The DUP thread

[Armagh18]

I know theres lots of links to Hancock and Boris letting their mates get contracts for PPE etc but unless I'm forgetting something there wasn't anything like that happening here as far as I remember anyway.

[Milltown Row2]

I know theres lots of links to Hancock and Boris letting their mates get contracts for PPE etc but unless I'm forgetting something there wasn't anything like that happening here as far as I remember anyway.

Funeral gate is the only thing they are actually interested in.

[imtommygunn]

There was something down south with private health and beds (which was possibly more panic) but the scale of what the tories have been at is on another level to most countries.

[Wildweasel74]

Your woman who does the undewear shop lines, not get a ton of contracts, then the stuff didn't meet the standard!

[trueblue1234]

sinn fein and dup wiping whatsapps messages   but aye sinn fein and dup are good people.

Anyone wanna explain this "story" to Eire90?

During Covid, politicians relied heavily on WhatsApp for communications and policy agreements.

Covid as we know now, was a very difficult time for politicians. There was no correct way to handle how it unfolded.

But one of the legacies of it all seems to be that politicians were able to dream up and unfurl measures to make unusual profits for friends and influencers.

And as a result, enquiries are being held to work out just how much of this was by accident and how much of it was on purpose.

As the paper trail for the conversations that allowed this all to happen was heavily undertaken on WhatsApp, politicians across the world are scrambling to erase all messages from that period.

This is of course immoral behaviour.

In NI the big two, who never agree on anything, have decided to throw the civil service under the bus for doing this without their knowledge. Which is of course horse shit and the real reason is has happened is because the civil servants in question were bullied and likely bribed into taking it on the chin.

This approach allows the blinkered supporters of each party to believe that the behaviour of their leaders is different to that of the crooked Boris Johnson. And they will lap it up.

Is this based on anything? Serious question by the way? I'm assuming it's based on something?

[Snapchap]

Naomi's phone was also wiped when hers was returned - something she has described as standard practice. Where does that fit into your claim that it's all a SF/DUP "big two" conspiracy, Wobbler?

[RadioGAAGAA]

In NI the big two, who never agree on anything, have decided to throw the civil service under the bus for doing this without their knowledge. Which is of course horse shit and the real reason is has happened is because the civil servants in question were bullied and likely bribed into taking it on the chin.

This approach allows the blinkered supporters of each party to believe that the behaviour of their leaders is different to that of the crooked Boris Johnson. And they will lap it up.

I don't particularly want to defend either SF or DUP - both are two sides of the same turd in my view - but....

If the civil servants had either a semblance of balls or brains, they'd have backed the stuff up. Its not as if the politicians could touch them.

But they have neither. You'd have to travel a long way to find a more gormless bunch of fuckwits.

[Armagh18]

In NI the big two, who never agree on anything, have decided to throw the civil service under the bus for doing this without their knowledge. Which is of course horse shit and the real reason is has happened is because the civil servants in question were bullied and likely bribed into taking it on the chin.

This approach allows the blinkered supporters of each party to believe that the behaviour of their leaders is different to that of the crooked Boris Johnson. And they will lap it up.

I don't particularly want to defend either SF or DUP - both are two sides of the same turd in my view - but....

If the civil servants had either a semblance of balls or brains, they'd have backed the stuff up. Its not as if the politicians could touch them.

But they have neither. You'd have to travel a long way to find a more gormless bunch of fuckwits.

That's a lazy analysis. SF have plenty of faults but they aren't on the same level as that other shower

[thewobbler]

I do enjoy a lively discourse.

Is there any fact in what I posted above? No. It's all supposition. Every last word.

But to answer questions.

Was bullying or bribery involved? Perhaps not. My understanding of how people reach the upper echelons of the Civil Service is that they are intuitively diplomatic. They walk in the direction the wind is blowing, and only pick fights to help the wind blow in the same direction.

Covid though is a very emotive subject, which makes their intuition of "toe the line" more difficult.

And I'll put it like this. If I tell an employee "do this or else", that's bullying. And if I tell an employee "say nothing and you will be promoted", that's bribery.

I can't possibly say that this has happened in Stormont. All I know is that whistleblowers in the high ranks of NiCS are traditionally few and far between. And they witness awful politics as par for the course.

——

In terms of the scope of our local politicians for fraud, philandering, whatever. It's genuinely negligible compared to their colleagues in Westminster. But it should then also be measured in relative terms. So if they're capable of giving a nod, that nod should be measured the same as Westminster, in relative terms.

——

If I was given the opportunity to restart my original soliloquy I would now mention that Arlene and Michelle might actually be in the same boat as NiCS. They may have received simple instructions from Westminster that their financial and political wellbeing would only be enhanced by wiping any semblance of WhatsApp during Covid times.

Why? Because they would have been involved in WhatsApp groups with Boris and/or his cabinet and aides that contained messages, that are now damning of the Conservative government. Boris and co likely had them on mute ffs but messages would have been passed... and answered.

Naomi Long wouldn't have been involved in those discussions. But she would provide tangible links to them through forwarded messages and other WhatsApp groups where they were discussed. Getting her phone wiped is important, but not so much as those the rank above.

——

And being honest I don't blame anyone for following such a protocol. A WhatsApp deletion scandal might last a week.  The messages within - should they happen to be rolling the wrong direction either then or now - could destroy careers.

We all say things we don't mean on WhatsApp.

