To ask if your essential meetings involve sitting around in the garden with wine and cheese, with your spouse in attendance?

[AlexaShutUp]

So the justification for the pictures of Boris in lockdown is that they were essential work meetings and therefore allowed. The wine and cheese was apparently because people were working long hours. I have seen no explanation of why Carrie was present.

Do you have essential work meetings of this nature? I don't.

AIBU to think that, in the midst of a pandemic, I'd rather that our decision makers stayed off the booze while carrying out their essential functions? And that unelected individuals who are not employed by the government in an official capacity have no business sitting in on such meetings?

@Clavinova

noblegiraffe while Boris was sipping wine with his missus in his work premises' private garden

So far I've seen 2 'leaked' photos of Boris - in both photos he has a serious expression on his face and he's wearing a suit - hardly the 'party' photos I was expecting.

Or maybe he's just a joyless prick and that's why he looked serious.

I am annoyed about the garden party pictures because in May 2020 I was working Full Time from home with a 20% pay reduction due to Covid pressures on the company and them wanting to avoid layoffs. Simultaneously I was homeschooling a 5 year old who wasn't even allowed to play on the swings at the park because it was banned according to the rules and they'd been locked up.
Meeting with friends and family was restricted to me meeting 1 person outdoors and keeping my distance from them, which I couldn't actually do anyway as had a 5 yr old who was past the age of not being counted under the rules and was with me 24 hrs a day.
There was no end in sight, I was working till late every night trying to catch up on work I missed during the day because I couldn't just leave my daughter to entertain herself and I was absolutely shattered.

The idea that I and the rest of the normal, everyday people were having experiences like that while Johnson and his mates had Nannies at home looking after the kids, were having jolly work parties and generally taking the piss is rather infuriating to be honest.

Just a shame clavinova that mixing in groups was restricted at the time

Maybe Boris only enjoys the sorts of parties where you trash restaurants and burn £50 notes in front of homeless people.

HalfShrunk well said and I'm sorry you had such a difficult time

Even benches in parks had tape over them so you couldn't sit down!

I admit I've been to meetings and drank alcohol, can't remember eating cheese but certainly crisps etc. yes I've been at meetings with my ex (obviously before he was ex) .

I can't get too riled up about this, not like the parties last December

Eleganz

Kennykenkencat
But that was the question.

I just answered the question. If you don’t like the answer because it doesn’t fit into your own view I can’t help that.

You have to realise that just because it isn’t your experience and your view that doesn’t mean it isn’t everyone else’s

Why would having drinks on someone’s yacht years ago mean I am part of the problem?

Why would having business meetings and drinks with plus ones be a problem in another job.

And there is me thinking we have followed nearly all the rules.

I can only be the problem if I have had Covid at any point since the lockdowns began.

Otherwise what was the problem.
What was your point then, if you weren't defending the Prime Minister's actions with your husband's boozy yacht meetings? You said you "can't see a problem" despite the problem of lack of compliance with necessary public health measures is the obvious problem right now

The question was if anyone had essential work meetings where you sat around with your spouse having food an alcohol

I answered yes. It didn’t refer to any date or time. And if you had actually read my post it did state this was a few years ago so as far as I am aware everyone was complying with the rules at the time because there weren’t any rules.
I actually find it really funny the rush to jump on the band wagon of get Boris out that everyone appears to be twisting facts to fit an agenda.
I didn’t mention anything to do with Boris Johnson and you took from my post that I was defending the Prime Minister

I think in the rush to blame Boris and the Conservatives for everything, critical thinking and reading ability seems to have gone out of the window.

Didn’t Keir Starmer have drinks after work with people as well. Why no mention of that incident. Drinks were indoors instead of outside

Boris's explanation for Carrie being there was "It's her garden". Except it isn't, of course.

Plus, when I have a meeting at home, DH could say "It's my sitting room" and come and plonk himself in the middle. But somehow he manages not to.

Rules for thee, but not for me.

It's a bit of a strange work meeting where people are wandering off in groups and drinking wine with each other. Who was keeping minutes?

It was quite obviously a wind down session after the press briefing. I imagine they high five each other and have cheese and wine frequently after getting through those press questions.

I hate to break it to Carrie... it really isn't her garden as such. She's just passing through.

The part that got me was the guff about how hard they’d been working.

12-16 hours in PPE trying to resus people is working hard. No wine and cheese for any of those people.

@Frankola

Well we all know this excuse of it being a meeting is absolute twaddle.

However, Carrie being there is the easiest for them to explain. She lives there. It's her garden and she's entitled to use it.

