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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive for virus

36 Comments
By JILL LAWLESS and PAN PYLAS

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36 Comments
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I can’t stand his politics, lies and ‘comical’ circus act shows for the cameras.

That said, get well soon. Wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

I'd like to take the news of Charles and Boris at face value, but with all the disinformation and fake news around it's not easy. Testing kits are not available in sufficient numbers for the general public so there has been some backlash in the UK against their availability for those "more equal than others. A "negative" result would perhaps tend to produce less sympathy for such privileged personages. If these reports are really true we can wish them a speedy recovery, but the fact remains that Johnson has shown beyond all doubt that he's a very bad fit for his job as PM., the Tweedle-Dee to America's Tweedle-Dumb.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

So glad we have Boris in charge as opposed to that snivelling snake Corbyn. Get well soon Boris! You're doing a great job!

-6 ( +10 / -16 )

Now Matt Hancock too.

You couldn't make this up.

Just let the Queen take over from all the muppets.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

You're doing a great job!

Nope. The ‘herd immunity’ idea was shot down and time was lost. He was also sending out mixed messages which he later had to clarify.

Remember, this is the man who said in the past that the hero of Jaws was the mayor who wanted to keep the beaches open after a Great White ate a citizen.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Now Matt Hancock too.

Absolute circus.

Just let the Queen take over

Put Phillip in charge. Get him on the phone to sweet talk foreigners into asking for assistance.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Put Phillip in charge. Get him on the phone to sweet talk foreigners into asking for assistance.

Ha, I'd pay to watch that.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He looks to be a bit out of Shape - though I would imagine he has the benefit of a good Medical care plan, so perhaps his chances of pulling through this are pretty good (assuming he really does have it...).

I wonder if the Government action towards the rest of the UK community will change as a result of this ?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

At the very least he had been able to change his mind re herd immunity theory.

Too late but still better than never.

If only he could make his oversea friend change his mind would be his legacy.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) has it too. Westminster has become a cluster! Are they both sick because Matt touched his Johnson and Boris did a Hancock shuffle?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

@Zichi, debatable that BJ is actually the deputy as Cummings is running the show. Cummings who ran out of the back of No 10 just after the announcement that BJ has it. Probably trying to avoid the responsibility of self-isolating, he has a govt and country to run (Down)!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

You would think the prime minister and prince of England would be protected and away from carriers of a virus originating from an animal market in deep China.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

I have to admit I've always had a bit of a blind spot about Boris. I still see him as a a clearly intelligent and well-meaning yet bumbling posh boy who was quite a laugh on 'Have I got News For You' and at the Beijing Olympics. And I know he has said and done a lot of awful things but I still think there is a half-decent leader in there.

That said, I'm willing to have my mind changed.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Get well soon, sir.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Sick with mild symptoms Boris have a big chance to come back with immunity.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Politicians, because of all the p2p meetings and handshakes are by definition a high-risk group. Boris, seeing how young he is, is not in a high-risk group. Now the American politican scene is interesting, with Trump, while healthy, at 72, and his planned opponents pushing 80...

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

At the very least he had been able to change his mind re herd immunity theory.

Herd immunity as a concept is a fact. Now, how you want to adress it in policy making is a different thing.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Life is strange. Just 4 years ago Johnson was mayor of London, not really well known outside of Britain, and pushing for a seemingly long shot exit from the European Union for his country via a national referendum movement called Brexit.

Now Britain is not in the EU anymore, and Johnson is prime minister and afflicted by a deadly virus. The sequence of events leading up this man's current predicament couldn't be made up. His girlfriend is pregnant, so for the sake of himself and his future child I hope he recovers fully and quickly.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

“I’ve taken a test, that’s come out positive so I am working from home, I am self-isolating, and that’s entirely the right thing to do," he said in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

That is the right thing to do. We are all in danger of the possibility infection. Some people still have to go work. There are still jobs that can not be done from home. It's unfortunate that Johnson has joined the growing list of infected, but there is a very good chance that he will survive. It's also unfortunate that some people still chose politics, and hatred, over the public welfare.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

I wouldn't wish this on anybody. Obviously it gets reported as he he head of the UK Government. I wish him well as I would wish Jeremy Corbyn (who I despise) and @smithinjapan (who I despise) well if they contracted this Virus

@zichi - Once again your knowledge of UK government is lacking. The Conservative Party never has an 'official' deputy leader unlike the Labour Party (who votes for one) who would clearly be your choice for government. And before you go blaming the Tory Government for everything please go back and have a good look at what state the UK was in 2010 when they took over.

