Boris Johnson, FPN's, and Sue Gray report due. Thread 5

[Roussette]

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4545092-boris-and-his-fines-part-4

Previous thread!

@Roussette I don't think it's that he has a need to be liked. I think it was pure arrogance that the rules didn't apply to them combined with a drinking culture that was the norm. I'm hopeful that some of the junior civil servants that received FPNs will break ranks, but we shall wait and see. The fact that Simon Case received nothing is also suspect as he was clearly involved.

So was Johnson only investigated for cakegate and the outdoor cheese and wine "work meeting"? The Met certainly cherry picked the lesser of Johnson's transgressions.

Was Carrie investigated for Abbagate? I bet she was not. A 10k fine for the PMs wife would not be good optics.

All the opposition parties need to get together now and protest about this blatant corruption.

What absolutely astounds me is the lack of political nous being consistently shown by the Downing Street operation, do they even employ any political advisors anymore.

Did no one think during the parties, heck what will this look like if word gets out?
When word did get out, why did they think that lying about it was a good idea?
When that did not work, why did they think that continuing to lie and minimise it, when the public was clearly angry?
If Boris had in December said, sorry this behaviour was appalling we would perhaps not be in a position that the government is so unpopular it lost over 1/4 of its councillors.
And then the police investigation into this appears to be some kind of stitch up, surely anyone with any political nous would go, no, we can't have some people being fined for parties but not the Prime Minister who was at those parties.

So from the party that gave us Schrodinger's migrant, that comes here lives on benefits and takes your jobs we have Schrodinger's party.

The party that is both legal and illegal at the same time.

Well they do provide us with much entertainment, perhaps that is why the Culture Secretary doesn't think we need the BBC?

Did no one think during the parties, heck what will this look like if word gets out? When word did get out, why did they think that lying about it was a good idea? When that did not work, why did they think that continuing to lie and minimise it, when the public was clearly angry?

That is what I find so baffling. Are they so out of touch, that they really can't read the public? Surely, they only had to do a bit of research to understand. Are they that incompetent?
It would appear so.

I think they've shelved political advisers and PR people.

What did Johnson and the Met think would happen when the public found out about the Schrodinger's parties?

I think the revelation about two out of six is going to make things worse.

I am not surprised by this. After the first fine I felt BJ gave a sigh of relief, I perceived from the way he acted that he knew he was off the hook. I just knew there wouldn't be any more fines for him or Carrie. I have to say I am also very sceptical about the fine for RS, interesting that everyone seemed to be surprised by that one. How convenient when RS is/was probably the most likely replacement for BJ.

I am now expecting to see a very heavily redacted SG report, in the 'interest of national security if course'.

I actually find the current situation with both the government and opposition very upsetting. It feels very out of control and unless the leadership changes soon and dramatically we are in for very bad times that will take years to recover from.

I am not surprised by this. After the first fine I felt BJ gave a sigh of relief, I perceived from the way he acted that he knew he was off the hook. I just knew there wouldn't be any more fines for him or Carrie

Apparently he was told back in April he would only be getting one fine. So he is above the law. This needs to be investigated.
I also hope some of those fined break ranks.

twitter.com/ThatTimWalker/status/1527529850340352002

Adil Ray OBE
@adilray
It’s simply not good enough for Met Police to issue just one fine to the PM and close the case without explanation. He holds the highest position in public office. He works for us. We deserve accountability and transparency. Anything else could easily be seen as complicity.

Yes, now we know why he was able to say that Roussette

Noisyprat it is very, very concerning.

So Johnson was only investigated in a limited and specific way.
Every decent met officer should resign. As with all the other scandals in the last few years it's a tainted position. It appears crime and corruption is rife within the force, and the change at the top has done nothing to tackle this.

I'm not really surprised, they say there is no honour between thieves and this lot are stripping the coffers bare for themselves and their mates.
Sunaks brother overseeing (if true) was fucking disgraceful.

This.
He should have been held to higher standards, not lower.

Sue Gray report latest:

🎉 New details of events will make people say ‘Oh Lord!’
🎉 Revelations inc how Cabinet Office party ended in boozy fight
🎉 Gray still ‘weighing up’ whether to include photos
🎉 Report up to 36 pages long

twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1527538198074859520?t=KjkR_a4n9t9tJ7zo4rzdog&s=19

On the radio they said Sue Gray will notify the people she wants to name this weekend and if they object there is a chance there will be further delays.

Also, I am right in understanding that there are 126 fines, and 83 people fined?

Yes Duncin, for instance one person received 5 FPN's. That - of course - should've been the PM.

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union representing civil servants, said: “The scale of these breaches of the law is clearly symptomatic of a deeply damaged culture at the heart of Downing Street. Ministers in this government are far too quick to blame officials when it is they who are responsible for taking the lead when it comes to setting that culture.”

“The reality of it is that the Metropolitan police have decided there were at least eight illegal gatherings over the course of a year,” he said. “And the prime minister appears to have attended six of them. You think about how careful other workplaces were being, and the actual people who were writing the rules were treating them with a wanton disregard.”

Not Sunak - Javid.

IF Johnson's attendance at only 2 parties was investigated I'd assume there was a coherent rationale for this and the Met can back it up.

Bottom line is... Johnson legally attended 5 illegal parties. And was not fined. And for some of them he was pouring the drinks so it cannot be passed off as a 'works meeting'.

There is certainly something rotten in the state of Denmark.

Will the Met say something like, it was his home and they were instructed to investigate work place breaches only.

And ofcourse they can't investigate house parties in retrospective

It will be down to some technicalities, legal wording.
Lucky if you could afford a lawyer.

Russ Jones puts it well

The lesson most people would learn from a near miss is "phew, I won't do anything that stupid again", and their behaviour would improve.

The lesson Johnson will learn is "I am invincible", and his behaviour will just get worse.

Thank you for the correction @Piggywaspushed

I see that Boris used the loophole in the Coronavirus act that the homeowner was not breaking the law because he hadn't “Attended” a party because to attend he would have had to leave his property to attend.

This loophole was changed later in the year after complaints from police but the Partygate fines fell under the original Covid law drafted.

This is why all the staffers at the party received fines but Boris didn't.

He must have left his property to go to work at some point, and as he was apparently conducting interviews in his kitchen it was a de facto workplace, thus negating the homeowner loophole.

That part of the law was changed in May 2020 I believe so that won't wash for the Abba party