When will this shit end?

[Homer]

It's like his position on Brexit. He could see, then he couldn't, then he could again, then he couldn't. Again.

[efcfanwirral]

21 minutes ago, Madyaker said:

That was farcical, at times I was asking myself is this actually real? These bungled press conferences are only going to make it worse! They're adding fuel to their own fire.

All I can think of is they have something huge to distract with next few days. Origin of the virus, pubs opening or vaccine good news. Something people really want 

[Crazyfool01]

16 minutes ago, Brownie30 said:

Keep emailing your MPs and tell everyone you know to do the same. The only way they get away with this is if they are able to close the case file and keep distracting the public with more. 

Where that list of contacts for mps gone ? Needs a tweet or two thousand 

[Brownie30]

4 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

Where that list of contacts for mps gone ? Needs a tweet or two thousand 

https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons 

[jparx]

Just sent the below:

Dear Ruth,

 

I hope you and your family are well during this difficult time.

I, as most of the country, have been watching the Mr Cummings saga unfold over the past few days. The initial reports certainly did not sound good, however I wanted to wait until after hearing a detailed account from Mr Cummings himself before writing to you.

Having watched Mr Cummings' press conference earlier today, and the daily press briefing from the Prime Minister, I feel compelled to write to you to voice my disgust at the government's handling of this scandal. During the incredibly well orchestrated account from Mr Cummings, I did not hear anything to make me think he was acting in a reasonable way, in line with the government guidance. The phrase "one rule for them, another rule for us" has been thrown around a lot this weekend, and Mr Cummings failed to assure me that is not the case here. A privileged, wealthy man travelled the length of the country for childcare support, when the rest of the UK population diligently followed the very clear "Stay Home" government guidelines. 

Mr Cummings' defence seems to be that his situation was exceptional, and his actions were therefore acceptable using an apparent loophole in the guidance. This is simply unacceptable. I am sure you have heard many stories of people who have struggled to care for their children while suffering with Covid-19, and many other stories of hardship and sacrifice. Assuming Mr Cummings is correct and his circumstances did warrant using this loophole in the guidelines, the question remains: why did the rest of the country sacrifice so much during similar circumstances? Why was no one else aware of this loophole? The government guidance was incredibly clear during that period, and the apparent exclusions for child safeguarding have only come to light in the aftermath of the reports on Friday evening. Indeed "safeguarding" appears to the Conservative word of the week. I must stress that I have sympathy for any parent trying to care for a child while they have Covid-19, however his actions are not acceptable. It is simply the behaviour of a member of the privileged elite, taking advantage of the rules to visit their family estate, where the rest of the population did not. This is without going in to the unbelievable, and laughable, description of Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle as some form of elaborate eyesight test. 

This is not a political issue - this is an issue of immense frustration and anger amongst the British people, and I find that the government has completely misread the mood of the nation. Reading the comment section of the Daily Mail website for example, which are usually incredibly supportive of the Conservatives, it's clear this has upset people across the political divide. We have endured an incredibly difficult period over the past 2 months, and the actions of Mr Cummings, and the sickening defence from Ministers and MPs have frankly made the situation even worse. What Mr Cummings fails to recognise in his diversionary attack on the media is that people are furious about his initial actions of driving to Durham. This is something the UK public felt unable to do in a similar situation when we all acted for the good of the community, not ourselves. The finer details of the story, some of which seem to have been admittedly incorrect in media reports, are largely irrelevant; that's what the government fails to understand. Simply by driving to Durham and claiming his actions were acceptable is the crux of the issue. Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister, the supportive MPs and Ministers are trying to gaslight the population, trying to convince us this guidance was clear all along and Mr Cummings' actions were reasonable, and I find that quite sickening from a democratic government.

I feel the longer this situation continues without strong and decisive action from the Prime Minister, the weaker Mr Johnson's position becomes, and it comprises any future public health guidelines published by the government. It begs the question: why is the Prime Minister bending over backwards to defend an advisor? If Mr Cummings has so much influence over the Prime Minister, that raises an entirely different, and more serious, set of questions.

I would appreciate if you could publicly request the resignation of Mr Cummings, or an inquiry in to his actions at the very least. It's incredibly important for MPs, particularly Conservative MPs, so show strength here and not accept these flimsy excuses from Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister, against the best interests of the country, and when we have all sacrificed so much.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this email.

