"Number 10 held two boozy parties the night before the Queen mourned Prince Philip alone".... Is this finally going to be the end for B.J. /Tories?

[HeadPain]

This thread!

mobile.twitter.com/Tony_Diver/status/1481741337951195136

EXCLUSIVE

"Number 10 held two boozy parties the night before the Queen mourned Prince Philip alone.

Staff drank and at points danced until the early hours of the night of April 16.

Hours later, the Queen went to a socially-distanced funeral for Philip.

We have spoken to eyewitnesses. At a leaving do for a No10 photographer it’s alleged:

🥂Staff partied in the basement of No10, to music DJd by a special adviser.

🥂One broke Wilf Johnson’s swing in the No10 garden.

🥂Another was sent to the Co-op with a suitcase to buy booze.

Another event held to mark the departure of James Slack, Mr Johnson’s chief spinner, saw:

🍻 Staff gathered for a speech from Slack, with others dialling in via Zoom.

🍻Booze drunk and attendees spilling into the garden.

🍻Chatting and drinking into the early hours.

At the time Britain was in Step 2 of lockdown easing - which banned indoor gatherings and imposed the rule of six outside.

But the celebrations in No10 meant around 30 people were gathered for what a source declares were definitely parties.

Can No10 claim they were work events?

This was the scene in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle the next day.

Prince Philip’s funeral was restricted to 30 people, and the PM declined to attend, to make more space for family.

The Queen did not participate in the service. "

@whenwillthemadnessend

It's awful that all these parties have been happening while We are locked down but I don't see how Prince Phillips funeral is relevant

Ok the country was in mourning but realistically he isn't the king so nothing had really changed for the masses.

That's just click bait.

I work in the public sector. We weren't even allowed to do any work-related comms on social media during the days before the funeral, let alone have a load of boozy parties (this was following government guidance). Someone's virtual leaving do was postponed until after the funeral as well, yet they held an in-person boozy leaving do regardless.

They are hypocrites who feel it is okay to tell others what to do, severely restrict their lives, but ignore their own rules.

Are there any local elections due this year?It would be interesting to see how the Tories do at a local level before the next General election.

The big Tory town next to me had a local election before Christmas, the tories won but by a small margin of 4,000. They usually win comfortably with a 20k+ majority but not this time. They'll have to work harder at the next General election to convince voters.

@bakingbernie

Do you think he's had an attack of honesty since the parties and seen the error of his ways? Do you think he can lead with integrity, respect for the role of law, concern for helping the people of this country?

Because, at this point, I'd say he couldn't be trusted to sit the right way on a lavatory.

He is not the leader we need to do those things you think are important. If he can't follow the basic pandemic rules that his government put through parliament and had voted into law what chance is there that he can cope with any of the other things you list?

And it will only be "history" when those responsible for this shit show have been firmly consigned to the past.

You can't acknowledge that it's about leadership but then claim it doesn't matter, because in case you haven't noticed, we still have the same leaders in place.

The integrity of those at the top does matter. Perhaps more than anything. Let's not pretend that it doesn't.

@Notonthestairs

Yes of course I know that. I said it's awful in my first paragraph and they shouldn't get away with it.

But I really don't see why the press have jumped on the funeral It's click bait and has no relevance.

The fact that all
Of us as smaller restricted
Funeral including my family is what relevant. The queen went through want we all did

@Malibuismysecrethome

The police were actually going into peoples homes and checking that they were not holding gatherings or seeing friends, usually reported by neighbours or people with a grudge. The police outside No 10 let them hold parties in the garden.

Exactly.

If it’s just fine for the Tories to have repeated piss ups because the rules were hard/not that important/don’t count if you’ve been a bit stressed, then every single fine or punishment that’s been inflicted on other people since last March for breaking the rules, needs to be revoked,

[quote Valeriekat]@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

If you bothered to do a search you would see that he was on a scholarship to Eton[/quote]
Which he won after several years at a boarding prep school.

It doesn't help Johnson to say he didn't know about it. The fact is that there was a culture at no. 10 that the rules didn't apply to them, and that culture came from the top.

No way in a million years would the likes of Thatcher or May have contemplated coming to the dispatch box and claiming that they didn't know what was going on at no. 10.

@eleganz
Yes I clearly said it's awful
In the first paragraph I'm talking about the funeral of Prince Philip being irrelevant.

They still had parties and that was wrong regardless

Please absorb what you read

@bakingbernie

Don't you think there are other things to worry about. I would rather our government focused 1) On getting the country back economically after the Pandemic. 2) Sorting out the looming energy crisis. 3) Try to do something about the very real threat of being involved in a war in Ukraine.

Are a few bottles of wine that important?

