Don’t trip over the painfully obvious: Cummings’s full frontal exit with the large cardboard box was a stunt, but who was it staged to benefit? At first I thought it must have been a Cummings photo-op come-on for dastardly divulging of insider secrets damaging to the PM. But, it is important to understand that the PM and his security team control that front exit door, who uses it and precisely when due to lurking press. This begs the question, why did Johnson allow such a petty display of acrimony to taunt the Media and drive wild speculation when this was avoidable? Is the PM’s very public bust up with his Chief Adviser just a ruse to move him out of Number 10 during this critical final week of negotiations with the EU, but into an equally influential and powerful clandestine role at a remote location? Could the PMs Machiavellian puppet master still be pulling the strings in an even more sinister and secretive way while deliberately detracting from the intended breakdown of Brexit talks leading to the planned crash-out in the New Year?
“Boris Johnson accused Dominic Cummings of briefing against him and Carrie Symonds, his fiancée” is the slop the media are peddling. I certainly do not believe that such an arch chauvinist as Boris Johnson was so incensed over insults to his girlfriend that he fired a Spad who had on an earlier occasion severely damaged his own standing as PM through blatantly illegal rule breaking! Even if he took offence at certain comments, it would not override the principal concern for this ultra narcissistic PM who believes the entire universe revolves around him and sod everyone else… For Johnson women are worthless idiots, useful only for sexual gratification and PR value, to be used, abused and tossed aside on a whim for a newer model with greater assets. Only one person matters to Boris and that is Boris. So ditch that noble image of Johnson riding in on a white charger to defend Ms Symonds from the upset of nasty texts; it just would not happen because the PM doesn’t give a toss about women’s feelings, reputations or hurt.
Sarcastic tweets abound on Twitter, the brilliant team from ‘Have I Got News For You @haveigotnewsforyou’ Tweeted that, “BREAKING: As Dominic Cummings leaves No 10 with immediate effect, the government is advised to wait 14 days to make sure he’s completely gone.” A joke yes, but a huge reality concern for those of us who see this latest drama as just a fabricated ploy to deliberately distract the public from far more pressing issues like the soaring Covid death toll and the impending crash out of the EU while Cummings remains on the shadows. ‘Double Down News@DoubleDownNews; took another dig Tweeting, “BREAKING: Peston & Kuenssberg lose anonymous government source.” The ‘FDA union@FDA_union’ Tweeted, “Everything Cummings did as a special adviser was done in the Prime Minister’s name” @FDAGenSec has told @mattfrei that Johnson “can’t hide from the fact it was his policy, essentially, which was to create this toxic atmosphere’ and he must decide No.10’s approach going forward.”
In addition,’‘David Schneider@davidschneider’ Tweeted, “It wasn’t Cummings who sold the Brexit lies – Or condemned a woman to jail in Iran – Or compared Muslim women to ‘letterboxes’ – Or lied about an ‘oven ready deal’ – Or presided over the worst Covid death toll in Europe and giving billions to cronies not experts. That man’s still there.” Dr Phil Hammond @drphilhammond Tweeted, “Mr. Johnson was particularly riled by newspaper reports of Ms. Symonds being referred to by ¬Cummings loyalists by nicknames including ‘Princess nut nuts’. In other news, excess deaths in the UK are at 70,000 this year and we still don’t have a deal with the EU with a week to go.” Predictably ‘A C Grayling@acgrayling’ also focused on the imminent Brexit disaster, Tweeting, “Total UK contributions to EU since 1973: £215 billion (return value: £3.25 trillion – CBI figure of £70 billion pa X 45 years), Total expenditure on Brexit since 2016: £203 billion (return value: wreckage of economy, international pariah status, loss of rights & freedoms).”
In the Guardian Article entitled, “Boris Johnson boots out top adviser Dominic Cummings,” they tout the popular line, “Source says aide’s instant departure came after he was accused of briefing against PM. Boris Johnson has ordered Dominic Cummings to leave Downing Street with immediate effect, in a dramatic end to a tumultuous era which leaves a void at the heart of Downing Street. Cummings and his ally Lee Cain, both ardent Brexiters blamed by MPs for a macho culture and a series of communications crises, were asked to step down on Friday instead of staying in place until Christmas. Special advisers were said to be delighted by his departure.” I can well imagine they would be after Cummings created a toxic atmosphere of intimidation that was brutally punctuated by the humiliating removal of Sonja Khan marched out of Number 10 under armed police escort without even bothering to consult her boss, the then Chancellor Sajid Javid. Khan has just won a timely out-of-Court settlement for wrongful dismissal!
