AIBU to not understand the outrage over the government’s so-called Christmas party?

[OneRuleForThem]

I feel like this is only an issue if people automatically followed guidelines like robots. We were “told” not to visit our own families over Christmas. Nobody tells me whether I can or can not visit my own family, so I did, and had a lovely and nice normal Christmas last year.

It seems people are up in arms over the fact that Downing Street allegedly (do I have to say allegedly?) had a Christmas party and flounced the “rules” without social distancing. My only reaction is…And? And so? So what? Did anyone expect the government NOT to do something like this? I don’t know why people are up in arms over it tbh. It’s not like this government is brand new to people and they didn’t have prior information that this government backtrack and “do as I say not as i do” ALL THE TIME.

I really don’t get why people are so outraged by this. My main reaction is…why did you listen to them in the first place expecting them to be some kind of moral leaders? AIBU?

On a slight tangent.....

1. People came on-site specifically for the party, so no it was not "office lunch as usual"
2. Some of the people who came on site were journalists..... who are now hoping to hell and back that a list of attendees is not published
3. EVEN IF it were "just" the same office people, a) it was illegal (you know... breaks the actual law) under the laws in effect at the time, b) there was no social distancing (as mentioned in the leaked video) and c) the vast majority of the country were obeying the law, missing loved ones (even the Queen (who I respect as a person, but have zero time for as an institution) had to sit by herself as they buried her husband). All of this... while the Government laughed at us.

If the OP truly cannot see why this is an issue.... genuinely, I wonder if she is a sociopath? Has some issue interpreting social rules and mores?

I think you need to change your username to OneRuleForMe OP.
Arrogant and Selfish beyond words

Some people had no choice. We couldn't visit FIL (now passed away) when he got moved to a nursing home. It's not as simple as just not taking their "advice" which was actually the law.

What I’d like to know* is, who recorded this and then held on to it as a secret weapon to bring out later?

*I dare say a good many others in Downing Street/Westminster would also love to know.
I’m reminded of House of Cards (the original Michael Dobbs novel) - though the Chief Snake there was much cleverer in his plotting and scheming.

@SickAndTiredAgain

The “law” was: do not visit your family at Christmas. That is insane! Of course I wasn’t going to follow it, especially said by someone like Boris Johnson leading the Conservative Party!!

But don’t you want a government that at least follows it own laws? Why wouldn’t you want that? It’s a really low bar.
I have zero expectations of Johnson ever doing anything decent, that doesn’t mean I can’t be pissed off by things he does, even if I’m not surprised by them. Yes, they probably break the law all the time, this is an example of it, what situation are we in if we shrug and say “well, what did you expect”.
Can’t we have some standards.

This!

Which laws DON'T you think it's okay for the Government to break? Enriching themselves from the taxpayer? Check Ignoring the law enacted to save thousands of lives? Check

The legal system isn't supposed to be an optional extra.

Funny how Cherie Blair is investigated by six police www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/cherie-accused-of-assault-after-playful-cuff-7274107.html while our current Government gets away with repeatedly breaking the law. Why is that?

With the LAW that the government put into place - the government has to be like Caesar's Wife, above reproach. They should lead by good example, but it seems (again) "don't do what what I do, do what I say" .
I don't like Matt Hancock & I do think he did several things wrong even before the video was released, but it has occurred to me that he was trying to put safety first. I also think that he may well of been a thorn in Boris's side (possibly getting a little to popular?) & that the new minister's priority is even more based on finance first than safety & supporting the NHS. & I wonder about the timing of the video being exposed & whose interest was to have it exposed & who had the greatest opportunity to place the video.

YABVVVVU

Most of us followed the rules because it was the right thing to do for each other. Not because we are puppets of the government.

People died. Alone. Funerals restricted. Weddings cancelled

They had a Xmas party. Then laughed at us.

Tell me how we shouldn't be annoyed with that. Or worst still how it's our fault for following the rules.

Restaurants and bars were forced to close because it was not safe. Yet they had a party

Beyond furious. That clown needs to go.

