And so it came to pass: alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson personally fronted yesterday afternoon’s Downing Street media briefing, directly addressed the Cummings affair, declared that his chief polecat had done nothing wrong, and declared the matter closed. By this gesture, he believed he would end the speculation, head off further damaging enquiries. But his belief was unable to overcome reality.
Many in the media were aghast: millions of Britons had obeyed the lockdown rules, even to being unable to see friends, relations and family for months. Tens of thousands had been unable to say goodbye to those who had passed in the meantime, with attendances at funeral services curtailed to a bare minimum. Cummings had flagrantly broken those rules and he had got away with it. It was classic “
do as we say, not as we do”.
And while the tone-deafness has extended to some of the right-wing press, the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker have taken one look at their falling circulation figures, seen the growing anger among all those law-abiding Brits they claim to represent, and have broken ranks, with the
Daily Mail mounting a spectacular exhibition of front page dissent.
“
As Boris brazenly backs No 10 Svengali who flouted PM’s own strict lockdown rules, the question the whole country is asking … WHAT PLANET ARE THEY ON?” thundered the headline, accompanied by that rarest if sightings, a front page
Daily Mail Comment, which puts Bozo The Clown straight about what the curtain-twitching class thinks of him.
“
In the clearest way, Dominic Cummings has violated the spirit and letter of the lockdown. In doing so, he has given every selfish person a licence to play fast and loose with public health … Boris Johnson says he ‘totally gets’ how the public feel about this. Clearly, he totally doesn’t … Neither man has displayed a scintilla of contrition for this breach of trust. Do they think we are fools? … For the good of the Government, and the nation, Mr Cummings should resign. Or the Prime Minister must sack him. No ifs, no buts”. Ouch!
The accompanying article carries the imprimatur of political editor Jason Groves, and its first paragraph tells you what the
Mail wants its readers to think. “
BORIS Johnson was facing a furious Tory backlash at all levels of his party last night after he attempted to mount an extraordinary defence of Dominic Cummings”. Bozo has lost the
Mail.
Moreover, that Tory backlash is real, and growing: yesterday’s eight MPs signalling their dissent
has already doubled to 16. In addition, David Warburton is “
unconvinced” by Bozo’s defence of Polecat Dom, and Ben Bradley has concluded that Cummings made a “
bad decision”. Coming so soon after a General Election, this is not good news.
Other titles have slavishly clung to the sinking ship - hello
Telegraph,
Express,
Times and
Sun - but with more revelations already emerging, such as confirmation that Cummings went for a day out to Barnard Castle immediately after he was supposed to be self-isolating (and thus potentially spread Covid-19 around a little bit more), those titles face a stark choice: stick up for their pal, or drive away more and more readers.
Bozo and Dom tried to bend reality to their will.
Losing the Mail shows that they failed.
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2 comments:
'What planet are they on?' The one the Mail helped create. I've little or no sympathy for the paper's buyer's remorse because they always knew Johnson, let alone Cummings, was like this.
The Daily Fail has got more faces than a town clock. Nobody could mark Dom Cummings neck with a blowtorch. Our alleged PM will try and ride this out. He's probably hoping for something to come along and take the focus away from Dim Dom. With any luck that won't happen. Here's hoping.
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