The Guardian report that, “The prime minister was immediately urged to appoint an MP as his permanent chief of staff to help heal deep divisions with backbenchers amid warnings that his parliamentary party risked becoming ungovernable. Sir Edward Lister, Johnson’s chief strategic adviser, would become interim chief of staff until there was a permanent appointment, No 10 said. Cummings and Cain will continue to work for Downing Street until mid-December, with one source saying Cummings would be ‘working from home for six weeks’.” So Cummings is still in a potential position of influence and probably raking in a massive salary while continuing to cause significant harm; that is so reassuring; not! They say, “The turmoil comes in the middle of a pandemic whose official UK death toll surpassed 50,000 this week, and days from a looming Brexit deal deadline.” In reality the actual death toll is far higher, but we are being deliberately distracted from these critical issues by the ‘rats in a sack’ infighting at Number 10.
Someone else who will be pleased to see the ‘Herd Nerd’ gone is Professor Ashton. In a mid October Video posted on Doubledown News Professor John Ashton called out this Tory cabal as “The Most Incompetent Government of My Lifetime.” He was the Prof. who shocked the Question Time audience with his dire predictions as he called for the UK to enter lockdown. In the video Ashton talks of recognizing early on the dangers we were facing and the steps we should start taking to halt the spread of the virus; Fiona Bruce tried to shut him up. He advised on simple measures that should have been adopted, like sanitizing computer keyboards and our smart phones; all things I ranted about in the very beginning. The Tories are now talking beyond the new late lockdown of a circuit break with the Cummings team. Ashton he was promoting that strategy shift weeks ago he said, “The circuit that needs breaking is the clique that’s running this disaster.” Professor John Ashton’s must read new Book ‘Blinded by Corona’ is out now!
Our oh so unreliable press are consistent across the board. The Guardian Article, “PM accused Dominic Cummings of briefing against him, sources claim,” is a mirror image of multiple reports. Are the public being duped into thinking Boris Johnson, yes that truly disgusting misogamist Boris Johnson, was defending the sensitivities of a lady? They say, “Boris Johnson accused Dominic Cummings of briefing against him and Carrie Symonds, his fiancée, during a tense 45-minute showdown before the adviser’s departure, according to sources.” Meticulously well briefed sources must now try to sell Johnson to the nation as a super sensitive Mr nice guy! Belatedly decisive to boot in giving the boot to the ‘bad guys: “The prime minister’s senior adviser left Downing Street with his belongings in a cardboard box on Friday evening. Lee Cain, Downing Street’s director of communications, was also told to leave.” The ‘bad guys’ and their toxic agenda are still hatching their plots, now discreetly underground to protect the rats nest.
In what is increasingly looking more and more like a confected story line the Guardian claim that, “Johnson held a meeting with Cummings and Cain to discuss their ‘general behaviour’ where he is understood to have accused his aides of briefing against him and his partner. The Prime Minister also accused the pair of destabilising the government in the midst of Brexit negotiations ahead of a crucial phase in talks in Brussels next week, the Financial Times reported.” They say, “Government sources have denied the fractious talks took place. Cummings told the Telegraph that claims the prime minister had accused him of briefing against him as ‘an invention’ and said: ‘We had a laugh together’.” They could be laughing all the way to the bank as is normal within Tory circles!
The Guardian say, “However, the tenor of Cummings’ dramatic ousting by Johnson will raise fears that the adviser may not display the discretion expected of a former aid.” They reiterate a government insider’s comments to the FT: “I won’t be surprised if there’s an explosive stunt between now and Christmas,’ and a ‘colleague of Cummings’ who had said: ‘It’s not Dom’s style just to quietly drift away’.” Are gullible members of the public being primed for a ‘dead cat’ timed to distract from the definitive culmination of futile Brexit ‘negations’ ending by preordained design with an impending crash-out without a deal? There are likely to be reports across the spectrum warning us of the catastrophic consequences of no-deal Brexit for working poor and ordinary citizens in this country. The challenge for the Tory Party is to bury all of that shockingly bad news with titbits of inconsequential fake news and what I now refer to as ‘handyfloss!’A dead cat helps Tories fulfil that goal, but Social Media and alternative News outlets help us to fight back.
The Guardian report that, “Conservative officials said Cummings and Cain would continue to be employed by No 10 until mid-December but were expected to work from home. Cummings’ ‘work from home’ project is expected to focus on Covid-19 mass testing for the next six weeks.” That is Cummings’s pet money squandering ‘moonshot’ project to launch Tory plundering into the stratosphere! One interesting observation highlighted by the Guardian bears out my own conclusion about the PM, Cummings, or both of them working in collusion, deliberately fabricating a stunt for press and TV cameras. They say, “Cummings’ theatrical exit on Friday through the No 10 black door, having formally resigned on Thursday, came despite his office being at 70 Whitehall.” We are expected to worry about what was in that cardboard box in anticipation of the next carefully contrived stunt: the ‘dead cat!’