YABU - in many ways tbh, but definitely unreasonable to not understand WHY people would be outraged?! I hate the tories, want them out, never listen to them. I didn't see family last Christmas, not because they 'told' us to, but because I used my brain and could quite clearly see how dangerous the pandemic was becoming and that by mixing households I would be adding to the spread. I realised that however much I wanted to see my elderly grandparents ( I had had my 3rd daughter in sept, saw nobody but household during pregnancy and to THIS DAY some family have yet to meet her) wanted them to meet their great granddaughter. But then I also wanted them to be here for the foreseeable aswell to watch her grow up, not just enjoy her one Christmas maybe catch covid and die. Covid is devastating and your posts about flouting the law are just insensitive to those that have lost family members to it. My partner had covid 4 weeks ago, he has since been rushed to hospital with suspected blood clot and has been diagnosed with peripheral nerve damage, neurological issues and breathing issues - he's 35 and no underlying issues. He is falling apart - this is what it does to you. You have no idea of how it will effect you until it does and then it's too late. So stop just STOP with the yeah but I'm not listening to the gov they aren't telling me what to do. Yeah great fantastic for you, but understand there are many of us here that have done the best for our loved ones and the rest of the public to try and end this horrific pandemic, and eventually when this does die down or come to a manageable level it won't be because of people like you. It will be because of the 90% of people on this thread wanting to do the best for everyone. Utterly selfish, I sincerely hope nobody close to catches covid. And if they already have and this is still your attitude, god help them.

@MarshmallowSwede

YABVU

I’m not British, but my time living in the UK I noticed that your government seems to hold the general public with great disdain. They lie and don’t even feel bad about it. They have so little respect for the people who vote for them and who they work for that it was quite obvious to me. I don’t understand why you would tolerate such behaviour. They work for you and the public should vote Boris and his cronies out. Anyone who dares act in such a way should be gotten rid of.

I find your dismissal of what your fellow countrymen and women have sacrificed to be callous. No doubt you probably behave in this way in your day to day life as well, but for your countrymen and women who did in fact follow the rules imagine how they feel.

Some had relatives pass away alone, unable
To see and hug and touch loved ones. Women giving birth afraid and alone. Children unable to see grandparents and unable to hug.

Your cavalier, dismissive attitude I find distasteful and uncaring. So because you personally flouted the rules it’s all ok. People should not be upset because you in your selfishness didn’t follow the rules. Good for you… you’re just as low as your scumbag politicians.

You’re exactly the sort of constituent that reflects why you even have such a person as Boris Johnson in power.

I’m not even British and I feel angry and sorry that people suffered over Xmas while this Buffon and his cronies toasted and partied while your nation had to sacrifice.

Again. You are exactly representative of the sort of person who your government is and the sort of people who are happy to be represented by such amoral politicians. Cold, callous, unkind, no empathy for your fellow citizens and selfish.

I weep for your nation.

Thank you.

Many of us are weeping too!

Unfortunately there are a large swathe of people in this country who are consistently fooled by people like Johnson and his ilk. Similar to the Trump voters in the US. He could have murdered someone and they would have still voted for him. I'm not sure exactly why it is but contributory factors include: the clear right wing bias of most of our media; and the manipulation of social media by interested parties.

Every time I think Johnson and his cabinet can sink no lower, they surprise me. Let's not forget it is alleged that one of their cronies spent Christmas Day with them at 10 Downing Street last year. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-carries-tier-4-busting-25240975, presumably so she could say thanks for appointing her to her £350 a day unadvertised adviser job.

[quote OneRuleForThem]@StoneofDestiny
A government should lead by example - this government clearly has not, and does not.

And hasn’t done since 2010 that’s kind of my point, I’m surprised that so many people listened and took their words as gospel. I suppose I am perhaps BU though maybe.[/quote]
I think the truth is most people feel like you do. They might get angry for a bit but then they will be resigned to it. Within a week the majority view is likely to be the same as yours is .

This is what we are led by donkeys because we expect so little. This view of cynical acceptance may be the majority one ( and how could it be otherwise looking at who we have elected as leaders ) but it is seriously depressing and not at all Ok in my view

As to why people did as the government asked at Christmas. This is because a democracy relies on a high level of trust between a people and it's government for things to work properly. They mostly trusted that the government was telling the truth as it was understood at the time when they asked people not to have office/.social gatherings and parties. They even made a law that banned it. That law had very little force behind it as they know it was almost impossible to police. Instead they relied on the good will of everyone and their trust that shite as this government is they fundamentally were trying to save lives

Then they pissed on that good will and trust repeatedly . Can you not see how they need to be held account for continued behaviour like this?. It may be lots of small things but over time it is very dangerous to our democracy and they need to be held to account at some point

This government is failing spectacularly on all counts in the way it is dealing with be the Brexit and the Pandemic because it is erroding all trust we might have had in our leaders.

I am not a Tory and have never voted conservative in 40 years of voting but even I though that shite as Boris is that he probably was trying to stop people dying and to do what he thought was best ( albeit I don't agree with most of what he does and says). I am beginning to realise on a visceral deep level that Boris and some of his cronies are a combinarion of venal and incompetent that is truly astonishing and beyond my worst imaginings when they came into power

This latest litany of lies just confirms this more but it doesn't make me resigned . It makes me furious and it should make you angry too

The “law” was: do not visit your family at Christmas. That is insane!

