[Malcolm Armsteen]

John Crace lacerates Johnson.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... are_btn_tw

You can sense the growing disbelief and anger. All his life Boris Johnson has been told that he is the Special One. A person for whom all rules are there to be broken. He is a man who has consistently managed to fail upwards. Sacked from one job for lying or incompetence, he has always effortlessly moved on to a better one. Friends, family and children have only ever been collateral damage in a ruthless pursuit of an entitled ambition.

Yet now there is no hiding place. Boris has achieved his narcissistic goal of becoming prime minister and from here the only way is down. And it’s a lonely place to be because even he can’t escape the fact that he’s just not cut out for the top job. It’s not just that it’s too much like hard work and he is basically lazy: it’s that he’s not that good at it. Lame gags, bluster and Latin free association just don’t cut it.

Put simply, Boris isn’t as bright as he has come to believe he is. In fact, he’s quite dim.

The truth is that Boris is a beaten man even before he stands up to speak at the dispatch box. He knows that. Keir knows that. Worst of all, the country knows that. The shouting is all just empty, white noise. A distraction from his own limitations. And at a time of national crisis you can’t get away with putting that on the side of a bus.

[davidjay]

Some people are just like that, though. I'm sure we all know at least one person who can breeze through life doing whatever they please, getting everyone else to do their bidding and there's never any comeback, never a bad word said about them and if you should ever point out that they're less than perfect you're the one who ends up ostracised.

I think it was John O'Farrell in An Utterly Impartial History of Britain who wrote that the difference between Charles I and Charles II was charm. I argued with Parliament and ended up executed, II had a deputation of MPs confront him and invited them to share the contents of his wine cellar. Despite the absolute shitstorm he's steered us into, I have no doubt that the charming Boris Johnson will step down as PM at a time of his own choosing, with the thanks of a grateful nation ringing in his ears.

[Cyclist]

This grateful nation who'll be thanking Johnson. Would that be Russia by any chance?

[youngian]

Put simply, Boris isn’t as bright as he has come to believe he is. In fact, he’s quite dim.

I’ve always thought his lazy self-entitlement was the source of his mediocrity but Crace is right he’s not that bright.

[davidjay]

Put simply, Boris isn’t as bright as he has come to believe he is. In fact, he’s quite dim.

I’ve always thought his lazy self-entitlement was the source of his mediocrity but Crace is right he’s not that bright.

Johnson is further proof that a public school education won't necessarily make you any brighter but it instills self-confidence and a sense of entitlement that can conquer the world.

[Oblomov]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... appearance

Forgot to check for this on the relevant day but the barbs still have plenty of sting in them. And I'm reassured he also found Starmer underwhelming that day.

[Kreuzberger]

It's all too easy now. Crace is going to struggle not to have to repeat himself. There again, Johnson is so unspeakably awful that there are a fair few columns left in larder. The only question is whether either of them can keep this up for nigh on four and a half more years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ack-a-mole

[Andy McDandy]

Quick roundup of the last few days. Have a good weekend, folks!

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ose-change - Wednesday

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... l-over-tfl - Thursday, review of PMQs

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... chancellor - Thursday again