Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/05/boris-johnsons-own-brother-q.html
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It looks a little improper when you make your brother a cabinet minister. That Jo Johnson said they were, “torn between family loyalty and the national interest” sort of confirms that for me. If you are a cabinet minister it’s national interest over family. Then again, I guess all I can say is that if you can’t do that you should resign, and Jo Johnson just did resign, so this all checks out.
And, to be fair, I doubt that some more qualified person was passed over when Jo Johnson was made a minister. I doubt there are any qualified people at all.
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Poor Boris. tough week for the poor fella.
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You’ve seen this cabinet right? The National Interest is waaay down the list - First and foremost is getting out of the EU before the new tax avoidance laws come into effect and they have to pay tax just like the rest of us.
2nd is killing off UKIP/BREXIT Party Ltd/BNP/EDL by taking ALL their policies!
3rd is “cutting red tape” - Which we know is code for human right, workers health and safety and consumer wellbeing.
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Seriously…that is very disturbing, particularly in light of many of his comments regarding his daughter.
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The sweetness of this story is marred only by the “brother against brother” civil war vibe it gives off. But I’ll take it none-the-less.
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Oh… I hadn’t ever noticed that before.
The “dawning realization” is making my skin crawl.
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It’s a step in the right direction, a small step…
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Jo Johnson Knife Fight!
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So… BoJo is actually Baron Harkonnen?
Edit to add:
Upon further reflection, this explains nearly everything.
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Either that or JoJo is Feyd Rautha.
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And that’s why I’ll never get into a war of words with Rob on this BBS. It would be Bambi vs. Godzilla.
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JoJo. Lovely JoJo.
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Unless perhaps if you have already been an M.P. for nine years and a Cabinet Minister in two previous governments…
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Appointing family members to anything is always a little uncomfortable and odd looking, even if ultimately it makes sense. Even if Jo Johnson is qualified for the position it might make someone wonder where loyalties lie. I don’t know if it seems unfair to suggest that someone who has served previously as a cabinet minister should be passed over to avoid the appearance of nepotism, but I guess I don’t think anyone is entitled to a cabinet position.
By Jo Johnson’s admission anyone who worried that family ties may one day get in the way of doing the job of minister was 100% correct.
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The resemblance between Ivanka and Melania is way less creeptastic than the resemblance between Ivanka and Stormy Daniels. Particularly considering that they’re approximately the same age.
Daniels said that she was totally creeped out when Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter. And Daniels has basically made a whole career of helping creepy fucks get off on their depraved sexual fantasies, so you know it must take a LOT to creep her out.
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If the person is qualified, then it is not, by definition, nepotism. Even without the chaos of Brexit, I hardly think his appointment would concern the British public, given the aforementioned three previous Cabinet positions he has held, under two different Prime Ministers.
You lost me.
Boris Johnson’s government is barely six weeks old. Given that Jo was with the Remain camp and his brother is a committed Brexiter one would imagine the two brothers parted ways ideologically some time ago…
I don’t know your definition of nepotism. Usually I think people define it as favouring relatives over others for positions. You can feel as certain as you like that familial relationships had nothing to do with someone giving their brother a cabinet position. People used to say that people ought to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
What I meant was that it would not have been unfair to Jo Johnson to miss out on a cabinet seat only because the Prime Minister had to avoid any appearance of favouritism. Because when it comes to getting a seat in cabinet, absolutely no one is entitled to even be considered.
Yes, and so a minister resigned, 6 weeks into the government, citing as a reason their familial relationship with the prime minister. Doesn’t that suggest that the person never should have been the minister to begin with? I feel that a minister resigning within 6 weeks (barring things like major illness) reflects very badly on the person who made them a minister. Which suggests the decision to make them a minister was based on a bad or flawed thought process. Which supports, rather than detracts from, the idea that it might have been improperly made to benefit a family member.
I came into this thinking that appearance of impropriety should be avoided, but the more we discuss it the more I think it probably was nepotism. I don’t think Johnson stocked cabinet with a lot of people that Johnson wasn’t certain were loyal to the no-deal Brexit cause. Amber Rudd was once a remainer and called the idea of proroguing to achieve a no-deal insane, but fell in line immediately when it happened. But there appears to have been an oversight when it came to a sibling.
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