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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to think that Boris should resign now?

994 replies

Seemslikeagoodidea · 11/01/2022 17:45

Today it has been revealed that in May 2020 invitations were emailed to (allegedly) 100 Downing Street staff, for a garden party. This party happened during the first lockdown, when many people could not visit their elderly relatives, even on their death beds, due to the lockdown rules. The email was sent by one of the PM's top people, and stated that people should "bring their own booze and enjoy the sunshine". Today Boris has been conspicuous by his absence.

I think this is the final straw and shows a lack of judgement and absence of moral fibre. Enough is enough - he should resign and if he doesn't do it then his own party should force him to go.

AIBU?

OP posts:
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5
ElenaCouch · 12/01/2022 14:12

So can they actually be fined for breaching covid rules? Is there a statue of limitation? Why haven't they? I want them fined. And then I want them to fuck off.

Notonthestairs · 12/01/2022 14:12

In the first lockdown there was no exemption for workplace gatherings.

Otherwise supermarket worker could have gathered in the car parks for a knees up.

SueSaid · 12/01/2022 14:12

I must remember next time I chat to people for 25mins I've attended a party.

Mumoblue · 12/01/2022 14:12

He should have resigned ages ago. Ideally before he started the job. Slimy git.

IGotHam · 12/01/2022 14:13

JanieJones how do you explain so many errors of judgement? Boris seems to have a error of judgement every other day.

justasking111 · 12/01/2022 14:13

Not sure it was a works do the invitation went beyond the office I heard on the media not that I trust them 😂

ancientgran · 12/01/2022 14:13

[quote Cornettoninja]@justasking111 well my NHS colleagues were horrified at the idea Christmas 2020 might be a free for all and my partner who was part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia also thinks the government are piss taking twats.

Looks like neither of our anecdotes are conclusive and mean precisely fuck all.[/quote]
Is he someone's neighbour though? That is an important distinction don't you know.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 12/01/2022 14:14

@ElenaCouch

So can they actually be fined for breaching covid rules? Is there a statue of limitation? Why haven't they? I want them fined. And then I want them to fuck off.
There was a statue of limitation but some people dismantled it and threw it into the harbour.
Itsalmostanaccessory · 12/01/2022 14:14

@JaniieJones

I'm going to ask again but you probably wont answer as you seem to be very selective with your replies.

Boris and this government made the law that gatherings were not allowed. Social gatherings with colleagues were not allowed. If you were not actively working then you could not be together.

Any other business would have been fined for inviting their employees to sit out for some wine after work.

This gathering was not a work activity. They were not working. According to the laws Boris set out, this gathering was illegal and any other business would have been punished.

Just like all the other gatherings that government workers have been caught holding, they were not working and they were not socially distanced.

Boris made it law that this was illegal. Boris mandated the police to enforce this law. Boris then broke it. Do you not see an issue with that sort of behaviour from a prime minister?

Soffit · 12/01/2022 14:14

it is obvious that Rishi does not want the job, right now in 2022 at a stage of the pandemic when we still cannot predict the end. This leaves precisely nobody with more charisma. It leaves may honest potential leaders but as Kier proves, it is not enough

ancientgran · 12/01/2022 14:15

@JaniieJones

I must remember next time I chat to people for 25mins I've attended a party.
Will you be invited, will food be laid on, will you be asked to byob and 20 months later will you be able to accurately say to the minute how long you stayed?
justasking111 · 12/01/2022 14:17

We have had great leaders and leadership that got an easy ride. Obama got an easy ride but what did he achieve. BLM had to rise for any improvement , that's post Obama so no he was a vanilla president IMO

placemats · 12/01/2022 14:17

I've written to my Conservative MP about this latest, in a long line, of revelations asking for her to confirm to me whether or not he should resign due to his disgraceful behaviour.

I don't vote Conservative but she is my representative MP in Parliament.

I'm upset today at the sacrifices all families made, including ours - we were lucky not to have to deaths then, but did attend funerals during further lockdowns.

He has to go.

justasking111 · 12/01/2022 14:18

@placemats

I've written to my Conservative MP about this latest, in a long line, of revelations asking for her to confirm to me whether or not he should resign due to his disgraceful behaviour.

I don't vote Conservative but she is my representative MP in Parliament.

I'm upset today at the sacrifices all families made, including ours - we were lucky not to have to deaths then, but did attend funerals during further lockdowns.

He has to go.

Your MP will toe the party line unfortunately
BashStreetKid · 12/01/2022 14:18

Simon Hoare MP now saying this was a party to welcome Johnson back from hospital and say thank you to Raab for holding the fort.
twitter.com/search?q=Raab&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

So definitely a party, then, and it does look rather like Raab has some questions to answer, too.

