To think this is getting ridiculous…

[RenGreen]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59997364

I mean putting to one side she’s the Queen a woman who lost her husband after a 73 year marriage and unable to have her family by her side…a woman herself in her 90s whislt the civil servants whose advice she followed party!!!!

On top of that the other people of this nation who were protecting their loved ones - losing loved ones. Not holding celebrations. I do not believe anyone can defend this PM or his advisor/administration. We can and MUST do better.

We did lose decent Conservative MPs at the beginning of all of this because they stood up to Boris Johnson. They were expelled and we have been left with yes people.

@XantheBreeze

YANBU but also remember that many of these were civil servants with jobs to serve whatever government is in power, not stories. They should also have known better and presumably would have done the same if Starmer had been PM had they been allowed.

And as for all the journalists who attended or at least knew about all of this throughout and said and did nothing….

"Had they been allowed" is the point. Starmer would never be so stupid, or he isn't corrupt, unlike Johnson.

AlexaShutUp

I'm sorry to say it but we will only do better if people start making better choices at the ballot box.

We couldn't predict this when we went to the ballot box.

Oh but I think we could.

Everyone knew, when we went to the ballot box, how morally bankrupt Boris Johnson was and is, which is why I didn't vote for him.

Surely, knowing his track record, nobody can really find any of his behaviour surprising.

And historically parties don't win elections when the party changes, the incumbent party loses the election.

@Lesserspottedmama

Boris is a disgraceful, useless chuffer. Didn’t vote for him, never could or would.

But the thought of lockdown under labour makes me shudder. We would’ve been under house arrest. If you look back and think it was hysterical now, I’m betting it would 20x more OTT under a labour gov. They don’t value freedom, THEY know what is best for us.

When precisely have they called for that?

Boris is just the worst of a bad bunch! I can't think of a single senior politician who would make a reasonable Prime Minister or who is in any way inspirational as a leader. I really thought Kier Starmer was going to 'the man' but he has just turned out to be a personality free disappointment of a leader. Andy Burnham seems to have a bit of something about him- I'm hoping he stands again as Labour Leader when he's finished his stint as Manchester mayor.

@Arethechildreninbedyet

All those who say "they're all as bad as each other" are wrong. There's no way Starmer would allow this stuff on his watch. If he did find out a lockdown party had gone on behind his back he'd be furious and boot them out. Starmer is a person of integrity. Boris is corrupt and a liar and he has fed this culture in his team, and chooses to surround himself with other despicable people.

How do you know a politician is lying? Their bloody mouth is open.

The man is a buffoon, not as much as a buffoon as Boris but still a buffoon. Worse yet, he's a hypocrite. They've ALL done it.

He was pictured doing the EXACT same last May.

www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1549919/keir-starmer-news-labour-party-drinks-lockdown-boris-johnson-partygate

He's too 'anti-establishment' to ever make a strong, level headed leader. He makes endless promises that he never fulfils and instead appears to spend his time simply informing the public what everyone else should do.

I'm so disenchanted with the British Politics scene that I genuinely DON'T KNOW who I will vote for come the next elections. I have been a staunch labour supporter my whole life but each time I vote I find I'm doing it out of habit than support.

Not that one again. Surely you've learnt not to swallow Daily Express spin on the Labour party? It was a glass of beer during a visit to a constituency office as part of his work, not a full on party with BYOB, sausage rolls, in the evening after work. How is that EXACT same, FFS?

So, all the people complaining about what a crap job politicians do, what is stopping you from becoming a politician?

It is very easy to moan but a lot harder actually do something about it.

If you trust yourself to run a bath, then become an MP.

When precisely have they called for that?

Never.

We couldn't predict this when we went to the ballot box.

@Jk987

You couldn't have predicted that Boris - and by extension the Conservative Party - would continue having the morals of an alley cat?
I'm not sure being stupid is much of a defence.

I suspect because they’d spent all day working with one another at close quarters

@TheSixthSickSheik

I do not, for a minute, believe that the 100+ recipients of that email invitation work in close contact with each other, much less so on a day to day basis.

I agree with many previous posters.

The fundamental issue is that our political system is just not fit for purpose in a modern democracy. FPTP should be binned and a form of PR brought in. It would force political parties to work together and deliver more of what the electorate want.

I'd make political parties state funded and ban all other donations.

I'd ditch the Royal Family and have a non-political head of state.

I'd compel all MP's to use public services and not, for example, send their children to private schools. Similarly, no private healthcare for them. Travel on the train - and standard class only. You get the idea. We'd soon have excellent, world-class public services.

Get rid of the House of Lords and have a 2nd chamber that is also elected, but drawing on a different pool of candidates. Give that chamber real teeth and an ability to deal with governmental excesses (thinking of the current crime bill going through parliament as a good example of bad law being forced through).

Make the police directly accountable to the public. Commissioner's directly elected by the public and can be recalled in the way MP's can in order to get rid of them (Cressida Dick, we're looking at you here).

Renationalise water and rail for a start. I have no choice over my water supplier - so I have the worst of all worlds, a monopoly supplier for an essential service with an enforcement body that's feeble and useless. Same goes for rail.

Start making CEO's more liable for the serious errors their organisations make. At the moment the profit is privatised and any risk is socialised (ie you pay for it). Classic examples are the constant and never ended polluting by the water companies - there are simply no consequences. Same with fining the police - what on earth does this really achieve ? No, hit them in their own back pockets and it'll soon change.

So vote for Deliria Skibbly - you know it makes sense !