[squirrelarmy]

Has anyone checked out the trip advisor reviews for Barnards Castle today? It’s certainly been a popular spot 😂

[Crazyfool01]

Spot on @jparx 

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, squirrelarmy said:

Has anyone checked out the trip advisor reviews for Barnards Castle today? It’s certainly been a popular spot 😂

This place?

[steviewevie]

Lucky enough to have a labour MP, comrades.

[stuartbert two hats]

10 minutes ago, jparx said:

Just sent the below:

Dear Ruth,

 

I hope you and your family are well during this difficult time.

I, as most of the country, have been watching the Mr Cummings saga unfold over the past few days. The initial reports certainly did not sound good, however I wanted to wait until after hearing a detailed account from Mr Cummings himself before writing to you.

Having watched Mr Cummings' press conference earlier today, and the daily press briefing from the Prime Minister, I feel compelled to write to you to voice my disgust at the government's handling of this scandal. During the incredibly well orchestrated account from Mr Cummings, I did not hear anything to make me think he was acting in a reasonable way, in line with the government guidance. The phrase "one rule for them, another rule for us" has been thrown around a lot this weekend, and Mr Cummings failed to assure me that is not the case here. A privileged, wealthy man travelled the length of the country for childcare support, when the rest of the UK population diligently followed the very clear "Stay Home" government guidelines. 

Mr Cummings' defence seems to be that his situation was exceptional, and his actions were therefore acceptable using an apparent loophole in the guidance. This is simply unacceptable. I am sure you have heard many stories of people who have struggled to care for their children while suffering with Covid-19, and many other stories of hardship and sacrifice. Assuming Mr Cummings is correct and his circumstances did warrant using this loophole in the guidelines, the question remains: why did the rest of the country sacrifice so much during similar circumstances? Why was no one else aware of this loophole? The government guidance was incredibly clear during that period, and the apparent exclusions for child safeguarding have only come to light in the aftermath of the reports on Friday evening. Indeed "safeguarding" appears to the Conservative word of the week. I must stress that I have sympathy for any parent trying to care for a child while they have Covid-19, however his actions are not acceptable. It is simply the behaviour of a member of the privileged elite, taking advantage of the rules to visit their family estate, where the rest of the population did not. This is without going in to the unbelievable, and laughable, description of Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle as some form of elaborate eyesight test. 

This is not a political issue - this is an issue of immense frustration and anger amongst the British people, and I find that the government has completely misread the mood of the nation. Reading the comment section of the Daily Mail website for example, which are usually incredibly supportive of the Conservatives, it's clear this has upset people across the political divide. We have endured an incredibly difficult period over the past 2 months, and the actions of Mr Cummings, and the sickening defence from Ministers and MPs have frankly made the situation even worse. What Mr Cummings fails to recognise in his diversionary attack on the media is that people are furious about his initial actions of driving to Durham. This is something the UK public felt unable to do in a similar situation when we all acted for the good of the community, not ourselves. The finer details of the story, some of which seem to have been admittedly incorrect in media reports, are largely irrelevant; that's what the government fails to understand. Simply by driving to Durham and claiming his actions were acceptable is the crux of the issue. Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister, the supportive MPs and Ministers are trying to gaslight the population, trying to convince us this guidance was clear all along and Mr Cummings' actions were reasonable, and I find that quite sickening from a democratic government.

I feel the longer this situation continues without strong and decisive action from the Prime Minister, the weaker Mr Johnson's position becomes, and it comprises any future public health guidelines published by the government. It begs the question: why is the Prime Minister bending over backwards to defend an advisor? If Mr Cummings has so much influence over the Prime Minister, that raises an entirely different, and more serious, set of questions.

I would appreciate if you could publicly request the resignation of Mr Cummings, or an inquiry in to his actions at the very least. It's incredibly important for MPs, particularly Conservative MPs, so show strength here and not accept these flimsy excuses from Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister, against the best interests of the country, and when we have all sacrificed so much.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this email.

Excellent stuff 👍

[Sawdusty surfer]

40 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

Where that list of contacts for mps gone ? Needs a tweet or two thousand 

Pow lives in Stoke St Mary.

Going to pop a hand written old fashioned letter through her letterbox next time I'm out on my bike, likely tomorrow.

[Homer]

8 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Lucky enough to have a labour MP, comrades.

My mate told me he has written direct to the PM twice. Apparently you can.

Doubley encouraging as he isn't even particularly  political and he used to vote tory!

[Crazyfool01]

2 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Pow lives in Stoke St Mary.

Going to pop a hand written old fashioned letter through her letterbox next time I'm out on my bike, likely tomorrow.

