General Chat

What does the RC Church of Ireland and Johnson's coterie have in common?
Losing what they hold most dear.

https://tinyurl.com/y73a9csr

Hit the nail on the head - very eloquently.

I wish I'd read this before I spouted on another thread a few minutes ago. (The What Happened ... thread)

Well written, Fintan.

Thank you Rollo. I,ve had trouble downloading the link to my IPad but have now read it. It certainly resonates with me.

The capacity of extremely clever people to be exceptionally stupid sometimes continues to be regularly demonstrated in the media.

Oh boy, you're right there, Dermot.

It did not sit easy with me yesterday when BJ patted us on the head like good children and said how well we'd done so far and we can get through this by obeying the rules. Grossly hypocritical is what I thought.

To add to the burden of the yes men in government whose job until a very short while ago was to keep BJ sweet, up popped another dilemma - the problem of rule breakers. Quick smart it was decided by government that BJ's mate was not a rule breaker but, batting away a point raised by a clergyman, it was decided that those who had incurred fines for doing pretty much the same thing were indeed rule-breakers.

Government will, of course, always say that it is up to the Police to decide what to do about those fines - and guess what - this morning the Police stand by their decision so I ask myself whether they are keeping sweet with government or (and I hope it is this) do they believe that particular rule was solid and not to be broken?

I believe there seemed to be some confusion from Durham Police on the subject of whether an officer had simply visited DC's parents' home or whether an officer had visited and spoken to someone there - not that it mattered at all but there ought not to be confusion over a simple thing like that, it doesn't sit well with officers or the general public. In such cases, I am always left wondering whether there has been any arm-twisting or whether it is simply a matter of government-speak before the facts are known.

I have a dreadful, lingering feeling that someone in our government is confusing his job specs and has taken a step too far into how regulations are enforced. I can't shake it off and I hope I'm wrong, yet ...... something about the state of Denmark .....

One ex-police chief, whose thoughts did not always align with mine, has said outright that DC broke the rules and I agree. Don't you just hate the thought that those who THINK they are the elite can break the rules as they only apply to plebs? It's just flim-flam to say that the 200+!mile trip did not break a rule but that's the way government has interpreted it, however, the trip to a town 25 miles away has no reasonable explanation for who believes anyone suffering eye problems would take such a trip? Me guv, says the man with a few too many inside him wondering whether it's safe to continue to drive home!

When journalists are annoyed, good ones dig. A short while ago, on BBC, Jenrick took his usual stance but, if he and others are alert, they will have known that a good journalist had been doing his job properly by the question put to him over refusal of a planning application, a person connected with it and the subsequent planning appeal. Keep digging!

I expect more. I expect that the government will expect more - they should not be given an easy ride. How long will this run?

Paddy McGuinness sums up the DC alibi succinctly on Tw*tter. :-D

They've all got it wrong, by the way.

It may be Lord Barnard but the place is pronounced Barnad Castle. I am surprised DC has not been correcting everyone! ;-) :-D