Downing St Christmas Party - what's behind this?

[Leafyhouse]

Presumably someone knew about this for a year. And they've waited until just before Christmas to release it - and not all at once. They drip-fed allegations, waited for ministerial denials, then a few days later released damning video footage. I have 2 theories:

1. The media are looking for a scalp. Boris preferably, or perhaps Keir if he doesn't take the fight to the PM satisfactorily.

1. Rishi Sunak supporters. There's a perception that Boris needs to go, and the 1922 committee will show their hand soon.

1. Anti lockdown supporters. It looks like we may have to lockdown further before Christmas, and they're hell bent on undermining the PM's ability to do it.

What worries me is that no-one in the media is asking these questions. Which makes me think they're complicit.

AIBU to think we're being played like fools here?

My money is on Cummings - Ghost of Christmas Past.

Suspect he's got quite a few more "truth bombs" up his sleeve but is far too clever to detonate all at once.

As for why Allegra resigned as asked further up thread? Along the lines of Boris calling her, tearing a strip off, and then some horse trading - her resignation in return for a glowy goodbye speech from Boris, penitent public tears from Allegra. And a promise of a quiet future return to government for being a good girl.

Boris offered her up on a plate, literally, in tonight's conference. He might as well have said "here's the sacrificial lamb, will you please all go away now".

Meanwhile Rees Mog flies under the radar and Boris bores on about Plan B.

Meanwhile on Facebook 300k people have signed up to the Christmas Eve Downing St Rave

He's got zero chance of being able to impose a lockdown, this government is an absolute joke.

Has to be Cummings, he's been at this all year and we haven't heard from him in a while.

No one else would be clever enough with the timing to get the PM denying the party happened and then release the footage.

Rishi Sunak was best man at Allegra Strattons wedding.

They are each godparents to each other's kids.

There are webs within webs.

i was talking about the latest accusation that Carrie lobbied Boris to proritise sending those dogs back to the UK before Afghan interpreters,, the media love to criticise her whenever they can,

I did laugh at one comment in the daily Mail
Online
'
' You know your in trouble when your PM is more likely to be ousted by a Christmas party that happened last year than by the Labour Party!'
Sums it up perfectly !

You’re definitely on the right lines. Which makes me annoyed that we are not only being made twats of by the tories but that we are also being manipulated by the media or something/someone else.

Who'll replace Boris? Is anyone being lined up?

Who manages the staff at Downing Street? They're uncivil servants I'm afraid and it stinks of a distraction. I'm looking for what we're being stopped from paying attention to.

My mum died alone in a care home. I hadn't seen her for weeks, she thought I'd abandoned her. But I followed the rules didn't I. The care home followed the rules.

My mum died on the 18th Dec 2020. I am stricken with guilt a year later that my mum died among strangers, thinking I had abandoned her. While these treacherous cunts partied on... I quite frankly couldn't care a shit that there is obviously underhanded politics afoot here. Hang the amoral cunts out to dry.

Enough is enough

Im sorry LEM

Nothing can excuse this, nothing.

@mumda

Who'll replace Boris? Is anyone being lined up?

Who manages the staff at Downing Street? They're uncivil servants I'm afraid and it stinks of a distraction. I'm looking for what we're being stopped from paying attention to.

I listened to a Radio 4 feature last week about how Liz Truss was beloved by the Conservative Party membership.

Just sayin’.

Oh, I'm so sorry, LEM. 💐

Distract from Nationality and Borders Bill

LEM

That mock press conference was party political work so not a government department civil servant issue or event, so far as we know. The press conference asked about three other ‘parties’ including ones PM spoke at so I don’t think this issue is going away. It stinks. One thing driving about on a journey ‘to check your eyesight’ like Cummings did while the rest of us are confined to home .. but if there was actual partying while draconian social isolation had been inflicted on everyone else that is especially shameful.

Civil servants must remain neutral to the work of the government department, whoever is the PM, under the very strict civil service code designed to avoid political favour, bias and corruption.