Neither Carrie not Boris Johnson live at No.10 - they live in the flat at the top of 11 Downing Street.

Shared garden apparently. Of course that still leaves the question of why the Prime Minister's girlfriend was in attendance at a govermmental meeting.

@Kennykenkencat

Eleganz

Kennykenkencat
But that was the question.

I just answered the question. If you don’t like the answer because it doesn’t fit into your own view I can’t help that.

You have to realise that just because it isn’t your experience and your view that doesn’t mean it isn’t everyone else’s

Why would having drinks on someone’s yacht years ago mean I am part of the problem?

Why would having business meetings and drinks with plus ones be a problem in another job.

And there is me thinking we have followed nearly all the rules.

I can only be the problem if I have had Covid at any point since the lockdowns began.

Otherwise what was the problem.
What was your point then, if you weren't defending the Prime Minister's actions with your husband's boozy yacht meetings? You said you "can't see a problem" despite the problem of lack of compliance with necessary public health measures is the obvious problem right now

The question was if anyone had essential work meetings where you sat around with your spouse having food an alcohol

I answered yes. It didn’t refer to any date or time. And if you had actually read my post it did state this was a few years ago so as far as I am aware everyone was complying with the rules at the time because there weren’t any rules.
I actually find it really funny the rush to jump on the band wagon of get Boris out that everyone appears to be twisting facts to fit an agenda.
I didn’t mention anything to do with Boris Johnson and you took from my post that I was defending the Prime Minister

I think in the rush to blame Boris and the Conservatives for everything, critical thinking and reading ability seems to have gone out of the window.

Didn’t Keir Starmer have drinks after work with people as well. Why no mention of that incident. Drinks were indoors instead of outside

Thanks, the fact that you are ow whatabouting about Kier Starmer tells me I am right.

For the record Kier was wrong, but he also is not the prime minister in charge of making the rules.

@Clavinova

No idea why Johnson has a 'serious expression on his face' when he's quizmaster in the other pic.

A quizmaster for one round of a zoom quiz - we had loads of those organised by my dcs' school. Several teachers in the same room together.

He had two other people in the room with him, no masks and not social distancing while doing the quiz.

The guidance at that time in workplaces was that social distancing should be in place either 2m or 1m+ with face masks and face to face meetings were only recommended if necessary.

These weren't laws, but they were guidance, should government not follow its own guidance?

@VikingOnTheFridge

Shared garden apparently. Of course that still leaves the question of why the Prime Minister's girlfriend was in attendance at a govermmental meeting.

Are they forbidden from inviting guests to their meetings?

Evidently not, as we're reliably assured this was a work meeting and our eyes tell us there were guests. Again though, that still leaves the question of why this particular guest was present.

I hate to break it to Carrie... it really isn't her garden as such. She's just passing through.

And I’m sure that if she wanted to use it it’s big enough for her to do so without crashing a work meeting.

@MissTrip82

The part that got me was the guff about how hard they’d been working.

12-16 hours in PPE trying to resus people is working hard. No wine and cheese for any of those people.

Exactly - that part really annoyed me the most.

It's like the rest of us don't work hard in our jobs, or weren't working hard at the time.
Many keyworkers also spent hours each day with their co-workers, yet despite spending all day with each other (as some have argues on this thread those in the pictures did), they all had to leave at the end of the day to go home. Not hang around whilst drinking and mixing social groups.

They don't appreciate how they sound outside of their bubble.

'I think in the rush to blame Boris and the Conservatives for everything, critical thinking and reading ability seems to have gone out of the window. Didn’t Keir Starmer have drinks after work with people as well. Why no mention of that incident. Drinks were indoors instead of outside'

Exactly.

@ThePostWhatIWrote

They don't appreciate how they sound outside of their bubble.

Indeed they don't. The comments about how hard they were working merely underline their sense of entitlement.

@JaniieJones

'I think in the rush to blame Boris and the Conservatives for everything, critical thinking and reading ability seems to have gone out of the window. Didn’t Keir Starmer have drinks after work with people as well. Why no mention of that incident. Drinks were indoors instead of outside'

Exactly.

He's still a twat, but he didn't make the rules did he?

If it was in fact him who was in charge, and he did this, he'd have a thread about him.

I'm not sure it's us who has an issue with critical thinking to be honest.

Yes I find it hard to see Janiie's attempts at insults as anything other than flak over the target.

Didn’t Keir Starmer have drinks after work with people as well. Why no mention of that incident. Drinks were indoors instead of outside

Did Keir Starmer try to make out it was a work meeting?