To think that the Govt response to Cummings saga is worse than the actual breach of lockdown

[HerstoryInTheMaking]

DC broke lockdown twice. I think that this is universally accepted.

This is one thing, its bad but an apology probably would have sufficed and a resignation or sacking would have solved the issue. Done and dusted

However the nonsense about how he didnt break lockdown, how the PM and cabinet ig nore press questions and continuously lie.

As if anyone with half a brain is going to believe he drove 60 miles to test eyesight on what happened to be his wifes birthday.

Its as if the government are treating people as if they are fools this is making it much much worse.

They could have acknowledged the breach of the rules. Instead they have attempted to lie continuously.

Why cant they just admit he fucked up. I can accept that but I cant accept the nonsense being spewed by the govt.

Yes, I agree. Cummings totally believes he can ride this out and he's telling Johnson it will all be okay. Because it was when they lied during the Brexit saga. I'm very much hoping this doesn't go the same way.

Totally agree. If someone else did this they would have been asked to resign straight away. I think the answer to Beth Rigbys question to BoJo about whether he is doing this because he cannitnrun the country without DC is a resounding yes.
I do think it’s Boris pushing this though, not the government as a whole. You can see from how the other ministers are answering questions about it that they are cursing DC to high heaven and I think a lot of them are not his biggest fans anyway, but I guess have been instructed to tow the line on this whatever they might personally think. I bet there’s been a few heated conversations behind closed doors.

Sorry he CANNOT run the country!

I completely agree with you

Yes of course, Its not that he broke lockdown, we all make mistakes, its the complete lies and denial of lockdown guidelines that has followed the story. If he'd just said sorry I cocked up it would have been fine with me. I just cant believe the nonsense they've come out with to our faces. Matt Hancock has done brilliantly on tonight's briefings, no wonder he does them more than Boris .

He was wrong to break lockdown. He helped to write the rules so he should have stuck to them. I don't believe his excuses for one minute.

BUT if the government had handled it differently it would have blown over by now.

If Johnson had come out and said that DC was worried about his son, panicked and drove to his parents' house; he realises that this broke lockdown rules, has apologised and I've accepted his recognition; then even those of us who don't have much sympathy for him would let it go and been happy to move on.

It's the arrogance , the refusal to apologise and the fact that he's being treated as some kind of special case which really sticks in the craw.

The lack of any remorse and attempts to insist no wrongdoing is playing very, very badly.

Yes definitely. I can see how you might need to drive for childcare if you are both ill etc / want to see family for whatever reason. He broke lockdown, stupid (and arrogant) in his position but not the end of the world. He is clearly integral to the government, so even if he didn't resign, but said 'I'm sorry - I understand the sacrifices others have made and I made a stupid mistake' etc, I'd probably think no more of it.

But its the total arrogance of them all to accept he has done wrong- trying to find little loopholes and reasons why what he did was actually fine, despite the rest of the country following the guidance and many really suffering because of it- that's what makes me really, really cross. They all look like a bunch of lying, scheming, arrogant men and they don't really even care because there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Yep. Absolutely.

The protective circle the govt have thrown around him - to the extent that their tweets and statements all say near identical things - combined with the absolute refusal to accept any responsibility has destroyed any remaining faith in the government.

Had he apologised, resigned they might have been able to bring him back at a later stage..but now this has damaged BoJo, who seems completely out of touch and arrogant.

The lies DC & his wife told in the news article just adds to the arrogance. He knew he was seen but didn't care.

He acted against his own rules. This was bad, but as a situation was entirely reversible in the public view. Most people would shake their heads, sigh for a few hours, and move on to other things, if there had been an admission of a mistake made under pressure and an undertaking not to repeat it. It's the arrogance and ongoing bullshit that has got the country's back up. It's a huge up yours to ordinary people that they won't forgive.

Its an absolute car crash and the worst thing about it is that he will get away with it, and will still be in his job with no consequences this time next week, next month, and next year, and people will have stopped being bothered about it.

I suppose it can go into the dictionary as the definition of shamelessness or bare faced lying, or "styling it out".

Some of the proclomations about what was definitely allowed according to the rules at the time (such as Grove saying going for drives was allowed) are brazen re-writing of history only a few short weeks after the fact - we have always been at war with Eurasia.

If British politics since 2016 were the plot of a satirical television series it'd have been cancelled due to viewers finding it too far fetched.

X-posted with a good few saying exactly what I was typing there.

I can't help but feel the whole thing is a massive distraction. Putting him on display at last night's shambles, no apology is feeding the controversy (which they must know) and now Matt Hancock stating that DC didn't break rules etc etc... makes me wonder what is going on that they don't want us to see.

I don't get why he didn't just apologise and leave it at that. But then also others have lost their jobs for lesser breaches. Why not him? Is he really that irreplaceable?

What I want to know is:

1. Did he stop off at Pizza Express?
2. Does he sweat?

Maybe I'm getting my car crashes mixed up.

Yes, you’re absolutely right - what he did was wrong, but it’s the government’s response that’s truly shameful.

I’m trying to decide whether DC knows something really terrible about Johnson (I mean, worse than the stuff everyone knows already) and is therefore untouchable, or whether these people are just so entitled they simply assume it’s OK for one of their own to break the rules.

StillThatBitch that's the more sinister reading of it.

The best case scenario is astounding levels of arrogance mixed with astounding levels of incompetence - amateur dabblings of dim public school boys who can get away with murder just because they have the audacity to believe they are untouchable.

The worst case scenario is that the arrogant incompetence is a distraction from something even worse - either pushing some dodgy unsavoury deal through, masking a potentially bigger news story or a bigger cock-up...

Yes its such a cock up it looks so unbelievable it must be to distract us or change the mood of lockdown from fear to anger, I dont know what to believe anymore. Why lie and justify it all like this. I dont want him to resign, I dont want him to be harrassed anymore, I dont want this to distract from the difficult business the government faces, but its all so weird it just makes a mockery of the whole situation. The denial he made a mistake to do it just makes a mockery of the lockdown. Its just rude and disrespectful to the public. And weird - surely a lie better than testing my eyesight with a drive could have been thought of if they insist on lying? Its like they are doing it pn purpose.

@disquieted1 Brilliant

StillThatBitch that is another explanation and I fear a plausible one.

StillThatBitch

Maybe moving to phase 2 of lockdown easing with no material evidence that track and trace will be in place?

The fact that there are some areas - Weston was one yesterday- where the NHS is overwhelmed?

The fact the schools in Lancashire had to close because of localised hotpots?

Agree completely.

I could have spun it better myself. Not thinking straight, panicked, blah blah, with hindsight blah blah tendered my resignation blah blah. He could have been suspended or something, quietly brought back (although I'd have balked at that) since BoJo seems incapable of actually being a PM. Even BoJo could have excused himself with an 'on reflection' . Fuckers the pair of them. And the Cabinet members queuing up to bleat he was just being a good father so the rest of us are bad parent then you wankers.

But no, instead we get 'no regrets' and BoJo pretending that he stuck to the rules (ODFOD).

It's baffling the way they chose lying & bullshit as opposed to an apology. Everyone knows it's bullshit.

Part of me thinks it is to get people to come out of lockdown.