[Boiler]

Apparently for many - Baker included - his triumphal performance at the Tuesday night meeting was the proof they needed that his "contrition" was all for show.

From the Beeb:

Senior Conservative backbencher Steve Baker accused Mr Johnson of indulging in an "orgy of adulation" and "a festival of bombast" on Tuesday, shortly after apologising to MPs for his rule-breaking.

He said the PM's "contrition had only lasted as long as it took to get out of the headmaster's study" and that he should be "long gone".

[davidjay]

No morals, no scruples, no respect for the law, no shame. He truly has reinvented the Tories in his own image.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This would be very funny, but I think it's unlikely. I think the committee will do a Robert Muller and pass it back to Parliament. And if it did find against him, Johnson would walk.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Guardian can reveal that the former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told constituents he had warned whips he would not support moves to delay the inquiry.

Boris Johnson, pictured with Hindu holymen in Ahmedabad during his trade trip to India
Boris Johnson will face Commons inquiry over whether he lied to parliament

Hunt said in an email to constituents that he found the fines issued to Johnson and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, “shocking and disappointing”. “We will also now see the privileges committee investigate whether parliament was lied to,” he wrote. “I made it clear to the government that I would not have supported any move to delay such an investigation had we been asked to. But in the end thankfully, we were not.”

Is he running? He did come second last time, albeit probably on the back of people wanting to keep Gove out.

[Youngian]

Yeh heartbreaking

[Boiler]

Had the misfortune of hearing Christopher Hope and someone from the S*n on the radio about all this.

I heard them... and I laughed like a fucking drain.

Which is not advisable when you're driving.

BTW: why is Penny Mordaunt trending? Surely not...

[Spoonman]

Christ...

Liz Truss: 6/1
Tom Tugendhat: 8/1
Jeremy Hunt: 8/1
Ben Wallace: 10/1
Penny Mordaunt: 21/2
Rishi Sunak: 12/1
Sajid Javid: 17/1
Michael Gove: 20/1
Nadhim Zahawi: 23/1
Dominic Raab: 33/1

Hunt is probably the most palatable one of that bunch, and that is terrifying.

Meanwhile Steve Baker has had a stopped clock moment.

[Andy McDandy]

Mordaunt is reasonably high profile, smart enough to have kept out of the defend big dog turd merry-go-round, and has big tits. See the Yes, Prime Minister "newspapers scene" for explanation.

[Youngian]

Penny Mogadon doesn’t even sound like she’s convincing herself. Deeply problematic given her bizarre speeches. Like telling the Biden administration they need to buck up their ideas on Brexit and get with the programme or they’ll miss out and be on the wrong side of history. Might be just the person to bolster the fantasies of middle England exceptionalism.

[Bones McCoy]

Baker referred to Ezekiel 7:3 in his speech, I note.

Which reads:

The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices

(New International Version)

In which Baker goes all Jules Winnfield*.


* A character from a violent movie m'lud. Yes he does happen to be a coloured gentleman.

[Boiler]

Baker referred to Ezekiel 7:3 in his speech, I note.

Which reads:

The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices

(New International Version)

In which Baker goes all Jules Winnfield*.


* A character from a violent movie m'lud. Yes he does happen to be a coloured gentleman.

<pedant>

...except that was Ezekiel 25:17.

</pedant>

[Bones McCoy]

That's the thing about ol' 'Zeke.

A different inspirational line for every sort of sociopath.

[davidjay]

Whether you're religious or not, it's incredible how texts that are thousands of years old can sound so modern.

[satnav]

Nice to see that he has learned his lesson from Partygate and now follows all Covid rules.

[Boiler]

Is that Jonathan Gullis between Dowden and Patel?

[Boiler]

No new fines for Johnson.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I've a horrible feeling he's coughed to the relatively innocuous one and is fighting the worse stuff.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They're still going with Keir Starmer's beer.

[Boiler]

Desperate.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

And it's working...

Stupid* sister-in-law yesterday told me 'they're all at it...'



*Reads the Mail and the Express and believes every word...