[lambswool]

No mention of BUMSEX, mind. Fair play.

[Bones McCoy]

No mention of BUMSEX, mind. Fair play.

The Day You Pay will have no truck with Bumsax.
Or any other activities involving Beelzebub's back door.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Pob has shewn up at a vaccination station in his constituency for an apparently normal MP-on-a-Saturday photo op. So it looks like he's really on manoeuvres, and he reckons that Johnson's in real trouble.

Possibly.

[The Red Arrow]

Cummings and Gove go back a long way. Just saying.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Yup. My point exactly.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

[Boiler]

So, is this what we have to look forward to - Johnson being replaced by Gove? A Barclay lackey replaced by a Murdoch lackey?

My day just keeps getting worse

[Youngian]

Gove would be electoral suicide, surely?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Maybe not, if the alternative is a Labour government and a diminution of privilege.

[Andy McDandy]

And you know what's coming next? The right wing media poring over everything any Labour/other opposition party member does, and screaming "hypocrisy!" if they find as much as a single oversight or mistake, let alone any actual malfeasance.

This is where tribalism takes us. Everything's okay as long as you're one of us.

[Youngian]

And you know what's coming next? The right wing media poring over everything any Labour/other opposition party member does, and screaming "hypocrisy!" if they find as much as a single oversight or mistake, let alone any actual malfeasance.

That’s where opportunity knocks and leadership acumen kicks in, Labour deals with dodgy dealings swiftly while the Tories are rotting from the head downwards.

What might emerge as worse for Johnson is not looking like he’s in charge. Who’s rallied for the PM? Noticed in PMQs this week the only backbencher Johnson found to ask a toadying question was the ridiculous Philip Davis.

[Bones McCoy]

Today, the elephant man of the cabinet breaks cover to deliver a weaselly response to urgent questions.

* The PM is in charge of defining, enforcing and adjudicating breaches of the ministerial code.
* There's a "neutral" civil servant to help, but "The unfortunate event" has left this role vacant.
* Deploys the "Wenger defence+" to "Let the bodies pile high".

Oh, and some Tory MP's attempted to get the session suspended by taking off their masks.

Cunts everywhere!!!


+ I never seen/heard nuffink guv!

[Bones McCoy]

AAAnd, Pob's sorted for Toot.

[Crabcakes]

Words notably not uttered by Gove this afternoon in response to the question of whether Johnson said what it is claimed he said:
“No”

If this was a defence, it’s exactly the sort of defence that’s usually followed by the phrases “full confidence” “backing of the party” and “resignation is out of the question”…

[Boiler]

Spotted elsewhere, by a free-market Tory (because it benefits the poor, y'see):

I retain my respect for Gove as someone who can make things happen, and who has interesting ideas about the role of the state.

[Cyclist]

Shouldn't that be

..., and who will implement Cummings' interesting ideas about the role of the state.

I don't believe Michael "Punchable Face" Gove ever had an original idea in his life.

[The Red Arrow]

Fair play, his version of why his father's fish business went tits up was quite original compared to his father's.

[Samanfur]

It's not been a good week for him, has it?

Judge slams Michael Gove’s office as openDemocracy wins transparency court case

OpenDemocracy has won a significant legal victory against the UK government. The judgement forces transparency on a secretive unit accused of ‘blacklisting’ Freedom of Information requests from journalists, campaigners and others.

After a three-year battle, judge Chris Hughes found that the documents the Cabinet Office presented in court about the controversial Clearing House unit were ‘misleading’. He added that there is a “profound lack of transparency about the operation”, which might “extend to ministers”.

Finding in openDemocracy’s favour, Hughes also criticised the Cabinet Office for a “lacuna in public information” about how the Clearing House coordinates Freedom of Information (FOI) requests referred to it by government departments and agencies.

[davidjay]

It's not been a good week for him, has it?

Judge slams Michael Gove’s office as openDemocracy wins transparency court case

OpenDemocracy has won a significant legal victory against the UK government. The judgement forces transparency on a secretive unit accused of ‘blacklisting’ Freedom of Information requests from journalists, campaigners and others.

After a three-year battle, judge Chris Hughes found that the documents the Cabinet Office presented in court about the controversial Clearing House unit were ‘misleading’. He added that there is a “profound lack of transparency about the operation”, which might “extend to ministers”.

Finding in openDemocracy’s favour, Hughes also criticised the Cabinet Office for a “lacuna in public information” about how the Clearing House coordinates Freedom of Information (FOI) requests referred to it by government departments and agencies.

Perhaps we ought to calculate how much he's earned before assessing his week. After all, it's the only thing he'll judge it on.

[Youngian]

Gove’s not having a good day, I’m pleased to report. Vine’s vortex of despair deserves closer examination.