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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/29/ruth-davidson-obvious-contempt-for-boris-johnson-leaks-out
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Ruth Davidson's obvious contempt for Boris Johnson leaks out | Ruth Davidson's obvious contempt for Boris Johnson leaks out |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| Principles and the Tory party in Westminster have now reached the point of irretrievable breakdown and are beyond the help of couples’ counselling. “Door Matt” Hancock has happily betrayed the D-day war dead. They had it coming. Amber Rudd has taken a vow of silence. Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Nicky Morgan and Andrea Leadsom have all suffered sudden-onset amnesia. | Principles and the Tory party in Westminster have now reached the point of irretrievable breakdown and are beyond the help of couples’ counselling. “Door Matt” Hancock has happily betrayed the D-day war dead. They had it coming. Amber Rudd has taken a vow of silence. Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Nicky Morgan and Andrea Leadsom have all suffered sudden-onset amnesia. |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg has taken hypocrisy to breathtaking levels by saying prorogation was necessary because parliament had blocked Brexit. After he had twice voted against Theresa May’s deal. Still, his chum had done very well out of shorting the pound. | Jacob Rees-Mogg has taken hypocrisy to breathtaking levels by saying prorogation was necessary because parliament had blocked Brexit. After he had twice voted against Theresa May’s deal. Still, his chum had done very well out of shorting the pound. |
| But in Edinburgh there was the more than a hint of conscience as Ruth Davidson resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. With a clipped delivery, trying though not always managing to keep her emotions in check, Davidson explained her departure in a brief 10-minute press conference. | |
| Politics had taken a huge toll on her personal life during the last eight years. She had been a bad daughter, partner and friend. Now she had a baby son, enough was enough. The implication being that it was a shame Boris Johnson’s family had unilaterally decided it didn’t want to spend more time with him. | Politics had taken a huge toll on her personal life during the last eight years. She had been a bad daughter, partner and friend. Now she had a baby son, enough was enough. The implication being that it was a shame Boris Johnson’s family had unilaterally decided it didn’t want to spend more time with him. |
| Not that the prime minister’s name was ever mentioned in her opening statement. Rather she let her obvious contempt leak out as a stream of consciousness subtext. She was proud of what she had achieved both in the Scottish independence referendum and in getting 13 Tory MPs elected to Westminster in 2017. But that was now all as good as trashed. First by David Cameron’s recklessness in calling the EU referendum and now by Johnson’s enthusiasm for a no-deal Brexit. The Union was now in greater danger than at any time and the Scottish Tories would be wiped out in a general election. Thanks for nothing, chaps. | Not that the prime minister’s name was ever mentioned in her opening statement. Rather she let her obvious contempt leak out as a stream of consciousness subtext. She was proud of what she had achieved both in the Scottish independence referendum and in getting 13 Tory MPs elected to Westminster in 2017. But that was now all as good as trashed. First by David Cameron’s recklessness in calling the EU referendum and now by Johnson’s enthusiasm for a no-deal Brexit. The Union was now in greater danger than at any time and the Scottish Tories would be wiped out in a general election. Thanks for nothing, chaps. |
| Davidson had done her best to mitigate the effects of Brexit – she hoped that the Scottish fishing and whisky industries would more or less survive – but right now she could no longer guarantee their protection in the face of no deal and credible threats of a general election from opponents. And the biggest opponent of all was Boris. Because no one was doing more to make sure an early election took place than him. | Davidson had done her best to mitigate the effects of Brexit – she hoped that the Scottish fishing and whisky industries would more or less survive – but right now she could no longer guarantee their protection in the face of no deal and credible threats of a general election from opponents. And the biggest opponent of all was Boris. Because no one was doing more to make sure an early election took place than him. |
| There were no warm words for the prime minister. None of the usual banalities about the country’s future being in safe hands. Because it so obviously wasn’t. Even though she’d told a fair few porkies in her time as a politician, this was too far even for her. Scotland was being screwed and the person doing the screwing was a serial shagger. | There were no warm words for the prime minister. None of the usual banalities about the country’s future being in safe hands. Because it so obviously wasn’t. Even though she’d told a fair few porkies in her time as a politician, this was too far even for her. Scotland was being screwed and the person doing the screwing was a serial shagger. |
| A man with no sense of responsibility who was hot-wired to destroy everything with which he came in contact. A man who could go from “I want your babies” through “Have we met before?” to “I want a divorce” inside 20 minutes. A man who would happily reduce the UK to four failed states just to stay in power for a week longer. A pallid wrecking-blob whose limitless capacity for self-destruction would take the country down with him. | A man with no sense of responsibility who was hot-wired to destroy everything with which he came in contact. A man who could go from “I want your babies” through “Have we met before?” to “I want a divorce” inside 20 minutes. A man who would happily reduce the UK to four failed states just to stay in power for a week longer. A pallid wrecking-blob whose limitless capacity for self-destruction would take the country down with him. |
| Her hatred for Johnson was visceral. The very mention of his name made Davidson’s skin crawl. The best she could manage, through clenched teeth, was that she would offer her loyalty by not directly spelling out his duplicity and clinical levels of narcissism. Though she wasn’t going to link her resignation to Johnson’s decision to undermine the democratic process by proroguing parliament the day before, she would be more than happy for others to make that connection. | Her hatred for Johnson was visceral. The very mention of his name made Davidson’s skin crawl. The best she could manage, through clenched teeth, was that she would offer her loyalty by not directly spelling out his duplicity and clinical levels of narcissism. Though she wasn’t going to link her resignation to Johnson’s decision to undermine the democratic process by proroguing parliament the day before, she would be more than happy for others to make that connection. |
| Davidson allowed just four very brief questions, all of which predictably homed in on Brexit and her obvious contempt for Johnson. Did she think the pursuit of no deal was wise or sensible? Davidson was taken aback. What part of “kill me” hadn’t they understood? Of course it wasn’t. Brexit was a terrible idea, but if it had to be done then the very least required was some kind of deal. | Davidson allowed just four very brief questions, all of which predictably homed in on Brexit and her obvious contempt for Johnson. Did she think the pursuit of no deal was wise or sensible? Davidson was taken aback. What part of “kill me” hadn’t they understood? Of course it wasn’t. Brexit was a terrible idea, but if it had to be done then the very least required was some kind of deal. |
| “I stared him right in the eye,” she said of her meeting with Johnson the previous week. “I asked him out: ‘I need to know. Are you actually trying to get a deal or not?’ And he categorically assured me that he was.” And that was the moment she had known the game was up. Because Johnson’s one gift was to be able to lie to anyone. To say anything he thought a person wanted to hear. | “I stared him right in the eye,” she said of her meeting with Johnson the previous week. “I asked him out: ‘I need to know. Are you actually trying to get a deal or not?’ And he categorically assured me that he was.” And that was the moment she had known the game was up. Because Johnson’s one gift was to be able to lie to anyone. To say anything he thought a person wanted to hear. |
| She had realised then that Boris didn’t really believe he could negotiate a new deal that would satisfy the European Research Group or get the Brexit party off his back, so he’d take the easy option of letting the country take a hit with no deal. Davidson hastily scuttled away. She’d said too much. She hadn’t said enough. | She had realised then that Boris didn’t really believe he could negotiate a new deal that would satisfy the European Research Group or get the Brexit party off his back, so he’d take the easy option of letting the country take a hit with no deal. Davidson hastily scuttled away. She’d said too much. She hadn’t said enough. |
| Conservatives | Conservatives |
| The politics sketch | The politics sketch |
| Ruth Davidson | Ruth Davidson |
| Scotland | Scotland |
| Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson |
| Brexit | Brexit |
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