It encases him.
asserted
It → encase → him
He can crash into things and not worry.
asserted
He → crash → things
Maybe he just leaves that to others.
asserted
he → leave → others
Five minutes before noon, our new prime minister bumbled into the Commons for PMQs.
asserted
minister → bumble → PMQs
He ambles about Westminster.
asserted
He → amble → Westminster
People are happy to see him.
asserted
People → see → him
They coo and smile but they do not flatten themselves against the wall, as happened when Sir Keir came roaring past, or when Blair or Brown or Cameron was PM.
asserted
Blair → coo → wall
Gordon used to waddle so fast that it took a second before the draught from his hunched shoulders hit you.
asserted
draught → use → you
Mr Burnham loitered beside the Speaker’s Chair, passing the time of day with Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
asserted
Burnham → loiter → Hoyle
When Speaker Hoyle lost interest, Mr Burnham supposed he had better lope to his bench.
asserted
he → lose → bench
Labour MPs yelled their devotion.
asserted
MPs → yell → devotion
Eyelashes Andy gave the lightest of smiles, as if quite used to adoration.
asserted
Andy → give → adoration
He did not look nervous.
asserted
He → look → ?
Other PMs, in my experience since Mrs T, have clearly brimmed with preparation.
asserted
PMs → brim → preparation
They have raced into the chamber as if to the toot of Shakespearean ‘alarums without’, amid dust from horses’ hooves, a clamour of slapped gauntlets, whinnies and the shouts of ostlers.
asserted
They → race → ostlers
Mr Burnham slides into the chamber with no more urgency than a late riser entering his kitchen to light the kettle and drop a slice of Hovis into the toaster.
asserted
riser → slide → toaster
Five minutes before noon, our new prime minister bumbled into the Commons for PMQs.
asserted
minister → bumble → PMQs
He ambles about Westminster.
asserted
He → amble → Westminster
Doesn’t stride along the cloisters with manly purpose
Kemi Badenoch had earlier gently asked: ‘Does he ever get tired of putting his foot in his mouth?’
asserted
he → stride → mouth
Watching him go about his easy business, one does not feel a knot of anxiety.
asserted
one → watch → anxiety
What is missing from his approach, mind you, is a sense of majesty, of the importance of high office.
asserted
missing → miss → office
Being so laid-back about small print has its disadvantages, too.
asserted
Being → lay → disadvantages
Does he think before speaking?
asserted
he → think → ?
Has he taken advice from aides?
asserted
he → take → aides
Nigel Farage (Ref, Clacton) was given one of his occasional PMQs slots.
asserted
Farage → give → slots
He asked about young Iranians coming into the country and wondered if the PM saw that this was a national security emergency.
asserted
this → ask → country
Mr Burnham’s reply was strikingly friendly, unlike anything we heard in Sir Keir’s day.
asserted
we → hear → day
He noted that there had been threats against Mr Farage’s safety and he acknowledged that it had been ‘a hard time for him and his family’.
asserted
it → note → him
This civilised change of tone was refreshing, even if some on the Labour side looked puzzled.
asserted
some → look → side
In his remarks – which were clearly planned – there was, however, an unfortunate howler.
asserted
which → plan → remarks
Mr Burnham talked of ‘the individual responsible for the murder of Ann Widdecombe’.
asserted
Burnham → talk → Widdecombe
He should not have done so.
asserted
He → do → ?
No such responsibility has been established in a court.
asserted
responsibility → establish → court
A prime minister should not make such mistakes.
Kemi Badenoch had earlier gently asked: ‘Does he ever get tired of putting his foot in his mouth?’
asserted
he → ask → mouth
She reminded him that the head of MI5 ‘slapped him down’ over his barmy comments that Russia influenced Brexit.
asserted
Russia → remind → Brexit
Had he ‘opened his mouth and said the first thing that came into his head?’
asserted
that → open → head
Mr Burnham, whose attachment to facts, while not yet Trumpian, is unusually elastic, blithely insisted that the head of MI5 had not criticised him.
asserted
head → insist → him
He did this in his usual slow manner and apparently believed it, even though it seemed to sit directly in contradiction of the truth.
asserted
it → do → truth
Along the way he accused Mrs Badenoch of not reading documents properly.
asserted
he → accuse → documents
‘I will lead this country forward,’ he said ploddingly, ‘with positivity, unity and hope in the next decade.’
asserted
he → lead → decade
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
