ALERT! ALERT! Tory Backbone detected!

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51491662

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Javid, has resigned in protest at a power grab from No. 10. Or possibly from unelected wonk Dominic Cummings.

Didn't know he had it in him.

In other news arch back-stabber Geoffrey Cox (once my local MP) has been "asked to resign" with Boris perhaps fearing he might suffer the same fate as Theresa otherwise.

Of course, this leaves the Prime Minister embarrassed - I wonder who will carry the can for that?

[Greyblades]

I refuse to recognise the phenomenon of a tory actually posessing any bone. Cartilage at best.

Did you hear Hammond got a peerage? The hell does it take for a man to be kicked out of the tories these days? Bludgeon the speaker with the royal mace?

Then again if it was the last speaker he'd probably earn the peerage for that.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Bit excessive, but you're not totally wrong.

Dominic Cummings is to Boris Johnson what George Osborne was to David Cameron, the Devil on his shoulder. It'll be interesting to see if Cummings is ejected where Osborne was not. MY understanding is that Johnson and Cummings are not personally close so if he proves an embarressment, which is happening he may get squashed.

He's also not elected, whilst that means the public can't throw him out it means his firing will automatically be popular - the British tend to loathe un-elected functionaries not appointed by HM Queen Herself.

[Greyblades]

I am not sure what is going on with cummings, before the election I got the impression his influence was to keep boris from devolving into wet-ness, after the election I cannot say how much of that is still true, what with the rehabilitation of a number of the remainers, the mansion tax, the huawei idiocy and the empowering of ofcom.

Then again for the last one its not like the wets have a monopoly on censorship, just greater opportunities last 10 years.

Only thing I do think is happening is he's being used as a hate sink: someone who is safer to criticize without fear of being seen to directly attack the PM. How much he deserves that criticism I dont know.

[Furunculus]

Too understand Cummings mission in govt it is far more instructive to look at Cummings the dept edu Spad, not Cummings the campain messaging genius.

Together with Gove and a few other likeminded Spads they took on and trnasformed the most unreformable department in gov't. Education.

He cares about brexit only insomuch as the status quo inertia prevents him implementing his vision of high performance organisations.

If you are interested in cummings then you quite frankly [must] read tim shipmans All out war.

[Beskar]

"Great, Now Javid. Is there any more money-pilfering bankers the remoaners won't rehabilitate for providing token resistance to Boris Johnson?

Honour? Moral backbone? We knew they didn't have that when they were in cabinet and they most certainly don't now. What motivates them isn't some higher standard; it's bitterness for rendering their own ambitions impotent.

So wound up he'd embrace the devil if he spits in Johnson's direction, its derangement, truly."