AIBU to assume Boris Johnson is lying?

[Thirtytimesround]

Cummings says that he warned Boris the drinks party was against the covid rules.

Boris says he didn’t. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60039868

So, given the track record, AIBU to assume that BJ is either
(A) lying to Parliament, or
(B) so bad at his job that he has no idea what his private secretary is up to, or what the rules he created actually said, or what the difference is between working and having a drinks party.

I wouldn't believe a word Dom says. Which isn't to say that I think Boris is telling the truth.
I think the real truth is somewhere between knowing and not knowing ie he he didn't know, even though he might have had an inkling.

@Unsure33 But he was a good MP

Umm, not really, and he was sacked from the shadow cabinet for lying to the then leader about an affair

Don't worry about his wages, he seems to find ways to top them up... with Conservative party donors paying for his decor and far flung hols - which is not a problem as they obviously don't want anything in return.

@the80sweregreat

Ok, so Sue Gray should also look into Keir starmer I haven't a problem with this at all.

Nor me . According to the rules meets inside we’re more risky than meeting outside in a garden .

And yes there is a difference between 30 people and 100 and describing it as industrial partying.

I totally understand why people are upset . I lost relatives to covid as well . But the vaccine may have saved us so if you are going to blame him for everything then you have to give credit as well .

[quote 22itsallnew]**@Unsure33* But he was a good MP*

Umm, not really, and he was sacked from the shadow cabinet for lying to the then leader about an affair

Don't worry about his wages, he seems to find ways to top them up... with Conservative party donors paying for his decor and far flung hols - which is not a problem as they obviously don't want anything in return.[/quote]
How do you know , we’re you in his constituency?

I know of a number of people he helped personally as an MP , fighting for them .

[quote 22itsallnew]**@Unsure33* But he was a good MP*

Umm, not really, and he was sacked from the shadow cabinet for lying to the then leader about an affair

Don't worry about his wages, he seems to find ways to top them up... with Conservative party donors paying for his decor and far flung hols - which is not a problem as they obviously don't want anything in return.[/quote]
He is not stupid and I understand about the flat .but that is not money in his pocket . FACT area nhs managers get paid more than a pm

And bigger pensions .

So overall if you look at it you pay peanuts you get monkeys .

@liveforsummer

I get this off my 5 and 6 year olds a lot at work ... Claims of 'I didn't know' big difference is they dissent actually make the rules in the first place. WTF Boris 🙈🙈

As far as I can see when he was invited he thought it was a works meeting . When he got there he may of realised that was not true . He stayed for 25 minutes

If this is true then personally I forgive him if he did not organise it

If he did then yes he deserves to go

But I still would not have wanted to be pm at this time .

So overall if you look at it you pay peanuts you get monkeys

So basically you agree that Boris is a low quality PM?

@sadpapercourtesan

Much as it pains me to lend any credence to that poisonous little eft - Cummings' stock-in-trade is vengeful, premeditated destruction of people he no longer needs, so I am assuming he has the receipts to back up this onslaught on Johnson.

It's so, so depressing that this is our politics now. And likely to be so for a good long stretch, as long as the witless keep bleating "But Starmer is stodgy...Corbyn is a terrorist...no viable opposition, what else are we to do" and voting for the absolute worst this country has seen since Thatcher.

Totally agree.

Although I don’t agree Boris has been the worst l they did a halfway good job withi furlough and very low interest rates for company loans for those in trouble. A lot of countries did not have that support or produce the vaccine programme .

@Justkeeppedaling

I wouldn't believe a word Dom says. Which isn't to say that I think Boris is telling the truth. I think the real truth is somewhere between knowing and not knowing ie he he didn't know, even though he might have had an inkling.

How did he not know?! He was the one being televised telling everyone to stay at home?

His own speech from 10th May 2020 www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-address-to-the-nation-on-coronavirus-10-may-2020

So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home.And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces COVID-secure.

You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household

You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.

And I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big Ifs. It depends on all of us – the entire country – to follow the advice, to observe social distancing, and to keep that R down

Nowhere does he say you can have a boozy work do in your garden, because its sunny, you've been working hard and are a bit fed up. It's an absolute disgrace that he partied at No10 telling other people they had to put up with it, home school while working & hold funerals over Zoom.

@noblegiraffe

So overall if you look at it you pay peanuts you get monkeys

So basically you agree that Boris is a low quality PM?

To an extent yes .however I don’t agree he is any worse than Corbyn or starmer would be .

Starmer agrees in parliament then stabs him in the back and as an ex Labour voter I hate saying that .

They are all as bad as each other .

@22itsallnew

But they were outside ?

And they presumably worked together.

And it looked like they socially distanced ?

There were plenty of hypocrites on here doing worse .