Deputy Leaders are 'de-facto' in the Tory Party. It has been made well known that Dominic Raab will take over BJ's duties should be become incapacitated.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

And before you go blaming the Tory Government for everything please go back and have a good look at what state the UK was in 2010 when they took over.

The Tory party didn’t take over in 2010 - a coalition government took over.

As you seem to be positioning yourself as an authority on this, it might be worth remembering that the Tories were pushing for deeper financial deregulation which contributed to the 2008 crash.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Indeed it was a Coalition, but with a Conservative Chancellor and all of the other 'Great Offices' taken up by Tories. Nick Clegg was a nominal Deputy Prime Minister. And the Coalition only lasted it long as is it because the numpty Social Democrats wanted a 5 year Fixed Parliament Act. The country saw through that at the first possible opportunity in 2015

Its irrelevant that the Tory party of the day pushed for greater deregulation in 2008 as they were not and had no chance of coming to power at the time and it would no longer be a policy as it would it not be by a great many people who supported it at the time. Corbyn's communists wanted Nationalisation last year?? Return to the past? We learn from our mistakes. We will always make mistakes.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Its irrelevant that the Tory party of the day pushed for greater deregulation in 2008 as they were not and had no chance of coming to power at the time 

You were attacking the Labour Party for the mess left in 2010. The Tories wanted deeper financial deregulation which would have probably made the impact of 2008 even more disastrous.

I don’t see how that’s irrelevant considering you are the one who brought up the 2010 election in the first place.

Corbyn's communists wanted Nationalisation last year??

A bit hysterical. Who are Corbyn’s communists? People who voted Labour? What industries did they want to nationalise? If you are talking about the rail system, many on the right want it renationalised. Privatization of British Rail was a disaster.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Corbyn's communists wanted Nationalisation last year??

Corbyn isn't a communist. Who are you, editor of the Daily Heil? My aged parent voted Labour because she supported renationalisation of the railways, as did many people right across the political spectrum. Corbyn's toast, thanks to several years of a vicious smear campaign, and the Tories are still kicking his corpse? Meh.

The destruction of the country by the conservatives dates back to the Thatcher years.

Yep.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

My aged parent voted Labour because she supported renationalisation of the railways, as did many people right across the political spectrum.

According to YouGov, it’s 60% of the population as a whole.

Three-fifths of the country are commies...

Peter Hitchens leading the revolution.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Peter Hitchens leading the revolution.

We're doomed.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@zichi:

De Facto. Again please research properly. Not voted into the position by the PPP or Party members, Conservative Leaders appoint a DPM at their discretion.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Alfie Noakes: With all respect to your aged parents and those others who voted for the nations railways to be renationalised , there were many other far more important issues than that on the table hence the Tory Landslide. Corbyn didn't need to be smeared, he bought in on himself as a relic from the dark days of the Michael Foot led party which was transformed initially by John Smith and led to power by Tony Blair which I'm sure YOU were quite happy with at the time. Labour were responsible for some of the most damaging long term damage to the economy WAY before 2008. Shall we just start with Gordon Brown flogging half of our Gold Reserves at a downright silly price.

Destruction of the country by Thatcher? You lot make me laugh. For all her faults, the country was bankrupt, cap in hand to the IMF, controlled by the Unions, a laughing stock on the world stage and was becoming a filthy repugnant society before she came to power. Harsh measures were required and some were, I agree, quite distasteful.

Also, for the record, I refuse to even click on a link from the Daily Mail. Scaremongering, gossiping rubbish.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Alfie Noakes: With all respect to your aged parents and those others who voted for the nations railways to be renationalised , there were many other far more important issues than that on the table hence the Tory Landslide. 

You are doing it again. You brought up the 2010 election and then dismissed discussion about it as irrelevant when pressed on it.

Then you highlighted nationalisation as a reason Corbyn was unelectable, and then when shown this was not a minority view, you then shift to ‘more important’ issues.

This is the nailing jelly to a wall situation. You were splitting hairs with zichi when he shot your inaccurate statement down.

Very slippery.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

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