There has always been a question in my mind as to where sophistry met stupidity in Jacob Rees Mogg’s answers on Brexit
Listening to him today on #R4Today I realise I have been wrong.
For all the self assurance and well modulated tones his answers are entirely stupid
As the full scale of the Brexit disaster unfolds in the midst of our Cost of Living Crisis the haunting question is how has our system of accountability failed so comprehensively as to allow this gang of incompetent outlaws to wreak the harm they do
Johnson’s government is out of touch and out of ideas. Pumping out a succession of knee jerk announcements to appease their base and their media partners. Today’s is the hit on the Civil Service
The attack on the Civil Service - apparently an across the board 10% initially implemented by freezing recruitment opportunistically with no regard for priorities- is a crude and desperate measure
Which to its promoters will serve a double edged purpose. Payback for opposition to Government’s fossilised thinking on Working From Home. The world has changed . Johnson’s govt and its property developers backers are virtually alone in their Canute like unwillingness to accept
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@ks_1968 The problem interviewers face is that if they start accepting the government’s estimation of its actions at face value they have conceded an entirely false framing. Johnson is a bad faith actor. Lied about agreement he made, won GE19 on back of it and is now poised to break law
@ks_1968 Nor does Article 16 provide for unilateral abrogation of the agreement as he claims. It provides, afair for suspension of elements subject to further negotiation and resolution.
But that’s sophistic anyhow. Because govt’s Big Bazooka is unilateral legislation
@ks_1968 And given Braverman’s advice has apparently been concocted by ‘opinion shopping’ it seems , on the face of it unlikely to survive any serious legal test
That’s before we get on to Johnson trampling all over the will of the NI people and last week’s election result
Johnson won GE19 on claim that his 'oven ready deal' would get Get Brexit Done. The deal wasn't oven ready and it manifestly hasn't got Brexit done. Other than in the specific sense we left EU
But Johnson maintained there would be no border in the Irish Sea despite the fact his deal specifically provided for one. And Brexit is not done because we are still dealing with the consequences of Johnson resiling from his own 'excellent deal'
Listening to Matt Hancock on #R4Today he sounds like a mutant Dr Pangloss where everything he does is for the absolute best , irrespective of whether in practice it achieves any of the benefits he claimed
1/
Thus ignoring Council Leaders in Trafford and Bolton who pleaded with him not to lift Local Lockdown , and reversing his decision 12 hours later ( at point Starmer sat down at end of PMQ's) becomes 'swift and decisive action'
Not muddleheaded Westminster arrogance
2/
Today Hancock is doing media round to promote Operation Moonshot ( you really couldn't make it up) using new test technologies to roll out mass testing
Wide availability of testing is unambiguously a good thing . But important strategic issue is how used and to what effect
3/
Priceless from Johnson - in answer to a question from @janemerrick23 - I have to say , in all candour to the British people, you only have to look around the world to see dire consequences of not bearing down on the virus
No need to look around the world PM
PM demonstrated throughout contradiction of being absolutely clear and highly conditional simultaneously
In ans to qu from @carldinnen on Civil Servants going back to office effectively said was convinced it was safe for them to go back to work if it was safe for them to do so
For the first time in #CovidCrisis afaik PM announced a partnership between Central and Local Government
So that makes it 5 months too late
From tomorrow LoGov gets new powers to
*Shut
*Cancel
*Ban
Speaks volumes . Sub contracting out the heavy lifting
Hasn’t it always been thus? @krishgm asks Oborne. No completely different scale and nature since Cummings and Vote Leave took up residence in No 10 . Now @bbclaurak and @Peston - Krish gets jumpy at names- and pumping out Cummings’s fake news unmediated. Not doing job as editors
Oborne really hits stride . Tells the story of how @ShippersUnbound became complicit in facilitating Cummings’s smear of Amber Rudd . Accused by an anonymous No 10 source of lying about access to legal advice