But very few of us are running the country.

——

My honest reason for the post above was to engage other posters.

As far as I'm concerned, Boris Johnson is a ****. An absolute ****. Not because of how the Tories handled  Covid (difficult situation, no right answer). But for his outright disrespect for the needs and wants of the average person, before, during and after. We are all but pawns in a big money game to that ****.

That his entire WhatsApp history for that period of history is now "gone" is neither surprising nor important. It's expected.

But for any person to simultaneously admonish him directly for what is happening to enquiries in Westminster, while declaring what happened in Stormont as a Civil Servant issue, well it just drives me mad. This is adults who might wonder how children can believe in Santa Claus, but will believe anything they're told as long as it matches their political beliefs.

These politicians are all hiding something, all these WhatsApp deleters. Some more than others, no doubt. But they're all hiding something.

They're all c***ts.

[Milltown Row2]

There's not one politician in government that would have come out of covid without doing something, on reflection, they'll have regret, making a mistake or bad decision would have been expected to be fair.

Considering the extent of the pandemic and what it involved there's not a nation that came away without looking back and thinking there could have been a better approach.

The WhatsApps could provide some insight to what best/worst practices could be used or not used should this if come to light again.

The inquiry should have (I hope) a blueprint to how governments should react in the future, attacking them is futile, we know most of them are incompetent and the skill set they bring for such events is minimal.

It's whether or not they would be able to allow the actual science to guide them rather than their own needs.

Protocols on such things will need to be looked at, and the practice of wiping phones during times in office should have a time period of a few years, just in case, would be difficult to do or control.

And yes, I  agree with your last line

[tbrick18]

DUP party officers meeting today/tonight to discuss the current negotiations.
Are they about to go back into Stormont?

[johnnycool]

DUP party officers meeting today/tonight to discuss the current negotiations.
Are they about to go back into Stormont?

Bryson in full flow, time they ignored that bollox but the loyalist "stakeholders" and the OO will also have their say, yet they still get on their high horse over "SF/IRA"!!!
Dodds and Sammy will be trying to scupper this as well.

Donaldson could sell this as a win, but he lacks backbone and will need to read the room as patience is running out on the DUP with the NHS in freefall and the education sector looking at a swathe of redundancies if more budget isn't secured for 2024.

[tbrick18]

DUP party officers meeting today/tonight to discuss the current negotiations.
Are they about to go back into Stormont?

Bryson in full flow, time they ignored that bollox but the loyalist "stakeholders" and the OO will also have their say, yet they still get on their high horse over "SF/IRA"!!!
Dodds and Sammy will be trying to scupper this as well.

Donaldson could sell this as a win, but he lacks backbone and will need to read the room as patience is running out on the DUP with the NHS in freefall and the education sector looking at a swathe of redundancies if more budget isn't secured for 2024.

I assume the Nolan show?
Bryson is a mouthpiece who needs something to shout about to stay relevant with his UVF friends. Shouldn't be given the time of day.
Likewise with the OO. Are the a religious organisation or a political one?
They should be given as much say as the Catholic church in the running of a state.

[LC]

DUP party officers meeting today/tonight to discuss the current negotiations.
Are they about to go back into Stormont?

Bryson in full flow, time they ignored that bollox but the loyalist "stakeholders" and the OO will also have their say, yet they still get on their high horse over "SF/IRA"!!!
Dodds and Sammy will be trying to scupper this as well.

Donaldson could sell this as a win, but he lacks backbone and will need to read the room as patience is running out on the DUP with the NHS in freefall and the education sector looking at a swathe of redundancies if more budget isn't secured for 2024.

If DUP / Shinners et all walked back into Stormont in the morning they would not have and never will have the competency (brains) to fix things.  There is £2.5 billion carrot being dangled so why do the British Government not just give the money to the Civil Service, who are currently running the country, and let them get on with things.  When it comes to fiscal management our elected representatives are to often blinded by their political alleigances when it comes to the allocation of public money whether it be Irish Language, bonfires, housing and the slush fund of all slush funds the 'community' groups.  Putting money towards Irish Language / bonfires scores brownie points with their core vote and they would far rather do this than put their heads together to see what needs to be done to have for example prevent Causeway Hospital maternity being relocated to Antrim or ensuring Daisy Hill and SWAH are able to offer a better service than they currently are.  If they cant wrap a tricolour or union jack around it they don't give a f@@k.

[Taylor]

DUP party officers meeting today/tonight to discuss the current negotiations.
Are they about to go back into Stormont?

Bryson in full flow, time they ignored that bollox but the loyalist "stakeholders" and the OO will also have their say, yet they still get on their high horse over "SF/IRA"!!!
Dodds and Sammy will be trying to scupper this as well.

Donaldson could sell this as a win, but he lacks backbone and will need to read the room as patience is running out on the DUP with the NHS in freefall and the education sector looking at a swathe of redundancies if more budget isn't secured for 2024.

I assume the Nolan show?
Bryson is a mouthpiece who needs something to shout about to stay relevant with his UVF friends. Shouldn't be given the time of day.
Likewise with the OO. Are the a religious organisation or a political one?
They should be given as much say as the Catholic church in the running of a state.

Exactly this - but anyone who follows him on social media is to blame for giving him a platform.

Even worse are those who reply to him - this simply gives him ammo for future tweets.

Its amazing these people dont realise that they are part of the problem