AIBU to think that Boris should resign now?

[Seemslikeagoodidea]

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?

He's apologised and sounded genuine

His use of the "I didn't think it was a party" excuse didn't sound in the least genuine. It sounded like the desperate product of a day of brainstorming with his advisers to try to find the least worst excuse. It was pretty clear even he knew it just wasn't credible.

It’s obviously such an emotive issue that people can’t see reason.

I think you can’t see reason.

If we were all safe as long as we were at a ‘work function’ why could we not all take advantage of this loophole? Families could have incorporated to avoid zoom funerals. Students could have formed LLPs to avoid isolation. Did the people working at Amazon know it was party time as long as they were with work colleagues?

The man who was in charge of setting the rules clearly didn’t have a clue what they were for or what people were suffering. Doesn’t that worry you?

@Toblerone20

It’s not ideal, but there’s no alternative right now until someone from the opposition actually steps up and proves themselves capable. I don’t see that happening any time soon! So I’d imagine after the initial shock has died down people will continue to support Boris / Tories.

Tbh I don’t see why ‘capable’ is a requirement going forward. Boris never proved that did he? How many jobs has he been sacked from for lying again?

@Toblerone20

It’s not ideal, but there’s no alternative right now until someone from the opposition actually steps up and proves themselves capable. I don’t see that happening any time soon! So I’d imagine after the initial shock has died down people will continue to support Boris / Tories.

If you honestly think there is no alternative to our current lying, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, stupid haired and empty brained wanker of a PM I suggest you look further afield than the telegraph for your news.

The Tories don't care whether he had a party or not, Johnson will survive as long as the Tories believe he is an electoral asset. Once they think he's a liability, he's gone. If there's still a large proportion of the population who think "good ol' Boris, he's such a larf!" and vote for the Tories on that basis, his fat carcass will survive. If the joke has run its course with the electorate, he'll be forced out.

Tbh I don’t see why ‘capable’ is a requirement going forward. Boris never proved that did he? How many jobs has he been sacked from for lying again?

Agree. Johnson, by his own admission, didn’t have a clue what was going on.

@Clavinova

BashStreetKid Jeremy Corbyn was not Prime Minister, he wasn't even leader of the opposition.

He was at the time of the last general election - therefore relevant to the post about voting Tory.

As you linked this tenuously with an allegation that Corbyn broke lockdown rules, and those rules didn't exist at the time of the last general election, this is, yet again, a desperate attempt to deflect and utterly irrelevant.

I watched PMQs and saw Johnson's half hearted apology for the party which wasn't which he stumbled into by accident thinking it was a work do.

I missed the person calling him a wanker. Too true. I imagine the Speaker didn't hear that either.

@merrymouse

Tbh I don’t see why ‘capable’ is a requirement going forward. Boris never proved that did he? How many jobs has he been sacked from for lying again?

Agree. Johnson, by his own admission, didn’t have a clue what was going on.

I think I’d be swayed by ‘not a complete bastard’ at the moment!

It’s utterly tragic that people died alone but do you not understand why that was, why the NHS needed to be protected?
If Boris and cronies believed in their own strategy for limiting the spread of infection and protecting the NHS from overload then they wouldn’t have partied, gone to Barnard Castle and been filmed snogging parliamentary aides. All of these things increased the risk of transmission and therefore hospitalisations.

None of this is about individual cases however tragic and sad they are, it’s about protecting the entire population and the country as a whole.
The legislation was created at a national level but it was down to the individual to toe the line to make it work. Yet the policy-makers themselves couldn’t even manage it. So when the public who did stay away, toed the line and as a result missed births, deaths and other life-changing events hear of this, it’s no surprise that it feels personal.

People can’t see reason.
What is meant by this? The close contact socialisation and breaching of lockdown rules by government officials directly relates to ‘protection of the NHS’ and the reasons the public were kept from being with their loved ones at critically important, life changing moments.

"Douglas Ross, leader of Scottish Conservatives, has called for Boris Johnson to go"

"A vice-chairman of the 1922 committee has publicly called for Boris Johnson to go.

Tory MP Will Wragg, a select committee chairman, told BBC R4: "A series of unforced errors are deeply damaging to the perception of the party. The Prime Minister's position is untenable."

Asked by
@BBCcarolynquinn
if PM should resign, Will Wragg said “I think that would be preferable”.

He said colleagues are “frankly worn out of defending what is invariably indefensible & that for their sakes at least the Prime Minister should see that and do the right thing.”

Wragg added: “I cannot in all sincerity see a way where these issues go away and that we can move on... I’m afraid it is the inevitable conclusion, is the only way to do that is with a change.”"

"'Enough is enough, a red line has been crossed'

Veteran Tory Sir Roger Gale tells
@BorisJohnson
he can either resign 'with dignity... or the 1922 Committee will have to take action' "

Meeting of 1922 committee this evening.

"Wow,
@bbcpm
reporting that the whips are trying to scare new conservative MPs by misleading them into believing that if they write letters of no confidence to the 1922 committee the PM will know who they are (this is false)."
mobile.twitter.com/RupertMyers/status/1481314677665714178

I support the party - but I think he should go yes.

I’m pretty sure unless Labour gets it’s act together (unlikely), this will just pan out to be another Brexit type situation where the majority of people are too scared to even voice their opinion for fear of being branded racist or in this case uncaring of all the people who died in the pandemic etc. That again will again lead to some surprises when the votes are counted

@JaniieJones

'What is our 'strong position'?'

Fastest growing economy in the G7, fastest vaccine rollout , no further restrictions even with Scotland and Wales flapping, Freedom day in July etc etc etc.

You've erected tents in your carpark to deal with bodies?!! Where tf is this and why aren't the media reporting on it!