Again we are told by the Guardian that, “Downing Street said that Cummings’ departure would not impact Brexit talks. The prime minister’s official spokesman, James Slack, insisted suggestions the government could compromise on key principles in the wake of Cummings’s decision to leave were ‘simply false’.” I do not doubt for an instant that thus really is true, because the plan from the second Boris Johnson became PM was to force the UK into a no-deal crash-out Brexit and this is the week he has to ram that bitter medicine down the throats of all those who will suffer the most, hence the need for a ‘dead cat.’ The Guardian remind us that, “Cummings was widely perceived as the mastermind behind the victorious Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum.” What they leave unsaid was that Cummings engineered the Covert 2019 Rigged Election to deliver Boris Johnson his fake ‘landslide victory.’ When will we finally challenge that vote, fully Investigate the corrupt result, delegitimize the PM and Get The Tories Out?
The Chinese whispers continue as the Guardian report that, “Sources told the Daily Telegraph that Cummings told allies that the prime minister was ‘indecisive’ and that he and Cain had to rely on Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, for leadership.” To counter such accusations, “Johnson’s allies accused Cummings of ‘trying to blame everyone but himself’.” In reality the British people are fast discovering the truth, that the blame lies fairly and squarely with the Tory Party resulting from their obsession with absolute power and excessive personal wealth.
In the Guardian Article entitled, “The going of Cummings seems not to be the triumph he expected,” Archie Bland elaborates on Dominic Cummings’s unattained goals saying, “The PM’s top adviser eyed a government transformation, but what will be the legacy of his ‘brutal’ reign?” He points out that, “The usual maxim for political advisers is a simple one: you go when you become the story. For Dominic Cummings, inevitably, the rules are a little different. During the Barnard Castle affair, in the face of popular disgust and days of disastrous headlines, he clung on to his job. Until Friday night, that is. Now somebody else will become Boris Johnson’s best known adviser.” It was a dangerously unhealthy situation as the general public have become thoroughly convinced that this unelected Chief Advisor had become more powerful than the Prime Minister and was essentially dictating policy to him.
Bland reports that, “Uncharacteristically for Downing Street press briefings, the source for this news had a name. ‘My position hasn’t changed since my January blog,’ Cummings told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Thursday night, referring to the lengthy online post in which he said that he intended to be ‘largely redundant’ within a year. But while his leaving may technically adhere to that declaration, it could hardly be said to follow its spirit. The condition of his redundancy, as he explained it then, was nothing less than a transformation in how Downing Street works, a revolutionary replacement of stuffed shirts and mandarins with ‘weirdos and misfits’. That change would simply free him up to focus on the decisions that lay within his ‘circle of competence’, not quit altogether. Instead, coronavirus happened. And the inciting incident for Cummings’ exit appears to be not his own triumph – but the arrival of a new press secretary.” Well that is what we are all expected to believe anyway.
Bland quotes, “He’s nowhere near done,” said Jill Rutter, senior fellow at the Institute of Government. “Yes, he’s chopped off the heads of quite a few civil servants, but he’s replaced them with fairly conventional people, by and large. And if you want to be a serious government reformer, you don’t go after a year. Even if you’ve planted the seeds, you don’t know if anybody else is going to water them.’ Those who are sceptical that Cummings was ready to go point to the fact that he only took up his place in a grandly titled ‘mission control’ centre in the Cabinet Office in September. ‘It hardly seems plausible to suggest that the aim was to set up the office and barely sit in it,’ one former minister said. Many backbenchers are pleased to see Cummings leave – with the 1922 Committee vice-chair Charles Walker telling the BBC: ‘There has been unhappiness about the No 10 operation for some time. Members of parliament have felt excluded from the decision-making process, and that’s no secret’.”
According to Bland that same, “former minister expressed dismay at the fact that Boris Johnson had stood by his man after the Guardian and Daily Mirror revealed in May that he had broken lockdown guidelines to visit his parents in Durham – only for Cummings to leave within six months regardless. In the aftermath of that story, confidence in the government in England plummeted, a major Lancet study found. Senior police leaders reported that those breaking lockdown would often cite Cummings when confronted by officers. ‘To think of the bridges burned and the damage done in the service of keeping this one rather brutal individual in a job, and to think that he is now leaving anyway, is just astonishing,’ the former minister said. ‘It confirms what we have known for a long time: Boris only knows what he wants to do for the next 10 minutes. There is no serious plan’.”
Other have noted that the abrasive approach Cummings has exulted in – and the accompanying lack of alliances outside of his closest circle – may have finally cost him. As the backbencher Andrew Bridgen said earlier this year: ‘They say if you want a friend in politics, get a dog – well, Cummings would kick the dog as well’.” Who will be shoved into the spotlight to diffuse this negative this negative story on Sunday morning? Will it be encouraged to fester with vague statements keeping the public guessing entil the Tories see fit to drop their ‘dead cat; distraction story? They could not accomplish this feat with a fully functional press corps of conscientious investigative journalists, but where have they gone? We need them to return and ask important questions on behalf of the public. We also need a functioning opposition offering robust criticism and demanding answers about how our public money is being squandered on lavish contracts to Tory cronies. Starmer did better this week, but he is still a sell-out and he needs to go! DO NOT MOVE ON!