Boris Johnson & the media

[Beresford]

What message?......The only slight comfort, if that is the correct term, is that at Town Council level that pattern is slightly different. My ward will return a Tory candidate, the other ward a Labour candidate and there will be a selection of Greens and independents as in previous years I hope. The district council tends to the constituency makeup with 75% Cons.

Sorry to depress you, but up here (Cumbria), and North Yorkshire and Somerset, there is a government inspired drive towards unitary authorities; first consultations have just finished.
I can't see town councils, or even district councils if they are not merged, lasting much longer.

[cloughie]

Sorry to depress you, but up here (Cumbria), and North Yorkshire and Somerset, there is a government inspired drive towards unitary authorities; first consultations have just finished.
I can't see town councils, or even district councils if they are not merged, lasting much longer.

If the consultations are as one sided as they were here in Cornwall then prepare yourself for ‘unitary’ very soon. In addition the current elections are making the representation even less local with bigger wards by reducing the number of councillors by just under a quarter.

[oddoneout]

Sorry to depress you, but up here (Cumbria), and North Yorkshire and Somerset, there is a government inspired drive towards unitary authorities; first consultations have just finished.
I can't see town councils, or even district councils if they are not merged, lasting much longer.

There was a big push for that down here as well. It came as rather a shock to the powers that be I think when it fell flat on its face, there had evidently been an assumption that talk of big money suddenly appearing would be all the inducement that was needed, especially in such a con stranglehold area. Continued mutterings surface every now and then and, like the compulsory academy drive for schools, I have no doubt that further attempts will be made and might possibly "succeed" ie be forcibly imposed. At the moment the closest we've got is various joint working initiatives between some district councils within and outside the county.

[ardcarp]

Just as an illustration of what can (could?) be done by a Conservative government think on this example.
An ancient 'Royal' Borough, Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire had a population of about 80,000 with its own Town Council, Mayor and all that stuff.
Most residents were Conservatives though not radically so; there was also a significant Liberal Party minority. In 1974 the Heath government (at a stroke of the pen and with no public representation) abolished its status and made it part of Birmingham. The reason was that Birmingham had been a Labour stroghold and the 'annexation' of Sutton C. was blatant fiddling with boundaries for electoral purposes, in other words, Gerrymandering. To add insult to injury, Birmingham City Council also plundered the Mayoral regalia (quite a costly bit of bling) and the Rolls-Royce! To make matters even worse, a very large area called Sutton Park (2,400 acres) with lakes, wildlife, etc. etc. and which was much prized by SC residents who had free access to it, suddenly became part of Birmingham and was open to allcomers including their cars.

It remains an extraordinary example of a government wielding power without consent. So look out, everyone. Boris is worse than Edward Heath!

[Pulcinella]

Sorry to depress you, but up here (Cumbria), and North Yorkshire and Somerset, there is a government inspired drive towards unitary authorities; first consultations have just finished.
I can't see town councils, or even district councils if they are not merged, lasting much longer.

Indeed.
Here in York (city) there are many opposed to the idea.

[LMcD]

Yesterday's 'Times' featured photographs of Johnson and Starmer who were, respectively, apparently talking to an animal and wearing giant red boxing gloves - I'm still not really sure which more accurately reflects the current wretched state of UK politics - but then, do we really deserve any better?

[Barbirollians]

Is it all "don't care". Surely much of it is "I can't I do anything about it"? Given the existence of FPTP the ballot box isn't the solution.

We have a largely successful vaccine rollout and a generous furlough scheme largely masking the substantial job losses that are coming and the consequences of Brexit are equally masked so far unless you are a fisherman or work for Nestle.

When the endless borrowing of money stops then I expect Mr Johnson could become very unpopular very quickly.

[ardcarp]

It's a shame a Prime Minister has to rely on winning a war to be considered 'good'...e.g. Thatcher/Falklands, Johnson/Covid.

[ahinton]

It's a shame a Prime Minister has to rely on winning a war to be considered 'good'...e.g. Thatcher/Falklands, Johnson/Covid.

...except that dealing with COVID-19 is not waging a war...

[Bryn]

...except that dealing with COVID-19 is not waging a war...

And ALL the credit must go to the medics, research scientists, and, indeed, industrialists who put their noses to the grindstone and so swiftly produced a wide range of ameliorating measures for the impact of the virus. Those and, of course, the majority of the population who reacted sensibly to the need to take safety measures against the spread of the virus. I see very little kudos as being due to Johnson.

[Joseph K]

I see very little kudos as being due to Johnson.

Quite the opposite, obvs.

[french frank]

And ALL the credit must go to <…> I see very little kudos as being due to Johnson.

I can't say any kudos (at all) is due to Major Sleaze, but 'the government' (who he or she?) moved fast to ensure vaccine was available for distribution in the first place.They have been given credit for that by the electorate, apparently. [I simply report the fact: I neither do nor don't endorse it]. According to The Observer, the sleaze is beginning to make more impact as the electorate shows what short memories they have - as usual

[vinteuil]

... as the electorate shows what short memories they have - as usual

... yep, democracy innit

.

[alywin]

And ALL the credit must go to the medics, research scientists, and, indeed, industrialists who put their noses to the grindstone and so swiftly produced a wide range of ameliorating measures for the impact of the virus. Those and, of course, the majority of the population who reacted sensibly to the need to take safety measures against the spread of the virus. I see very little kudos as being due to Johnson.

And I have to assume that his continued refusal to have an enquiry into the country's initial response to the pandemic - the one thing that could have gained him some kudos - is based largely(?!) on self-interest as he doesn't want to be seen in a bad light. Heaven forbid that he should put our need to find out what wasn't done right so that we can avoid making the same mistakes a second time above that, after all ...

[oddoneout]

And I have to assume that his continued refusal to have an enquiry into the country's initial response to the pandemic - the one thing that could have gained him some kudos - is based largely(?!) on self-interest as he doesn't want to be seen in a bad light. Heaven forbid that he should put our need to find out what wasn't done right so that we can avoid making the same mistakes a second time above that, after all ...

Trouble is that the PM has never had to "learn from his mistakes" as such so sees no reason for any investigation. The fact that, contrary to his own opinion, being PM is not all about what he Boris Johnson wants, doesn't figure in any consideration. Refusing to accept responsibility in any form (except where success can be stolen from the rightful sources) is the modus operandi, not surprisingly as it has served him very well all his life.
Given what seems to be happening with any sort of official investigation these days(not being published, being undertaken to find a politically approved outcome, being judge and jury) my own view is that any "official" inquiry would be a pointless waste of time and money. Whatever mistakes have been made will not be used to inform the future, not least as they will in far too many cases involve people and interests too useful to the Party to be held accountable or otherwise inconvenienced - vide Grenfell.
As far as I can see it will be down to non-government bodies to record and investigate so far as they can so that at least the information is available outside the control of vested interests.