I used to blog a bit. Always enjoyed it.
The world moved on and offered us Twitter – succinct if obfuscating. I thought that I could also move on with little pain and a wee bit gain. Concise-wise.
Aye weel. We definitely live in interesting times and I feel the need to pour words ‘unto the breach’ instead of just into 240 characters.
I am a Tory. More specifically, I am a Scottish Tory – happy to be both British and Scots and not convinced that I should be ashamed of being either.
I voted Remain, because I believed that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was generally a ‘good thing’ and was not, in my opinion, under any serious threat of being subsumed into an alleged EUSSR.
I accept that my side lost the 2016 referendum. That’s democracy. And I accept that Brexit should, therefore, be delivered. I also accept that, once it has been delivered, every anti -Brexiteer. including myself, has the right to try to reverse that result, democratically. What we do not have, in my opinion, is any right to pre-empt our leaving.
Moving on. I don’t care about Boris Johnson’s political beliefs, whatever they might actually be. I do care about his obvious lack of any moral compass. I do care about the repeated amoral actions of his private life. I do care about his tendency to lie and to dissemble when challenged about his conduct in so many areas. I do care about the fact that he appears to me to be shallow, ill-prepared and, to be blunt. a total shit.
He is no Churchill. He’s not even an Admiral Byng. He is, in my opinion, a total waste of space.
It follows that, as a member of the Party, I will be going to the Scottish Hustings on July 5th and calling him an utter shit to his face, if they give me the opportunity. I will then be voting for Jeremy Hunt.
Few things really anger me. I honestly do try to see where other people are coming from.
But Boris as PM of my country?
Seriously?
* ‘I was not angry’
Boadicea's Chariot 
G’day Mr Mackie, Sir –
I am no longer English nor British, and I never was Scottish; I will plead guilty, however, to being Australian and having an opinion about matters Great Britainly and Euro Unionly (and if those words do not exist, they should).
It is my belief that you have regrettably fallen into the trap of judging a book by its cover. Boris is not the buffoon he appears to be – it is a mantle put on for the stage (OK, the House of Commons) and for the bewilderment of his less able colleagues. Whatever the truth, he gets things done. They’re usually what he said he would do, and they’re usually correct and popular – why has that recently become a dirty word, I wonder? There are very few politicians who actually reach those high standards – one or two per Western country in my ever so humble opinion.
If Boris becomes PM, Brexit will happen; quickly. It should have happened three years ago after the Referendum if the UK’s system had been respected in the observance, rather than the breach. Never mind, mop up the spilled milk and move on – AS THE PEOPLE VOTED. Go Boris!
While I’m upsetting you, how about a few well chosen expletives deleted adjectives describing your Scottish pollies of both gender persuasions? I’m sure you can supply them.😎
‘aveagoodone.
Hi Bearsy
Personally, I’d go with ‘Great Britainish’ and ‘EUnionish’ when neologisming thereanent. Only a suggestion and I do, of course, respect your choices.
And you’re not upsetting me in the slightest. Reading over what I ranted last night, I realise that I did not make it clear that I may have voted voted Remain but that I am now firmly of the opinion that we must leave the EU to honour the Referendum. I reserve the right to look at the outcome, if it ever actually outcomes, and to decide, with hindsight, that it might have been a mistake.
In truth. I am not now totally convinced that it will be a mistake. The EU and their British 5th column have seriously (and serially) scunnered me with their concerted attempts to derail Brexit. I am not sure that I wish to remain a member of their gang.
You’re now going to get a ‘with respect’ for which I apologise in advance. Can’t help it – it’s just so satisfyingly British in its passive aggression.
In passing, it was also so satisfyingly British that ‘we’ blew it against Sri Lanka yesterday. It had all been going far too well and I needed an England batting collapse to reassure me that ‘we’ were still capable of hurling the odd defeat into the open maw of anticipated victory in ‘our’ time-honoured tradition. I still hope that ‘we’ will win the WC and the Ashes.
Anyhow, with respect, my problem is not just with the cover of Bojo’s magnum opus. I object to every part of its contents, from the flyleaf to the appendices. What we have seen is what we are going to get and that will. in my opinion, be shoddy, mendacious, self-serving, and duplicitous second-rate posturing. You may believe that he can deliver Brexit. I hope that you are right but I have my doubts.
Moving on, I am incapable of deleting expletives when it comes to talking about the bunch of tossers that are presently driving Caledonia (stern and wild) into the ground in every possible way.
I stopped contributing to the Chariot because preservation of the Union had become my priority and I did not feel that I had time to indulge myself in any form of diverting frippery. I was, of course, wrong and far too far up myself. For which I apologise.
I appear to be back and it feels good. And, I’m still worried about Janus.
Good morning, John, and welcome back. If I read you correctly UK politics in general is in a mess right now, probably the worst mess since the 19th century and that includes two World Wars, the General Strike, Suez, the 1975 Common Market referendum, the Brexit betrayal and even Bearsy going electric.
My tuppence worth, for what it’s worth, is that I am at best ambivalent about BoJo whereas the NSW thinks he is a clown. On the other hand I was positively hostile to the idea of Rory the Runt, ‘Joe 90’ Gove, et al getting into No 10, so perhaps Boris, like Trump, is the best on offer, sadly. However if he is not the buffoon as popularly portayed he had better sharpen up smartish before the whole shebang goes down the gurgler and we are left with a Corbyn/Sturgeon coalition taking orders from whoever replaces Drunker & Co.