Oooh, straight out of the Conservative Central Office book of excuses. When will they learn that that one doesn't work, because, guess what, the electorate can worry about two things at once? And frankly yes, I do worry that those in charge think the rules they make don't apply to them, not least because we're seeing that attitude expressed time after time in outright corruption.

[quote Valeriekat]@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

If you bothered to do a search you would see that he was on a scholarship to Eton[/quote]
Winning a King's Scholarship is a very prestigious achievement and probably gave Johnson delusions of grandeur that he has consistently failed to live up to ever since. He would have gone to Eton or a similar place anyway as all his siblings were sent to public schools.

2 weeks before that I was unable to be with my dying mother as she lay in a hospice dying of bowel cancer.

I am incandescent with rage about this. 10 months on I am wracked with guilt and feelings of letting her down during her final days.

It is about leadership I agree, but it is history. There are far more important things to worry about

History? It was a few months ago, FFS, in a pandemic which is still going on.

If we could all use that excuse to get out of wrongdoing, we might as well close down the criminal courts now. "You can't arrest me for that burglary last week, it's history, haven't we all got more important things to worry about?"

Johnson's family are far wealthier than most or they couldn't have sent him to Eton. If he feels entitled to even greater wealth, he should have gone into the City instead of journalism.

His problem is that he has a stupid number of children whose mothers reasonably expect them all to get the same expensive education as each other. But, of course, that was an entirely avoidable problem, and it's symptomatic of the fact that, given the choice, he puts his own pleasures first every single time.

@BashStreetKid

It doesn't help Johnson to say he didn't know about it. The fact is that there was a culture at no. 10 that the rules didn't apply to them, and that culture came from the top.

No way in a million years would the likes of Thatcher or May have contemplated coming to the dispatch box and claiming that they didn't know what was going on at no. 10.

Agreed. Apart from the disgraceful behaviour, who funds all these parties?

Voters need to remember their anger about the parties and punish the tories at the next election. But we all know it'll all be forgotten by then and they'll be re-elected again......

I made a comment above that if he was a decent prime minister I’d have forgiven a few parties. To expand that point, he’s a shit prime minister and its an appalling administration, I’m very much not a conservative supporter, but there were some proper heavy weight tries who would have made a decent government who have left because of Boris Johnson.

The parties are unforgivable, the culture in no 10 it’s all absolutely wrong in the circumstances that everyone else was living in, their rules.

The 20th may byob was particularly egregious.

But, if a government had been running things well, competently and fairly and a few junior aides had got toddled on cheap wine in a basement…

What has happened is dreadful and he should go, for his lies and lack of control. But also for the shit way he’s handled the pandemic, Brexit and all the rest.

And the Queen picture it is relevant and important.

@whenwillthemadnessend the photo of the Queen represents what your family went through too. That's my point. They don't have pictures of the your families funeral.

It's not about Prince Philip, it's about the sacrifice of usual - and often comforting - social norms.

God knows what will happen at the next election. It amazed me that anyone elected him in the first place, but I suspect almost anybody whose name wasn't Corbyn would have won against Labour at that time. Labour under Starmer is doing better in the polls, but will it last? They haven't covered themselves in glory on all fronts either. I can't remember a time in my lifetime when politicians have been so uninspiring, and I'm 60 now.

@bakingbernie

Don't you think there are other things to worry about. I would rather our government focused 1) On getting the country back economically after the Pandemic. 2) Sorting out the looming energy crisis. 3) Try to do something about the very real threat of being involved in a war in Ukraine.

Are a few bottles of wine that important?

Exactly what the tories want you to think, well done!

@Monsterpage

2 weeks before that I was unable to be with my dying mother as she lay in a hospice dying of bowel cancer.

I am incandescent with rage about this. 10 months on I am wracked with guilt and feelings of letting her down during her final days.

I'm so sorry, @Monsterpage.

The government isn't going to be toppled over some parties.
Only a GE will decide who sits in parliament. I bet my house and business it won't be Labour.

"I bet Kier Starmer and Labour held some parties!"

Jesus, Tory voters really are a deluded bunch.

@bakingbernie

Don't you think there are other things to worry about. I would rather our government focused 1) On getting the country back economically after the Pandemic. 2) Sorting out the looming energy crisis. 3) Try to do something about the very real threat of being involved in a war in Ukraine.

Are a few bottles of wine that important?

YABVU if you think the government and it's representatives have the competence or care to remedy these situations effectively, party or no party.

[quote Valeriekat]@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

If you bothered to do a search you would see that he was on a scholarship to Eton[/quote]
You still have to be well off to have a child at an independent school. It’s not just about fees; the uniforms are usually horrendously expensive and you pay for everything.