Teadrinker11 · 12/01/2022 14:18

Couldn't agree more. He's unprofessional and selfish. Can't see him going for a while though.

TheBestofTimesTheWorstofTimes · 12/01/2022 14:19

@JaniieJones

I must remember next time I chat to people for 25mins I've attended a party.
yes, if you had an emailed invite to a BYOB gathering then yes, it cab be classed as that. 25 mins or 2.5 hours makes no difference so not sure why the time has to be specified unless to try and minimise the fault "I only broke the law by going 80mph for 25 mins guv'nor" probably wont wash in a court of law. Neither should it here.

Not exactly rocket science is it?

placemats · 12/01/2022 14:19

@justasking111

We have had great leaders and leadership that got an easy ride. Obama got an easy ride but what did he achieve. BLM had to rise for any improvement , that's post Obama so no he was a vanilla president IMO
what the actual heck has this got to do with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

Why would you feel so low about yourself you would personally scrape the barrel using your tongue?

Clavinova · 12/01/2022 14:19

Itsalmostanaccessory
Boris and this government made the law that gatherings were not allowed. Social gatherings with colleagues were not allowed. If you were not actively working then you could not be together.

So where does that leave Keir Starmer - who voted for those same laws in the HOC?

www.thesun.co.uk/news/14826418/keir-starmer-beer-indoor-gathering/

Jellllybeeen · 12/01/2022 14:20

Absolutely he should go. My wonderful grandma passed away in May 2020 due to complications following a fall in April. She was one of the kindest people I've ever known. The last time I saw her well was in March not long before lockdown but when Covid was spreading and I didn't hug her because we were conscious of being careful. She fell a few weeks later and broke her leg and didn't recover. I managed to visit her once in the nursing home as she was deemed end of life so the eg allowed one visit per day for an hour. When she got very lightly better we were no longer allowed to visit her and she passed all of a sudden without any of us by her side. We couldn't have a proper funeral for her and she so deserved to have a wonderful send off with all the family there. It still doesn't feel real that she passed and I miss her so much. I wish now that I had hugged her before she got ill. We followed all the rules as we were told it was the right thing to do to stop the spread and protect people. I am disgusted to think that around this time, Boris Johnson and the others making the rules, those who are supposed to set an example were meeting up and enjoying drinks together. He needs to go and whoever replaces him needs to do better!

placemats · 12/01/2022 14:20

@justasking111

If she does, I will personally hold her to this come the next general election.

BashStreetKid · 12/01/2022 14:20

@JaniieJones

I just find it odd that all these reported 'parties' have been anything but.

3 people doing a zoom Christmas quiz, Downing Street staff sitting outside. Wine may have been drunk but we've yet to see 2am photos of people actually 'partying' aren't we.

When you have a get-together in the garden at 6 pm which is expressly for drinks on a BYOB basis, it's a soiree/celebration/party. In May 2020, all of those were unlawful.
mumshouse · 12/01/2022 14:20

We'll see him again once he's over this latest sulk and wants more pictures in the press.

Cornettoninja · 12/01/2022 14:21

It occurs to me that Boris wasn’t long out of hospital himself at the time of this party. The PM dying would have caused some serious problems at a time the country was in the midst of a crisis. Following this line they were prepared to risk 100 members of staff - who would have had to be classified as essential - at a time any outbreak in number 10 would have affected the running of the country.

Those of us who worked during the first lockdown know there was no such thing as a bubble of 100 people. People had smaller departmental bubbles for work purposes and there were even video calls between departments on the same site to keep contacts at a minimum.

Anyone defending this needs to think long and hard about which side of the debate they think they belong on. If you weren’t sent an invite for 20/05 not one person in charge of the country thinks you’re their equal - they think they’re a class distinct from you and only you should have been subject to scrutiny/potential legal repercussions for similar behaviour at the same time. It’s one thing to have the piss taken out of you, quite another to defend them with their boot on your head.

SueSaid · 12/01/2022 14:21

@IGotHam

JanieJones how do you explain so many errors of judgement? Boris seems to have a error of judgement every other day.
Errors of judgement over a 25min visit to a alleged 'party' and wallpaper. I agree he should've gone to B&Q like the rest of us.

Fortunately he gets much of the important stuff right. Fastest growth in the G7, fastest vaccine rollout, best handling of omicron in the UK (sniggers at Nicola and Drakeford), Freedom day in July etc etc.

I can't get my knickers in a knot over work colleagues being in an outdoor area of their workplace. He's apologised, it was an error of judgement.