But all economic forecasters are putting hefty warnings around the UK economy, all related to Brexit, lack of trade treaties with other partners, difficulties in the supply chain, and inflation beyond acceptable levels and set to shoot up as power costs shoot up.

So-called Freedom Day is irrelevant in light of the restrictions put in place subsequently. And no-one is celebrating the massive increases in hospital waiting lists.

I never thought he should have been elected anyway so yes of course.

@Toblerone20

It’s not ideal, but there’s no alternative right now until someone from the opposition actually steps up and proves themselves capable. I don’t see that happening any time soon! So I’d imagine after the initial shock has died down people will continue to support Boris / Tories.

Why do you think Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are not capable ?

More to the point, why do you think they're not more capable than the present government ?

Boris Johnson - liar, racist, homophobe, misogynist, cheat

Priti Patel - not that bright, fond of soundbites, has achieved nothing of use, is bringing in bills that are a very serious threat to some of our civil liberties, has sent lots of money to the French to stop 'illegal immigrants' but that doesn't seem to have worked.

Dominic Raab - misogynist, decided it was best to lie on a beach during the Kabul 'pull out', also a liar

Rishi Sunak - immensely privileged and clearly has no empathy with people living on the breadline (or below it), but quite happy to prop up people in the housing market with tax cuts on stamp duty; so the assertion there is no money isn't really true. There's just no money for poor people.

Liz Truss - spends taxpayer money on very expensive restaurants that happen to belong to Tory donors. Thinks that some of the trade deals she's landing are 'amazing' but when scrutinised they seem not quite to be as advertised. Of the opinion that the British public are very lazy and need to work harder like people in Asia. Probably she's thinking of sweatshops in Bangladesh but who knows.

I mean, this is like shooting fish in a barrel, but you keep telling yourself there isn't an alternative to the above...

@Toblerone20

I’m pretty sure unless Labour gets it’s act together (unlikely), this will just pan out to be another Brexit type situation where the majority of people are too scared to even voice their opinion for fear of being branded racist or in this case uncaring of all the people who died in the pandemic etc. That again will again lead to some surprises when the votes are counted

So? Surely Rishi Sunak could slot right in, he doesn’t need Labour.

@Clavinova

We are constantly picking empty fights with Europe for no good reason

That reminds me - a number of posters on this thread were defending Ursula von der Leyen last year - not only did she hold some unnecessary in-person meetings which sparked several outbreaks of Covid amongst EU Commissioners and staff, but she also drove 5/6 hours to Germany when everyone thought she was self-isolating in her flat in Belgium. That was all hushed-up.

Yet again. If you are bothered about Ursula von Der Leyen, start another thread. What she did last year is totally irrelevant to this thread.

Why do you think Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are not capable ?

What makes you think that Keir is capable?

Why is he not wiping the floor with Boris?

We have more important things to worry about as a country than whether people broke lockdown.

No, we really don't, @Toblerone20.

Because this was the Prime Minister breaking the law which he had put in place, and showing total contempt for the Rule of Law and the electorate. All of this on top of the stinking trail of corruption, lies and greed which he has been leaving since even before he came to power. If the PM won't obey the law, it immediately incentivises everyone else to follow his lead, and indeed we have seen this repeatedly specifically in relation to the pandemic. It is pretty clear that that was a factor in the speed with which omicron took hold in the UK and our disproportionately high numbers.

Can you really claim it isn't worth worrying about hundreds of thousands of people becoming ill and having to isolate; the wreckage that has caused to the economy and health service; and thousands of people dying and becoming long-term disabled? And it also isn't worth worrying about the rule of law? Why not?

Did you watch PMQ today? He did.

'Why do you think Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are not capable ?'

Oh please. They should be running rings round Johnson but once again Johnson came across as genuine and believable while Starmer wibbles and whines ineffectually and 'yeah but no but Rayner' is an utter embarrassment. She was interviewed raving about all the opportunities she had in 1996 when the Tories were in power. I mean really other than bellowing Tory scum at every opportunity what does she offer?!

The government aren’t to blame for the pandemic and I believe they have done the best they can and I’m sure they’ve all worked extremely hard

How can you possibly make that claim when you compare the performance of our government to that of other European and Western countries over the past two years, @Toblerone20? Have you ever actually looked at the statistics?

@NiceShrubbery

Why do you think Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are not capable ?

What makes you think that Keir is capable?

Why is he not wiping the floor with Boris?

I think he's too 'nice' basically. He's still in 'erudite lawyer' mode.

But on the other hand, Angela Rayner wipes the floor continually with Boris Johnson - she's superb at it - and yet she then gets criticised in other quarters because she goes too far apparently. I suppose it's just misogyny all dressed up nicely.

I think Keir Starmer is capable. He's a lawyer, so he will have an analytical mind and the ability to reason things through properly. I also think he's basically a decent man. I for one would like a return to politics where people are decent and reliable and it's not based on personalities. Angela Rayner is a good foil for him because she has the 'killer instinct' spark he lacks in some ways. They're a very good TEAM.

You have there in a few sentences why they are streets ahead of Boris Johnson and his cohorts.

So I repeat, why do YOU think they are not capable ?

@JaniieJones

'Why do you think Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are not capable ?'

Oh please. They should be running rings round Johnson but once again Johnson came across as genuine and believable while Starmer wibbles and whines ineffectually and 'yeah but no but Rayner' is an utter embarrassment. She was interviewed raving about all the opportunities she had in 1996 when the Tories were in power. I mean really other than bellowing Tory scum at every opportunity what does she offer?!

If you watch her at PMQ's she decimates Johnson. Destroys him totally.

And, yes, she calls some Tories scum. She's not wrong though, is she ?