The Dominic Cummings file

[brogdale]

Fair comment there:

Really not too convinced that anyone would enjoy that sort of attention along their own street and into their front door.

 

[two sheds]

Yeh you may be right. I'm not convinced he's actually human though.

 

[Raheem]

While it's undoubtedly true that Cummings has designed the Cabinet and the path I don't buy the bit in bold. John Major had clear limitations as a leader but with the machine that is in place around all Tory party leaders, and with help from the civil service, he somehow managed to survive and even win an election.

The government still has that machine, an 80 majority, and, crucially at this point, a massive lead in the polls. Thatcher was undone because she was seen to be losing the party and the electorate. She was 14% behind Labour when ousted. Johnson has none of that problem. He can be world King (his favoured term) with or without Cummings. I'm sure he'd prefer it to be with, things would be easier. But it would not be impossible in the current situation to be without Cummings. This is not a government anywhere near falling at this point.

Therefore I'm struggling to move beyond the buried bodies theory at this point.

What makes Cummings irreplaceable is that he has seen to it that there is no-one else. In the past, there has always been a team of senior advisors in Downing Street. You could easily lose one, have the others cover the work and bring someone else in. But no-one else now has Cummings' seniority. There's no-one to stand in and no team for a replacement to fit into. If he goes, there's an almighty vacuum and ensuing chaos.

It might not be so bad if there was a Prime Minister capable of making decisions, but Johnson is never going to do the reading and listening that would require. Losing Cummings would be like losing a Prime Minister, and yet still having one.

 

[MrSki]

 

[Raheem]

No way am I going to like a post consisting only of a Mail front page. But be reassured I wanted to.

 

[The39thStep]

I think so, and I think most people will think so.

But I also don't think it has to be true in order to make sense of what has happened. Johnson allowed Cummings to basically design the Government around himself, and the consequence is that he has become a linchpin of decision making with no peers or rivals. Because Johnson has clear limitations as a leader, the result is that it is very hard to take Cummings out of the equation without risking the government becoming unable to function.

All the same, I think Cummings probably has insured himself against dismissal in the way you suggest.

I agree with some of this however Its more about designing the Government ie the Cabinet and redesigning the civil service to implement the manifesto and since February the covid response, With a whopping majority they aren't bothered about short term popularity either inside or outside the Conservative Party nor are they concerned about orthodoxy . Cummings is essential to that plan either in post or out of post over the next couple of years. Cummings isn't a leader he is an influencer , prob short term who is there to upset the applecart and make the blue sky thinking tangible. Johnson has got limitations as a leader but he's got no credible challenger All he needs is a good script and he'll deliver it.

 

[ruffneck23]

blimey , lbc is still at it , wonderfully this is not going away.


Oh Alexander, be careful what you wish for

 

[MrSki]

No way am I going to like a post consisting only of a Mail front page. But be reassured I wanted to.

Too bloody right but if Johnson has lost the Mail then he has lost.

 

[Tankus]

Who else used to give their subservient full backing before firing them a week later ?

 

[ruffneck23]

No way am I going to like a post consisting only of a Mail front page. But be reassured I wanted to.

I'l like your post and by proxy like that one

 

[Steel Icarus]

Who else used to give their subservient full backing before firing them a week later ?

Every football chairman ever

 

[Roadkill]

For the second time today ... fuck me backwards.

 

[gosub]

Really not too convinced that anyone would enjoy that sort of attention along their own street and into their front door.

Sort of thing that make you instinctively drive to the other end of the country to get away from, especially if you had a kid.

 

[MrSki]

For the second time today ... fuck me backwards.

Through a hedge?

 

[Roadkill]

Through a hedge?

Steady on!

 

[keybored]

Nice to see the revival of that fine ancient tradition, the London Mob.

Would have been better were it not for the price of tomatoes in Islington.

 

[phillm]

Really not too convinced that anyone would enjoy that sort of attention along their own street and into their front door.

Yeah karma's shit for shits so I've heard.

 

[ska invita]

Too bloody right but if Johnson has lost the Mail then he has lost.

lost....in 4 years time?

 

[phillm]

Too bloody right but if Johnson has lost the Mail then he has lost.

Gove will no doubt be on manoeuvres sharpening his loyalty daggers with Sarah Vine ready with a sorrowful 800 word obit.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Obviously not going to give any credit or praise to the Mail, but cunts turning on cunts can often be good sport, at least.

 

[MrSki]

lost....in 4 years time?

Sooner than that. If the hate mail is on his tail then he is fucked.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Gove will no doubt be on manoeuvres sharpening his loyalty daggers with Sarah Vine ready with a sorrowful 800 word obit.

Plus ça change

 

[phillm]

Fuck me I thought I would have a look around to see if there was any other story and I dropped by the vegan thread. Blood on the walls there which is ironic given the topic.

 

[tommers]

When my daughter and her boyfriend went to New York a couple of years ago, they encountered a guy in their hotel who insisted she was an actress from an American TV show, I have to admit there is some resemblance but it wouldn't fool anyone who might actually know either of them (like me) for a second. But apparently the guy just wouldn't believe my daughter that she wasn't who he thought she was.
Unless Mr Lees actually knows Cummings and knows him well (and perhaps he does maybe he used to be Dom's teacher and always thought he was a little shit) then his eyewitness sighting isn't worth anything. Cummings car on the other hand is a different matter altogether, Cars are uniquely identifiable if you can read the number plate. If the Plod can find CCTV or dashcam footage with Cummings car on it then the cunt is as they say "Bang to rights"

He noted down the licence plate, confirmed it online (not quite sure how).

 

[Lord Camomile]

Still got The Sun

 

[Roadkill]

Still got The Sun

View attachment 214521

Victoria Newton is going to get splinters in her arse, methinks.

 

[Raheem]

lost....in 4 years time?

It's a bit early to call an election, true, but I do think what we are seeing is long-term damage. A lot worse than Brown's hot mic thing, for instance.

 

[two sheds]

It's a bit early to call an election, true, but I do think what we are seeing is long-term damage. A lot worse that Brown's hot mic thing, for instance.

vs. Kinnock falling over at the seaside?

 

[phillm]

He noted down the licence plate, confirmed it online (not quite sure how).

Sound like he could be an annoying neighbour on another context - leaving notes on how you park your car or some such.

 

[Raheem]

vs. Kinnock falling over at the seaside?

Might even top Milliband's sarnie.