However- Special advisers, like the guy asking Allegra Stratton the questions in the video, or like Dominic Cummings was, are appointed to be party political specifically for their job role. A very different job to the civil servants then, which I guess helps to maintain the operational political firewall of civil servants’ neutrality? The SPAD post is a relatively modern (1960s) invention and often controversial over many governments.

As of Dec 2020, this link says Boris Johnson had 51 SPADs because the PM gets to employ more than the other ministers who might have one or two, or none. Boris and his ministers had been on a SPAD recruiting spree too around this time and lots were new to the role: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/special-advisers
‘ The latest data release in December 2020 revealed there were 116 special advisers in government – up from 109 in 2019 – the highest amount for at least a decade. Of those, 46 were new to government. 59 spads were new to government in 2019 – the largest influx since the beginning of the coalition government in 2010, when 63 joined .’

I can really see the risks for good decision making in government when you have an absolute moral leadership bypass of a person as the PM like Boris Johnson is, and when that PM has also surrounded themselves with a record number of SPADs, many of whom are also new to the restrictions of government life. It must be very difficult for the civil servants, who are literally employed to speak truth to power, trying to work in such an increasingly heavily spun, party-politicised work culture around the ministers and the PM too. The whole thing starts looking too compromised by spin smoke and mirrors. I agree with catfromjapan that we must avoid being cynical about politics but because of that I find a proliferation of SPADs around any PM to be worrying. All PMs need to be exposed to a balance of advice to make the most well rounded and fully thought through decisions they can.

Agree the timing is suspicious, I think the knives are out for Boris from his own party. But agree with a pp, I actually don’t give a shit what’s behind it they are well and truly hoisted by their own petard and it is utterly unacceptable. The PM should resign.

Hestershaw agree. Self pity and snivelling

So she resigned over a party that didn’t happen.

I'm so sorry, LEM.

You mustn't feel guilty. You did the right thing.

@YouGotThisKeepGoing

Distract from Nationality and Borders Bill

Not a peep about that.

There's something so wrong about the fact that we have to rely on the Lords to save us.

Is there a quick guide to this Bill that you’d recommend?

Here’s one I found: www.newstatesman.com/the-explainer/2021/12/what-does-the-nationality-and-borders-bill-mean-for-you

So sorry @ThesecondLEM, that sounds so awful and tragic. It makes me angry that so many personal stories like this are used and twisted as currency by these manipulators. Whether it's the likes of Dominic Cummings, or back in the day, Alistair Campbell - honestly, these people play with fire.

@threecee

Who says 64% say hes doing a bad job ? nobody asked me or anybody i know !

@threecee

Why don't you sign up to take part in the survey then?

Right so now it turns out there was a party all along? How did that only get confirmed today? And the people who were at the party have also been in charge of saying that there wasn’t one, and for several days now? Whatever the reality it unfortunately appears as though they can’t be trusted to just tell the truth, even when asked directly. Appalling.

BBC: Why it matters No 10's press chief was at the Downing Street party
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59601447

@mrsbyers

I think the whole party thing is being over egged , from my understanding it was an after hours Christmas drink involving Downing Street staff who work together

Yes, that's how it seems to me, too. If all the attendees were already in a sort of work bubble, they'd already been exposed to each other's germs during the day, so there was probably little increase in the Covid transmission risk (unless people were drunk/snogging each other - Matt Hancock could have been a problem ). Apparently there were several parties of this type, so the question is - were they all just small gatherings of work colleagues with no additional guests and/or caterers? Or were there some larger parties where rules were clearly flouted?

I am also suspicious of the timing of this news story - someone had this info a year ago but sat on it. It looks like a stragetic move to bring Boris down, and it might succeed. Bojo seems to be teflon coated, but maybe he's no longer untouchable, after so many negative stories. I feel he's been shown to be very dishonest in his dealings and he seems to have no integrity.