Does she ... might take a ride that way myself ... my walk doesn’t quite take me that far ... pm me adress if u know it ? Or house name  thanks 

[circus92]

@jparx 👍👍

Excellent letter - you have pitched that perfectly

[Zoo Music Girl]

22 minutes ago, jparx said:

Just sent the below:

Dear Ruth,

 

I hope you and your family are well during this difficult time.

I, as most of the country, have been watching the Mr Cummings saga unfold over the past few days. The initial reports certainly did not sound good, however I wanted to wait until after hearing a detailed account from Mr Cummings himself before writing to you.

Having watched Mr Cummings' press conference earlier today, and the daily press briefing from the Prime Minister, I feel compelled to write to you to voice my disgust at the government's handling of this scandal. During the incredibly well orchestrated account from Mr Cummings, I did not hear anything to make me think he was acting in a reasonable way, in line with the government guidance. The phrase "one rule for them, another rule for us" has been thrown around a lot this weekend, and Mr Cummings failed to assure me that is not the case here. A privileged, wealthy man travelled the length of the country for childcare support, when the rest of the UK population diligently followed the very clear "Stay Home" government guidelines. 

Mr Cummings' defence seems to be that his situation was exceptional, and his actions were therefore acceptable using an apparent loophole in the guidance. This is simply unacceptable. I am sure you have heard many stories of people who have struggled to care for their children while suffering with Covid-19, and many other stories of hardship and sacrifice. Assuming Mr Cummings is correct and his circumstances did warrant using this loophole in the guidelines, the question remains: why did the rest of the country sacrifice so much during similar circumstances? Why was no one else aware of this loophole? The government guidance was incredibly clear during that period, and the apparent exclusions for child safeguarding have only come to light in the aftermath of the reports on Friday evening. Indeed "safeguarding" appears to the Conservative word of the week. I must stress that I have sympathy for any parent trying to care for a child while they have Covid-19, however his actions are not acceptable. It is simply the behaviour of a member of the privileged elite, taking advantage of the rules to visit their family estate, where the rest of the population did not. This is without going in to the unbelievable, and laughable, description of Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle as some form of elaborate eyesight test. 

This is not a political issue - this is an issue of immense frustration and anger amongst the British people, and I find that the government has completely misread the mood of the nation. Reading the comment section of the Daily Mail website for example, which are usually incredibly supportive of the Conservatives, it's clear this has upset people across the political divide. We have endured an incredibly difficult period over the past 2 months, and the actions of Mr Cummings, and the sickening defence from Ministers and MPs have frankly made the situation even worse. What Mr Cummings fails to recognise in his diversionary attack on the media is that people are furious about his initial actions of driving to Durham. This is something the UK public felt unable to do in a similar situation when we all acted for the good of the community, not ourselves. The finer details of the story, some of which seem to have been admittedly incorrect in media reports, are largely irrelevant; that's what the government fails to understand. Simply by driving to Durham and claiming his actions were acceptable is the crux of the issue. Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister, the supportive MPs and Ministers are trying to gaslight the population, trying to convince us this guidance was clear all along and Mr Cummings' actions were reasonable, and I find that quite sickening from a democratic government.

I feel the longer this situation continues without strong and decisive action from the Prime Minister, the weaker Mr Johnson's position becomes, and it comprises any future public health guidelines published by the government. It begs the question: why is the Prime Minister bending over backwards to defend an advisor? If Mr Cummings has so much influence over the Prime Minister, that raises an entirely different, and more serious, set of questions.

I would appreciate if you could publicly request the resignation of Mr Cummings, or an inquiry in to his actions at the very least. It's incredibly important for MPs, particularly Conservative MPs, so show strength here and not accept these flimsy excuses from Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister, against the best interests of the country, and when we have all sacrificed so much.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this email.

Out of upvotes but this is bang on!

[DJL]

23 minutes ago, jparx said:

Just sent the below:

Dear Ruth,

 

I hope you and your family are well during this difficult time.

I, as most of the country, have been watching the Mr Cummings saga unfold over the past few days. The initial reports certainly did not sound good, however I wanted to wait until after hearing a detailed account from Mr Cummings himself before writing to you.

Having watched Mr Cummings' press conference earlier today, and the daily press briefing from the Prime Minister, I feel compelled to write to you to voice my disgust at the government's handling of this scandal. During the incredibly well orchestrated account from Mr Cummings, I did not hear anything to make me think he was acting in a reasonable way, in line with the government guidance. The phrase "one rule for them, another rule for us" has been thrown around a lot this weekend, and Mr Cummings failed to assure me that is not the case here. A privileged, wealthy man travelled the length of the country for childcare support, when the rest of the UK population diligently followed the very clear "Stay Home" government guidelines. 