As you infer, the democratic mandate of the UK electorate must first be respected and implemented before any other progress can be made.
OZ
Two weeks overseas have allowed me to escape the grim drudgery that is British politics at the moment. Alas and alack, my reprieve is coming to a rapid end.
I’m not entirely sure of BoJo. He reminds me of a more polished Trump. He can come off as erratic, but there is a calculating method to his madness. He uses shock tactics to distract his opposition, his personal life is a mess. At the same time, London was a far better place under BoJo than it was under the Newt and certainly better than it has been under Genghis. He’s had his share of gaffes, but more often than not, he’s been correct when it counts. His personal life is no worse than Keith Vaz’s, he’s far less gaffe-prone than the Cur-bin. That the Guardian/BBC/Indy hate him is enough for me to lend him a sympathetic ear.
Good to see you, Mr Mackie.
I’m equally aghast at the idea of Bojo in charge, but who else it there? In my humble opinion if he’s the supposed saviour of Brexit and the Conservative party we may have a big problem.
I don’t share your view of Boris although his serial philandering is of concern, it doesn’t seem to have thus far hindered his progress in his political career. He is intelligent, although he hides it well, he can be charming, witty and engaging. But, he is also ruthless, indecisive and frequently talks absolute rubbish.
So, not my idea of an ideal PM – he’s not up to the job. As a constituency MP he was fine, but that’s about it.
But it looks likely he will be our next leader, but what will change? The Conservatives will still be a minority, the EU will likely not change their tune, and the Commons are still likely to succeed in blocking all the options. Is he really going to deliver on his Brexit promise?
The whole shooting match of the Houses of Parliament are a total disgusting disgrace. None of the business of the country is being discussed or implemented whilst they have argued the toss for the last three years over Brexit. Boat loads of wogs on the beaches daily and sod all being done about repatriation of same. NOTHING is being done about anything!
Bojo may well come from a wealthy background but he is nothing less than a disgusting gutter snipe who can’t keep his loin cloth in place. Just like Trump.
I would like to see a re-run, successfully this time, of 1605! Perhaps we could have a BBC telethon to raise funds for ISIS to do the job? Reminds me of the 1620s when Charles I tried to raise money and kept fucking over parliament and we all know haw that ended up! One is reminded (longingly) of that Balkan country a few decades ago that dragged out their govt and festooned lamp posts up and down the street with their bodies. I think that would be a vast improvement to the Embankment and a salutary lesson for those than might wish to take their places.
God rot the lot of them!
Not my country, not really my business, but what has the personal life of “Bojo” (guano, how the British love to make up nicknames) got to do with the price of eggs in Denmark? Assuming for the sake of argument (which is to say that nobody’s complained about me yet) that I’m some kind of dreadful pervert, would that necessarily diminish in any way my intelligence or (apart from the odd bit of sheer laziness, to which I think I’m entitled in my “golden years”) my ability to get things done?
I certainly don’t intend to occupy most of my waking moments with study of Mr. Boris Johnson or of any other individual (at least those I’ve not yet sexually assaulted) but, for what little it may be worth, my take on him is that he’s far more intelligent than he wishes to let on and has, to my limited knowledge, done reasonably well at “delivering the goods” as promised. On a more personal note, I do find his approach infinitely preferable to the boasting of The Only President We’ve Got.
More to the point, in what way am I failing to understand why the British people’s vote to leave the EU has not been promptly acted upon as voted? I suppose it’s normal to question and argue about election results after the fact, but should not that be done simply to keep media types and other assorted political loudmouths occupied rather than being allowed to interfere with implementation of the election results? Or has all this nonsense to do with the machinations of the Mayfly (who has clearly outlived her normal political lifespan) and others who seek to have their own wishes outweigh the duly expressed wish of the many?
Just wondering…
If anyone but Boris is in charge of finally escaping from the EU, you can look forward to PM Farage, possibly via the ruination of the country first by Comrade Corbyn.!!
Jeremy Hunt has been described, correctly in my view, as Theresa May with better fitting trousers!!
His Churchill book was utter mince.
And, Happy New Year John.
Haw, JW.
Well played with the HNY. I know how much that must have grated against your grain, given your known aversion to carrying such greetings anywhere past the Bard Burns’ Birthday or thereby.I can only say how touched I am that you chose to make the gesture.
And a Good New Year to you in return.
FEEG: That is the main risk. The Tories are in a state of existential crisis and a few of its Westminster MPs do not seem to fully grasp this. That the Cur-bin isn’t popular is already baked in. He’s not likely to get many new voters supporting him, but some of the Tories are almost desperate to keep Conservative voters away from the polls by making themselves so repugnant that not voting at all becomes the least unpalatable option. BoJo is damaged goods, but he’s their best chance and that makes for truly grim reading. There cannot be another Theresa May, there cannot be another Tory PM whose heart is not in Brexit. If some 70pc of Tory voters want a WTO Brexit and the grassroots have become staunchly pro-World, a muddled remainer will manage only to confirm the suspicions of many that the world is irrelevant to the Tories and only the EU matters. The Whigs in the USA collapsed because of divisions over slavery, the Progressive Conservatives in Canada went from being in government to only notionally existing in one election because they were hopelessly out of their depth and out of touch.