Rayvin

Fair point, maybe that's all it is. Fucking weird line in the sand to have though, unless it's effectively because they've all got so much shit on him that he's essentially held hostage at all times.

Aye but there's no way Cummings would torpedo that now, surely. He's not going to do anything that threatens Brexit and plays into the hands of those who are bringing him low, no matter what Johnson does.

I'm starting to find it very difficult to understand Johnson on this - like we've all said for months that Cummings runs the country, but the extent to which it's true is beyond what I appreciated at the very least. Johnson literally staking his own career over this is so 'un-Johnson' that I'm starting to think that Cummings must have threatened him.

Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves here At this point it's still not clear that Cummings is going to go, let alone Johnson.

Huge success then, that press conference.

Those defending him are obsessed with the notion that other people have acted as badly with less media fury. The thing is though, I can't recall any other prominent figure who travelled whilst infected. Self isolating is a whole loads of step more serious than social distancing.

Fucks sake, that fella wants to spend 4 years supporting Corbyn Fucking relentless media negativity. And aye, it's draining indeed. Buckle up though snowflake.

I'm not sure. The thing is, if we're really honest with ourselves, the people defending Cummings aren't totally wrong here. It is a witch hunt and the target is a man who the press hate. I'm not sure it's so much about holding the government to account (where are they on the more serious issues of unnecessary deaths and general failure and incompetence?) so much as it is about them having an opportunity to stick the boot into Cummings, a man they detest. It just so happens that they're aligned with our side at the moment, principally because Johnson has totally fucked this up. The BBC were pathetic on this even yesterday, interviewing Tory after Tory, with Kuennsberg asking the gentlest questions. ITV not much better. If this heralds a new era of hounding the government properly then I think you'll get a full 180 from me on this, and I will agree with what you've said. My current view is that the Daily Mail is the entity that is making this hurt though - I don't know why they've done it, I guess they actually do believe they have some kind of moral code to uphold, fractured and distorted as it is - but they're the ones who have made this stick. I'll enjoy the moment here of being on the same side as the press, but let's not kid ourselves. Long way to go yet, and some of the worst offenders have been dragged to this point kicking and screaming.

This is my feeling also. It was good sport and has probably done some damage to Cummings as a figure of some craft and skill, but ultimately I don't think there was a killer blow in there.

So, does he survive this?

That was a superb question tbf - "even if it was the media's fault, given where we are, why not resign to save lives and draw a line under how important adherence to guidelines is?"

Tbf, was worried earlier but I'm not now. It's been a car crash from reporter 3 onwards.

I still have a bad feeling he's going to get away with this tbh.

You have more faith in the average person than I do, clearly.

This is coming across as fairly reasonable to me tbh. At least insofar as your average person is concerned.

The longer this has gone on, the more I've started wondering that. Like a final petulant act. Who knows though, the man is a lunatic.

Fuck that little worm, why call a 4pm press conference if you're going to miss the deadline. Sometimes I wonder if this is all a power trip for him - he talks like he disdains all the trappings but here he is talking in place of the PM, in the PM's garden, and making the whole country wait.

They're the last group, the right wing culture warriors basically, who haven't deserted them over this issue. And tbf, this isn't even coming from the left. It's from the centre.

Aye the press need to be brutal this time - in part because they're the ones who picked this fight. They can't let him win.

It has the feel of a series climax about it, this particular episode

I'm hoping they're still of the opinion that Cummings has full awareness of the public mood and are banking on that. It seems like too big a misstep from him for me to really believe it though. I think he's going to lean heavily on Brexit here tbh.

One of the Tories has just come out and said we're all going to be surprised by what Cummings has to say, and that we haven't listened to his side of the story... I'm actually a bit concerned now, what are they expecting to happen here? That Cummings will cut a sympathetic and tortured character who was just trying to do the best by his family? I've only ever seen him express condescension and rage. If he's capable of actual human feelings then he's more dangerous than we thought.

I'm currently living in a Tory constituency and have written to my MP. Not sure what good it will do, but I tried to sound as much like a concerned Tory voter as I possibly could, and not the rabid socialist I clearly am

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