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I think your proposal is what will end up happening. Johnson has refused to commit to blocking exports of the vaccine. He's a long way from my preffered politi

I think your proposal is what will end up happening. Johnson has refused to commit to blocking exports of the vaccine. He's a long way from my preffered politician, but people who describe him as a British Trump are wrong. He is no idiot (1). He knows he's been handed a politically interesting situation and is also aware of what state the UK is in with regard to vaccine supply (one of the best in the world at this time) and what benefits some careful political manoeuvering will be able to bring in this time. Allow me some hyperbole, but the optics of 'Generous UK offers salve to unfortunate vaccine-poverty stricken EU' - whilst sickening would make for some lovely press in the right-wing tabloids and might even go a little way towards his desired 'comming together' of a divided nation. (1) Yes - Brexit was indeed idiotic but I truly believe he never actually wanted it, and it just got him his longed-for premiership by unfortunate accidental means.

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
He fumbled and stumbled into premiership- but now he's going to be capable of "some careful political manoeuvering". The man who made his career as a journalist by badmouthing the EU? I find this very unlikely.
- alibarber 6y ago
  Yes, I guess it's a bit of a push, and maybe I'm grasping at straws here. But the man is insincere in everything he does, and I'd include his badmouthing the EU in that. He'll do what he thinks is best for his vote share, and my, admittedly amateur, reading of this situation is that he might well make a trade off in that direction. Although the latest news from Northern Ireland might be rocking the boat a bit too much. We'll just have to see I guess - but these days I'll expect anything.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
    Who knows, you may be right. That would actually be the best outcome, regardless of the Comission losing face and Boris getting bragging rights.
- peteretep 6y ago
  > He fumbled and stumbled into premiership He took a razor-thin majority and turned it into a huge one. He’s PM because he ruthlessly executed a plan to become it. He won almost every brinkmanship point with the EU that he took on over the last year. He’s not who I want as PM, and I think his record is dismal, but if you think he “fumbled and stumbled” his way in then you’ve fallen for his con: he’s bright and ruthless.
  - sbuk 6y ago
    He did so against the weakest opposition, overwhelmed with infighting and a lacklustre leader, seen in a generation, campaigning solely on the notion of "Getting Brexit Done (tm)" (barely) after 4 years of MPs arguing about it. Traditional Labour seats were lost based on Brexit fence-sitting. They will revert, especially as those constituents are slowly realising that getting Brexit done meant screwing them over. Johnson's Tories didn't so much win, it was essentially a one horse race. *Edit: That said, speaking as a staunch remainer, as much as we need to accept that we can't have our cake and eat it, the EU must recognise the same. It's their own fault that they're in this position.
    - peteretep 6y ago
      > He did so against the weakest opposition, overwhelmed with infighting and a lacklustre leader All of which was also present in 2017 when May squeaked to victory > Campaigning solely on the notion of “Getting Brexit Done” which ... was effective and led to the largest landslide in 40 years. I think he’s been a crap PM but the idea that he’s not a sharp political mind with a keen sense of the political mood is insane.
      - sbuk 6y ago
        May squeaked by because hardline brexiters (Johnson/Rees-Mogg/Farage acolytes, of which there are fighteningly many) saw her a someone pandering to Brussels and remainers. She was an unpopular PM on all sides, where as Johnson is just a populist. > ...he’s not a sharp political mind with a keen sense of the political mood is insane. He's a chancer. As an example, he refused to go on the Marr Show, relenting to only to capitalise on a national tragedy so that he could wave his populist flag. You could call that 'sharp', I'd call it cowardly. His saving grace was Cummings, and with him mercifully out of the picture, we'll see the real Boris.
jariel 6y ago
I think the 'political optics' win for Johnson is going to more likely be: "We are the first major country to reach near full vaccination". Bibi in Israel is facing intense political ambiguity, and they are paying 3-4x (for the vaccines) what other countries are paying, and have apparently been doing some behind the scenes shenanigans for acquisition, I mean it's Isreal, that's what they do (no offence to those who might take it that way but they are the most realpolitik country on planet earth). They are way ahead of anyone else and I suggest this is Bibi's political salvation plan. Boris, similarly. It's a little bit conspiratorial, but wouldn't be surprised if there are some behind the scenes actions by UK gov. to make sure the UK is first. Also consider that the EU is frankly playing a losing hand and they look really bad from this. This is a major existential crisis and if China, US and UK end up with full vaccinations months ahead of the EU it's going to be very, very damaging. At minimum, the EU has to make a very big public stink about it to ensure people know/believe that the EU is doing what is possible, to mitigate the damage and possibly to be able to push the blame a little bit to others. Finally - there's nothing wrong with the UK offering the EU help, and that it would also end up being good PR. The problem with the claim is not that it's 'sickening' but rather it's frankly not a huge material PR win. It's a nice thing but it's only worth a news cycle or two. Having the UK immunized a few months ahead of the EU, irrespective of the underlying realities, is going to be something that will be remembered and analyzed for a decade. Frankly, in the end, I actually think it's far too risky for any EU/UK politicos to be playing underhanded games, the blowout would be devastating. I just think it's a matter of operational reality that the UK is doing well on this (note they are doing very poorly on infections), though I do feel EU has dropped the ball on securing vaccines from a wider base. Even Canada has put in options to purchase from a variety of sources.
- krona 6y ago
  The lorry driver carrying the vaccines from the UK would probably end up getting turned back at the French border for having ham in his sandwiches.
- kabes 6y ago
  > do feel EU has dropped the ball on securing vaccines from a wider base But the EU also bought from pfizer and moderna?

