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meIt all comes down to a matter of personal preference. In the opening question, Conservative MP Michael Fabricant had described Keir Starmer as the kind of “flattering lawyer” the country didn’t want. It’s a shame, then, he didn’t think to mention the alternative that was offered. A narcissistic opportunistic singer, who only nods in terms of reality and has been fired at least twice for lying. After all, given the year we just had, most would elect a former director of the public prosecutor’s office. But there is no explanation for taste.
For what were generally supposed to be the last prime minister’s questions before Christmas, Starmer chose to use the session as a recap of the greatest hits. A scorecard of Boris Johnson’s year-end performance. It quickly turned into a theater of the absurd when Boris, who seemed to have made an effort to look even more chaotic than usual, once again did not answer any of the questions asked.
At one point, he even accused Starmer of trivializing the occasion; the height of the cheek given that trivialization has been Johnson’s main defense in the PMQs once he realized it was the only way to deal with a Labor leader who had his measure. If you make a joke, there is a chance that some of the more serious things will be missed. And when you’re constantly losing, anything that goes under the radar counts as a win.
Starmer began by asking whether the country had been too slow to close, given that the UK is the world’s sixth-largest economy and has suffered one of the highest death rates and deepest economic recessions. Boris tugged at his hair, a sure sign that he’s about to lie, and said that everything had turned out fine. With the help of Typhoid Dido we had still managed to fit in the Cheltenham festival and it was insignificant to argue about the possible 20,000 additional deaths.
Then Johnson went completely rebellious. “We have always followed science,” he insisted. Apart from the times it hasn’t. Most of the scientists wanted to go into lockdown before March. They also wanted a shorter closure in September. And they sure don’t want the five-day Christmas killing zone the government has put its heart into. Even stranger, Boris acted as if the two roadblocks the country has put in had nothing to do with him, and were the fault of Labor leader pamby pamby. I think Johnson is often as surprised as the rest of us that he’s actually in charge of the country.
Over and over again, Keir tried to bring Johnson back to reality, but with limited success. He got no answer on why Dominic Cummings, the man whose 50-mile round-trip to Barnard Castle that alone undermined the credibility of government public health messages, was worth a £ 40k pay increase when public sector workers were paid. freeze. Boris also could not answer why, if the new tiered system of government was working, the infection rate was increasing in three-quarters of the country. Instead, he accused the Labor leader of having no plans. Aside from the one he and the editors of the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal had endorsed.
“There is unanimous agreement that we must proceed with regulations,” Johnson said, almost exactly at the same time that the prime ministers of Scotland and Wales were suggesting that their citizens were not paying too much attention to regulations and were following considerably stricter guidelines and restrictions. blocking that they were broadcasting instead.
It could have been a tainted compromise, but you can never be sure with Boris, as for him language is a moving target. However, he said that people must exercise personal responsibility in their choices. Something that is not his strong point: his family has been trying for years to make him behave responsibly without much success. In the end, it was not entirely clear what his message was. Something like ‘Go visit your relatives but don’t go visit them’. Schrodinger Christmas. Starmer ended up citing a conservative Wellingborough bulletin that suggested it was best to use fake news and say the first thing that comes to mind. Boris’s responses throughout the session suggested that he had taken the message seriously.
A far more serious Johnson was offered at the afternoon press conference with Chris Whitty, but the message remained the same contradictory nonsense. Obey the rules but don’t obey them. Actually, the rules are only there for show, remember it was Boris who promised us that the pandemic would end by Christmas, so try not to see anyone, if possible. Once again, the prime minister appealed to his own terra incognita of personal responsibility, but somehow managed to leave the viewer with the feeling that the government had just abdicated its own.
Even as Johnson spoke, Wales was updating his Christmas orientation to the law. Yet the prime minister has so little sense of personal responsibility to himself or to the nation that he is unable to revise a promise he made last month in light of new scientific evidence. He knows what is right, but he is unable to do it. Now we have Pontius Boris. A leader who has washed his hands of difficult decisions. He had told people to have a shorter, safer “Merry Christmas” and believed his job was done. If more people died, then it was his own stupid fault. In January and February, there may well be a reckoning. Where is the flattering attorney when you need him?
