*OPERATION SAVE BIG DOG*

The Matthew Doyle thing is proper old school Boris larks

Ha! We obviously you set up two little FT villages, Londonville and Politicsville.

Fantastic idea. The only more complete version of this Bluesky parable is you all working for the FT.

Predicting every London election result Plus: What's the tube strike ACTUALLY about?

It’s the most Bluesky thing that’s ever happened: Comment is Freed x London Centric local elections prediction collab just dropped. www.londoncentric.media/p/london-loc...

End of days Boris had that magical quality of ruining the reputation of everyone who helped him

‘Sacking brave Sir Olly was an error of judgment for which I bear full responsibility. I apologise to the House for that error. In sacking inestimable Sir Olly, nay Lord Olly, we followed due process and I am shocked, indeed furious, I was not told he did entirely the right thing all the time’

I wonder who’s going to be sacked for sacking Robbins?

In the interests of fairness, I should say that it seems the scrupulous adherence to process, confidentiality etc does not seem to apply to the same extent when discussing Mr Doyle.

The security guys must have made a note of the meeting

It’s in its own way quite clever because if he says well actually all that pressure meant we didn’t follow the process then ofc he should have been sacked

It’s an extremely good performance because it seems entirely straight batted.

Not that I think (at all) that his deliberate objective is to puncture the PM’s argument but this would be the way to do it…

…Most particularly in sacking Robbins.

The import of all of this is that not only was KS team wrong in judgement but also wrong in process…

He quite noticeably did not answer the ‘did anything new’ emerge.

OR continues to stanchly adhere to the process, not least in being scrupulous about not mentioning anything of the DV contents.

Robbins agreed and clearance was accordingly granted.

The FCDO team disagreed and thought that mitigants could be put in place.

Mandelson was a ‘borderline’ case and the vetting team ‘leaned’ towards recommending against.

There was an ‘atmosphere of pressure’ but no specific undue pressure.

The emerging irony here is that Robbins is defending his process.

Well is certainly sounds like he’s got a cast iron case for unfair dismissal.

Maybe also one for @bryce.lol

You turning into some kind of interweb oracle was not the development I was expecting

Hence presumably the plan for another interconnector with France which (helpfully) needs increasingly more power in the summer (AC).

Ok, I should have known! Other things hmmm Agamben is an obvious one but not I think Homo Sacer (too obvious for now) but maybe his Idea of Prose

Wait what I’ve missed all of this! Very best thoughts to you and a hopefully speedy recovery. As part of which you should read Kafka’s Investigations of a Dog.

The rest of it I thought was fine!

I thought the ‘opportunity missed’ framing was a little odd. The whole point of the red lines in effect to constrain what was possible. Also the idea that it’s bureaucracy rather than politics holding up the process seems largely wrong.