@Blossomtoes

You’re having a laugh *@Arethechildreninbedyet*. Starmer drank a can of beer while “standing close to two people”. Sue Gray is currently investigating 13 parties in Westminster. Hardly the same thing now, is it?

I'd be very surprised if there aren't a good number more pictures of politicians from both sides breaking their own rules with this.

If a Politician is going to stand and reprimand another, he better make damn sure he is squeaky clean himself. I think the thing that upsets people more is the hardships we all faced at the time.

Imagine being Her Majesty at the moment. Her PM is caught the night before her Husbands funeral & the leader of the opposition caught having drinks with colleagues/friends two weeks later. At the same time she had to sit alone and watch the funeral of her husband of 70 Years.

Oh dont kick him out yet, It means we will have to pay to have No.10 refurbed again

If Starmer has a fault, then not having much personality is not it. [I'm not sure I even agree with the accusation. He's serious, I grant you - I think that's an asset.] Have we learned nothing about the risks of personality politics and the perils of electing people because they're 'funny' [though Johnson never really was in my view] or because we can imagine having a pint with them.

They think that no rules apply to them and they don't care about anyone else

The same mindset all criminals have (when warned of the threat of prison etc) - they thought they'd never get caught

Fully agree with both of these - though I'll ignore daimbars's silly if sadly predictable conspiracy theorist thing - but I was thinking less about how they thought it would look and more about the assumed risk to themselves

Wouldn't anyone have thought that would matter to a bunch of people already known to be selfish and to think only of their own interests?

The leader of the opposition was photographed with a beer rather than a cup of tea in his hand. I can’t believe anyone is stupid enough to compare that with parties all over Westminster over a protracted period.

It's not difficult to find out what Labour stand for - try their website as a starting point.

@BashStreetKid gee thank you for the helpful tip. To be frank the whole of the nation should not need to go to the Labour Party website to know what they clearly represent and stand for and what their vision is. A leader should be clearly and confidently able to communicate this consistently and Starmer does not. Everything is vague... remember the stance on brexit? Neither here nor there... pretty much sums it up for everything.

@StoneofDestiny

I used to think that Starmer had integrity, but I am genuinely worried that he will campaign for election on a platform of puritanism and punishment

😂😂
Do tell what signs of Puritanism you see in Starmer, or where he has shown himself in the hanging and flogging brigade. Particularly in recent months, since your views are newly formed you suggest.

Posing in front of union jacks and going on about 'respect' a bit too much, mainly. But he also comes across as a bit inclined to follow focus groups and spin doctors, and one of the many depressing things the pandemic has shown is how many people actually support a culture of hang-and-flog and competitive martyrdom.

All those who say "they're all as bad as each other" are wrong.

I'm not sure that post is saying 'they're as bad as each other', but that there are questions to ask about that level of civil service where there seems to have been little issues with these parties.

Those questions would likely need to be asked whoever was in charge, whether or not the PM was furious with them. That culture isn't just Johnson or just the Tories, it's become entrenched in our power systems well beyond that and the vigilance and accountability that should prevent these things is clearly struggling. As the poster said, the journalists who should be part of holding people to account has some questions to answer too.

@KonTikki

I don't actually blame Johnson in any of this. He has always been an amoral, lying sociopath and anyone who trusted him or thought he may change as PM has been naive at best. But I do blame the Conservative party for electing him as their leader, then by default landing him on the rest of us. Any half decent member of the Party was purged at the start of his premiership, and the Cabal have been left to run the Government whilst making increasingly ludicrous excuses for his behaviour. It's nothing but embarrassing.

Well I certainly blame him for being an immoral, lying sociopath who is entirely untrustworthy. I also blame anyone who voted Conservative and I blame the Conservative Party MPs and Lords who collude to keep him there. This government is utterly without integrity. They treat ordinary people with contempt and believe they are somehow suited to making rules and laws that only ordinary people have to follow. Unless they are removed from power asap, we will have no NHS free at the point of delivery- it will be privatised and handed to American business who will strip billions from it as personal profit whilst also charging us all large monthly insurance premiums that many will not be able to afford. This government have, during the pandemic, blatantly paid hundreds of billions from the public purse into the bank accounts of their cronies. That in itself should prevent them ever holding office again. They have no personal or moral integrity. Johnson is the worst of them but there is a rot all the way through them.

@ILoveAllRainbowsx

So, all the people complaining about what a crap job politicians do, what is stopping you from becoming a politician?

It is very easy to moan but a lot harder actually do something about it.

If you trust yourself to run a bath, then become an MP.

So unless you want to be an mp you can't complain about them??

I vote in every election so I feel I can then criticise these elected individuals.

@BiBabbles

All those who say "they're all as bad as each other" are wrong.

I'm not sure that post is saying 'they're as bad as each other', but that there are questions to ask about that level of civil service where there seems to have been little issues with these parties.

Those questions would likely need to be asked whoever was in charge, whether or not the PM was furious with them. That culture isn't just Johnson or just the Tories, it's become entrenched in our power systems well beyond that and the vigilance and accountability that should prevent these things is clearly struggling. As the poster said, the journalists who should be part of holding people to account has some questions to answer too.

Don't forget the police. The Metropolitan Police is, frankly, a disgrace and - like fish - the rot and stink starts at the head.

They have steadfastly refused to investigate any of this despite mounting and incontrovertible evidence and are now saying they need to wait for the report before they investigate. Why ?

@LuluBlakey1

Absolutely and totally in agreement with you.

YABU because this whole concern for the Queen is so slavish.

She’s an extremely privileged woman surrounded by her family, she is just fine.

If you think she’s been crying at this you’re deluded.

Feel sorry for the public who have followed the rules, much of whom in tiny homes.