Mr Cummings' defence seems to be that his situation was exceptional, and his actions were therefore acceptable using an apparent loophole in the guidance. This is simply unacceptable. I am sure you have heard many stories of people who have struggled to care for their children while suffering with Covid-19, and many other stories of hardship and sacrifice. Assuming Mr Cummings is correct and his circumstances did warrant using this loophole in the guidelines, the question remains: why did the rest of the country sacrifice so much during similar circumstances? Why was no one else aware of this loophole? The government guidance was incredibly clear during that period, and the apparent exclusions for child safeguarding have only come to light in the aftermath of the reports on Friday evening. Indeed "safeguarding" appears to the Conservative word of the week. I must stress that I have sympathy for any parent trying to care for a child while they have Covid-19, however his actions are not acceptable. It is simply the behaviour of a member of the privileged elite, taking advantage of the rules to visit their family estate, where the rest of the population did not. This is without going in to the unbelievable, and laughable, description of Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle as some form of elaborate eyesight test. 

This is not a political issue - this is an issue of immense frustration and anger amongst the British people, and I find that the government has completely misread the mood of the nation. Reading the comment section of the Daily Mail website for example, which are usually incredibly supportive of the Conservatives, it's clear this has upset people across the political divide. We have endured an incredibly difficult period over the past 2 months, and the actions of Mr Cummings, and the sickening defence from Ministers and MPs have frankly made the situation even worse. What Mr Cummings fails to recognise in his diversionary attack on the media is that people are furious about his initial actions of driving to Durham. This is something the UK public felt unable to do in a similar situation when we all acted for the good of the community, not ourselves. The finer details of the story, some of which seem to have been admittedly incorrect in media reports, are largely irrelevant; that's what the government fails to understand. Simply by driving to Durham and claiming his actions were acceptable is the crux of the issue. Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister, the supportive MPs and Ministers are trying to gaslight the population, trying to convince us this guidance was clear all along and Mr Cummings' actions were reasonable, and I find that quite sickening from a democratic government.

I feel the longer this situation continues without strong and decisive action from the Prime Minister, the weaker Mr Johnson's position becomes, and it comprises any future public health guidelines published by the government. It begs the question: why is the Prime Minister bending over backwards to defend an advisor? If Mr Cummings has so much influence over the Prime Minister, that raises an entirely different, and more serious, set of questions.

I would appreciate if you could publicly request the resignation of Mr Cummings, or an inquiry in to his actions at the very least. It's incredibly important for MPs, particularly Conservative MPs, so show strength here and not accept these flimsy excuses from Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister, against the best interests of the country, and when we have all sacrificed so much.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this email.

This is excellent, would you mind if I plagiarise it heavily, please and thank you?

[jparx]

2 minutes ago, DJL said:

This is excellent, would you mind if I plagiarise it heavily, please and thank you?

I don't mind, but I wouldn't want MPs to think they're getting spammed a similar email. I think it's best if it comes from your own voice, personally.

And thanks for the nice words everyone. We have to act on this, and I think it's particularly important to write to them now so they know this isn't over. 

[Homer]

Turns out his wife could have driven them back anyway, so the 'test drive' was pointless

[gizmoman]

4 minutes ago, Homer said:

Turns out his wife could have driven them back anyway, so the 'test drive' was pointless

The test drive was fiction, they had been in lockdown for 2 weeks and it was her birthday so they had an afternoon out, if the dummy had worn a face mask he wouldn't have been spotted.

[Rumblestripe]

There's only one winner in this...

*

County Durham Tourism (visitors should be advised neither Durham City nor Barnard Castle are near the coast)

 

*nicked from Twitter

[jparx]

[Crazyfool01]

Surely it’s quite easy for the police to track his bank card transactions ??

[paulshane]

All this just shows that politicians DO NO GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU. It doesn't matter what team you vote for, they are all in it as a career and just care about increasing their own personal wealth.

All w*nkers.

[Homer]

9 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

Surely it’s quite easy for the police to track his bank card transactions ??

If the police are investigating, go and speak to his family again. I don't reckon most 17 year old girls would be up for lying to the police.

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Homer said:

If the police are investigating, go and speak to his family again. I don't reckon most 17 year old girls would be up for lying to the police.

Can imagine he’s already got their preprepared statements ready ...