And like I said I lost relatives and had to organise a joint funeral with limited attendees . So I am torn . But I also did not have to run a country in a pandemic when economic and scientific strategy were in conflict.

You think Starmer would be as corrupt as Johnson? The unlawful VIP lane for giving covid contracts to mates? The unlawful proroguing of Parliament to avoid votes? The holidays and gold wallpaper which look very much like bribes? Shagging Acuri and giving her govt funding? The constant lying to parliament?

That’s just while in parliament, let’s not look at his sackings for lying while a journalist, or the racism.

You think Starmer wouldn’t be any worse??

@Unsure33 yes I did live in his constituency & I heard stories on the local grapvine that were less complimentary (generally he was popular in a sort of daft posh boy way, pretty much as he is as PM)

Why are you comparing him to members of a different political party. I'm comparing his conduct with members of his own party and find his conduct and judgment seriously lacking. You wouldn't have got this load of bollocks and outright lies from Brown, Cameron or May. Johnson is reaching new depths in destroying public trust in Government.

He's a pathological liar whose contempt for the public is wrapped up in his buffoonery which shockingly is swallowed up by so many.

Enough!

Lots of defending of Johnson on this and on other threads @Unsure33 ? For an ex labour voter you are showing a suspicious amount of loyalty.

By the way I know Brown is Labour! I was just giving examples of people who took the job of PM seriously.

@Unsure33 Did you read the part that said no socialising outside unless its with your family? If our work had arranged drinks in the garden we would have had the police called on us!

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/10/email-shows-boris-johnsons-official-invited-no-10-staff-to-lockdown-byob-party

@Unsure33 There were plenty of hypocrites on here doing worse

Can you really not see the difference between the conduct of Joe Public and the Prime Minister who had closed schools and businesses and was responsible for delivering the public health message to the country?

No-one's saying he had an easy job. We are saying he fucked up the job.

As far as I can see when he was invited he thought it was a works meeting . When he got there he may of realised that was not true . He stayed for 25 minutes

@Unsure33

Where are you getting this from?
Johnson said he wasn't invited to the 'socially distant, thanks for all your hard work, bring some booze, works meeting'. He said he hadn't seen the email, wasn't sent one, and knew nothing about it beforehand.

But let's imagine that he stumbled upon this 'event', in his garden, realised it was - shock horror - actually a party, so what, he turned round and went back inside, without saying a word? The Prime Minister? The man who stood in front of cameras on a daily basis and told us all to stay at home, not to mix with people we didn't live with. The man that told us that people were going to die but pleaded with us to just do as he said to minimise risks?

He realised his colleagues were having a party outside so left them to it and denied it? That's the defence? Really?

personally I forgive him if he did not organise it

Anyone who has worked in Whitehall will tell you it is extremely unlikely a PPS would organise something like that without getting the boss's approval.

This will amuse:

twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1483418498944671746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1483418498944671746%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2Fline-of-duty-stars-reprise-roles-to-slam-boris-johnson-in-brutal-ac-12-interview-spoof-312102

Of course he's lying! He isn't that much an idiot he knew he was breaking rules. But so did everyone else. I don't believe anyone in power wouldn't have behaved better, even the ones now calling them out on a party, it was a year ago, how much have they gained from keeping quiet about it.

Without money this would have been news a year ago. So yer Boris Johnson should be sacked, but there's no one better who will replace him

Some of these parties were thrown after Boris Johnson had not long come out of hospital very poorly with covid 19.
He was obviously not worried about getting it again by allowing these gatherings / work events or whatever they actually were ( parties )
If he was in doubt , he could have just looked up the rules online! All at your fingertips right there. Not knowing isn't an argument really.
Especially when you helped to make the rules.

So it seems tactic cutnpastenova has been deployed as part of Operation Big Dog. We're flattered, I'm sure. Up there with "Red Meat" no doubt.

I think the only post I have ever seen from Clav that didn't involve any cut and pasted old newspaper clips was a post where they denied all they ever did was post cut and pasted old newspaper clips.

Oh, or that they were just "popping out"

Thread about people fined for breaking the rules, read and weep
twitter.com/kirkkorner/status/1483705791379034112?s=21

One rule for us.....

The only thing I'm surprised at with Boris is that so many women want to shag him.

The problem is that if he goes (and he clearly will) the rest of the rotten bunch are still there. You can see that the rot goes deep - they were all at it having lots and lots of parties while people, even children, died alone.

And the value for money thing doesn't really fly. Nurses, junior doctors and teachers have behaved with integrity, dignity and have sacrificed a lot for others during this pandemic. They're paid less than MPs and the PM.

DC and BJ are like immature and disruptive schoolkids having a spat. They don't act like responsible adults and both of them are wreaking havoc on our country and it's citizens. But I doubt most of the cabinet are any better. I think Brexit got rid of a lot of the decent Tory MPs, from the top positions at least.