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago

He fumbled and stumbled into premiership- but now he's going to be capable of "some careful political manoeuvering". The man who made his career as a journalist by badmouthing the EU? I find this very unlikely.

alibarber 6y ago
Yes, I guess it's a bit of a push, and maybe I'm grasping at straws here. But the man is insincere in everything he does, and I'd include his badmouthing the EU in that. He'll do what he thinks is best for his vote share, and my, admittedly amateur, reading of this situation is that he might well make a trade off in that direction. Although the latest news from Northern Ireland might be rocking the boat a bit too much. We'll just have to see I guess - but these days I'll expect anything.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
  Who knows, you may be right. That would actually be the best outcome, regardless of the Comission losing face and Boris getting bragging rights.
peteretep 6y ago
> He fumbled and stumbled into premiership He took a razor-thin majority and turned it into a huge one. He’s PM because he ruthlessly executed a plan to become it. He won almost every brinkmanship point with the EU that he took on over the last year. He’s not who I want as PM, and I think his record is dismal, but if you think he “fumbled and stumbled” his way in then you’ve fallen for his con: he’s bright and ruthless.
- sbuk 6y ago
  He did so against the weakest opposition, overwhelmed with infighting and a lacklustre leader, seen in a generation, campaigning solely on the notion of "Getting Brexit Done (tm)" (barely) after 4 years of MPs arguing about it. Traditional Labour seats were lost based on Brexit fence-sitting. They will revert, especially as those constituents are slowly realising that getting Brexit done meant screwing them over. Johnson's Tories didn't so much win, it was essentially a one horse race. *Edit: That said, speaking as a staunch remainer, as much as we need to accept that we can't have our cake and eat it, the EU must recognise the same. It's their own fault that they're in this position.
  - peteretep 6y ago
    > He did so against the weakest opposition, overwhelmed with infighting and a lacklustre leader All of which was also present in 2017 when May squeaked to victory > Campaigning solely on the notion of “Getting Brexit Done” which ... was effective and led to the largest landslide in 40 years. I think he’s been a crap PM but the idea that he’s not a sharp political mind with a keen sense of the political mood is insane.
    - sbuk 6y ago
      May squeaked by because hardline brexiters (Johnson/Rees-Mogg/Farage acolytes, of which there are fighteningly many) saw her a someone pandering to Brussels and remainers. She was an unpopular PM on all sides, where as Johnson is just a populist. > ...he’s not a sharp political mind with a keen sense of the political mood is insane. He's a chancer. As an example, he refused to go on the Marr Show, relenting to only to capitalise on a national tragedy so that he could wave his populist flag. You could call that 'sharp', I'd call it cowardly. His saving grace was Cummings, and with him mercifully out of the picture, we'll see the real Boris.

jariel 6y ago

I think the 'political optics' win for Johnson is going to more likely be: "We are the first major country to reach near full vaccination". Bibi in Israel is facing intense political ambiguity, and they are paying 3-4x (for the vaccines) what other countries are paying, and have apparently been doing some behind the scenes shenanigans for acquisition, I mean it's Isreal, that's what they do (no offence to those who might take it that way but they are the most realpolitik country on planet earth). They are way ahead of anyone else and I suggest this is Bibi's political salvation plan. Boris, similarly. It's a little bit conspiratorial, but wouldn't be surprised if there are some behind the scenes actions by UK gov. to make sure the UK is first. Also consider that the EU is frankly playing a losing hand and they look really bad from this. This is a major existential crisis and if China, US and UK end up with full vaccinations months ahead of the EU it's going to be very, very damaging. At minimum, the EU has to make a very big public stink about it to ensure people know/believe that the EU is doing what is possible, to mitigate the damage and possibly to be able to push the blame a little bit to others. Finally - there's nothing wrong with the UK offering the EU help, and that it would also end up being good PR. The problem with the claim is not that it's 'sickening' but rather it's frankly not a huge material PR win. It's a nice thing but it's only worth a news cycle or two. Having the UK immunized a few months ahead of the EU, irrespective of the underlying realities, is going to be something that will be remembered and analyzed for a decade. Frankly, in the end, I actually think it's far too risky for any EU/UK politicos to be playing underhanded games, the blowout would be devastating. I just think it's a matter of operational reality that the UK is doing well on this (note they are doing very poorly on infections), though I do feel EU has dropped the ball on securing vaccines from a wider base. Even Canada has put in options to purchase from a variety of sources.

krona 6y ago
The lorry driver carrying the vaccines from the UK would probably end up getting turned back at the French border for having ham in his sandwiches.
kabes 6y ago
> do feel EU has dropped the ball on securing vaccines from a wider base But the EU also bought from pfizer and moderna?