report. They’re effectively saying to her that the fate of the Prime Minister is in her hands. That’s frankly an outrageous responsibility to place on a senior (but not the senior) civil servant who is reporting not just on MPs but also her colleagues (including superiors).
This should have been judge led.
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Utterly crazy that she investigates the PM, among others, writes a report which is then to be proof read and sanctioned by the PM. Johnson can then ignore it if he so chooses.
Selecting Gray is also questionable given her history on certain matters.
It stinks
It’s going to be an uphill struggle for Labour to do anything with the media in the state it’s in.
The way the Daily Mail have gone after Starmer in response to the partygate scandal is beyond shameful.
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And you think DM readers might be persuaded to vote Labour? I really doubt that.
I am not sure what the age profile is of people who buy daily newspapers but even I, shortly to enter my eighth decade, haven’t regularly bought a daily newspaper for about 20 years. I do wonder how many under 50s ever buy a newspaper.
I really doubt that newspapers have nearly as much influence on voting intentions as you think.
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It’s galling how they’re trying to bring back something that isn’t news already. I thought given the way it was being covered it was new footage that was just emerging, only to be told (I think it was the BBC) that the photo had already come out last year and it’s just being brought out again just to tar him with the same cloth.
There’s got to be a regulatory difference surely between actual journalistic outfits and political rags.
You’re discounting the readership of Mail Online. It’s shocking how many people actually read it.
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Paper print daily papers will die quite soon I suspect. Was talking to my local newsagent about this recently, the demographic is all retired / elderly and obviously dwindling. Quite surprised that magazines still exist in a seemingly big way. Great on planes but otherwise it’s all online or youtube.
Books however are precious 
@Hope.in.your.heart Newspapers class as mass marketing designed to influence the populace?
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Is there a way of knowing how many actually read it?
Quickest one I’ve found:
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With the Starmer story, it’s completely disingenuous. Suggesting that having a bottle of lager with a takeaway during a late meeting is the same as the culture of partying at Downing Street.
This kind of thing should be subject to censure from a regulator. The fact that millions of people pay to be brainwashed is staggering to me.
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Starmer’s one is equivalent to Johnson being pictured doing that remote Christmas quiz. Nothing in it. That’s why I think it’s important to acknowledge when there’s nothing in it regardless of political persuasion because otherwise you get into these ridiculous attempts at tit-for-tat where the things being compared are in no way comparable.
Most of the incidents highlighted as “parties” are quite clearly not parties or basically irrelevancies. The ones that clearly were “parties”, so far, were the Conservative HQ one, the 2 on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, and this bring your own booze event on 30 May 2020. There was that one around Christmas 2020 as well, I think, for which Stratton resigned.
The others I’ve seen referenced ought to be filed in the bin “nobody cares”.
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Was it actually remote though? I remember the reporting at the time stated that there was quite a lot of it being in-person.
Agreed, but
I disagree. The one that had Dominic Cumming and Carrie Johnson pictured in the garden was quite clearly not a work event, no matter how you try to spin it. What on earth is the spouse of the Prime Minister doing at a work event, given that she has absolutely no official role?
It doesn’t matter whether they were parties or not, the key point is that at the point of the events taking place each time, all of them were in violation of prevailing regulations.
Carrie lives there and I don’t think it’s any secret that she’s been involved in discussing policy matters. Cummings himself complained about it. It looked very much like a typical chat about work.
It’s also not true that they were all in violation of prevailing regulations as this largely depends on whether they were work-related or not, whether they were adequately socially distanced, whether they were ‘at home’ etc. I think this is why it’s important to focus in on the ones where it is much more black and white as to simply generalise that they were all in breach of regulations when that’s not the case dilutes the punch directed at the ones that definitely were.
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I think Kopstar named 4-5 parties that violated the rules, besides the Downing Street garden one. It’s a fair point. Go after the most egregious and indefensible examples, as there are plenty.
The main point is uncontested. Nobody has any stomach for politicians who put down rules for others to follow, only to not do that themselves.
Boris will be ejected in due course.
Back in the UK and back to the sound of BBC bashing.
It’s funny how the knee jerk reaction of politicians under fire is to attack the media, and in the UK, especially the BBC.
As one who has lived more than half my life outside the UK I am amazed at how under valued the BBC is by British citizens. They constantly moan that it doesn’t sufficiently support their particular political viewpoint, they fail to appreciate the unparalleled breadth of high quality content across its various channels, and they hugely underestimate the massive role it plays in generating a positive image of the country abroad.
Dissidents and political prisoners around the world always seek the BBC when they want to know what’s really happening, the quality of drama and documentaries are admired and emulated, and the coverage of niche subjects which would find no place in a profit driven service are valued worldwide.
And yet, British citizens are rushing headlong towards a privatised, dumbed down, bitesized borefest on the lines of the USA.
Think again about what you wish for. You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.
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If in the wrong hands, yes, definitely. But I see where you want to go from there, so I’ll leave this thread again… 