It would be 'insane' if mandated in isolation.

It's not remotely 'insane' in the context of the global pandemic that was causing death & devastation in your country, and where some limits (not - don't see anyone) were applied to limit transmission.

Views like yours deeply depress me. Thankfully I encounter very very little of it where I live.

YABU. A large number of us did follow the rules. My 90 year old grandma spent Christmas at home on her own

@mumwon

"I don't like Matt Hancock & I do think he did several things wrong even before the video was released, but it has occurred to me that he was trying to put safety first. I also think that he may well of been a thorn in Boris's side (possibly getting a little to popular?)"

+++

I also miss Matt Hancott being in office not because he was or was not trying to put safety first and not because he was or was not a thorn in Johnson's side.

No Hancott was popular with me because he was so clueless, so obviously out of his depth and so spectacularly crap that he was comedy gold.

Ahh who can forget those frozen rabbit in the headlight interviews from his downstairs loo . Precious hilarity at a very dark time.

@twelly

I agree with the point that if they were all working together there is very little difference between this and a party - very different if it was inviting people in who didn't work in the building. I am far more concerned that people were left to die in Afghanistan than a party in Downing Street

Can't we be concerned about more than one thing at a time? I mean the whole picture of this govt is pretty disturbing so can we only focus on one thing and ignore the rest? If that's true who decides which thing we should focus on as the worst thing, I guess it would vary as we all have different priorities.

I agree with you that the Afghanistan debacle is awful but as someone who spent last Christmas worrying about one of my kids who is a nurse who had covid I am also worried about how covid was and is being dealt with.

Really? you need this explained to you?

It is just another example of one rule for government and their mates and one rule for the plebs.

People did not see dying relatives because of Covid rules but number 10 carries on partying as normal.

The recent leaked video show a number 10 press person laughing her head of about the party and how they were going to lie about it to the public.

It is also a matter of public health, How can this government now ask people to follow Covid restrictions when time and time again they have shown that they ignore them?

If you don't see anything wrong with all this, I despair...

@sashh

My 82 year old father had his first Christmas alone. Meanwhile the government broke the law.

The government broke the law in a way that many people were put at risk of a virus, and lied about it.

Why? People living alone were of course allowed to visit others.

We need to hear the details, as others have said if it was in the workplace during the day with people who had all been together anyway at press briefings etc then fine. If it was a night out specifically to have a Christmas party then obviously it isn't fine.

@jelly79

YABVVVVU

Most of us followed the rules because it was the right thing to do for each other. Not because we are puppets of the government.

People died. Alone. Funerals restricted. Weddings cancelled

They had a Xmas party. Then laughed at us.

Tell me how we shouldn't be annoyed with that. Or worst still how it's our fault for following the rules.

Restaurants and bars were forced to close because it was not safe. Yet they had a party

Beyond furious. That clown needs to go.

This this and more this.

I'm not seeing the same outrage beyond these forums though.

Oh except from Gary Neville.

YABU and also an absolute twat.

Yes, lots of people followed the rules. Made really enormous sacrifices. Because it was in the best interests of us all. It was fucking hard. And they have squandered every ounce of sacrifice and goodwill.

I expect nothing of this government - and don't feel surprised by the news. But do feel very angry at them. But also absolute cunts like you laughing at those who made real, difficult choices.

@twelly The two are very much linked, a PM who lies over a xmas party, isn't going to be too bothered about allowing his ministers and civil servants to go on holiday, as Afghanistan collapses and sens 100s if not 1000s of loyal Afghanis to their deaths.

That aside, if your xmas parties are like a normal monday in the office... poor you.

YABU. You actually remind me of Johnson and his cronies. Doing what you want, thinking you are above the law.

You are mistaking societal responsibility/compliance for stupidity and blind following. Bet you call those of us who want to protect others 'sheeple'.

As long as you had a good time OP, that's the main thing.

It's a disgrace. I actually voted for tory this election as I felt the other parties were worse (Corbyn). I'm generally a floater voter anyway but this is the last straw for me

They are piss takers.

I will vote elsewhere next election

Yeah OP, all those people being stopped from seeing dying relatives in hospital. What twats. You wouldn’t have put up with that would you, you’d have fought off hospital security and told everyone they were sheep.

Surprised at the lack of sensitivity and somewhat tone deaf nature of this post. Good for you if you feel a sense of achievement at having enjoyed a normal Christmas last year but you may recall that hundreds of thousands of people died from covid and the country was approaching a second national lockdown in December with schools closing and children back at home in January. It is patently wrong for our politicians to flagrantly disregard the rules they told us were imperative to follow. It’s a sad state of affairs if you think it’s a given that they will ignore rules without impunity and moreover that we shouldn’t be bothered by this.