To be really enjoying Boris Johnson's downfall Part 3 Cake ambush

[Notonthestairs]

To be really enjoying Boris Johnson's downfall Part 2 http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/4459992-To-be-really-enjoying-Boris-Johnsons-downfall-Part-2

And on it goes.

The overwhelming majority of alleged partygoers did not set the coronavirus rules. Not unless parliament has replaced MPs with Civil Servants, anyway.

Civil servants should conduct themselves with honesty and integrity. Part of the job description.

*@Florianus Who were the "colleagues" to which you refer?

22itsallnew the ones attending the illegal parties. Let’s not split hairs. You know as well as I do that parties happened, Johnson has had to admit as much!*

@florianus We all know all that. I asked who these colleagues were that you mentioned - but you don't seem to know when asked!

For goodness sake of course I don’t know all the attendees - who do you think I am Sue Gray? Your answer last week would have been to wait for the report to establish facts! Which is clearly not going to happen. The point is the PM knew and presided over a culture of parties in the workplace during lockdown. Rotten from the top! Johnson is culpable.

For someone who calls Johnson ‘odious’ you are certainly spending a lot of time defending his duplicitous behaviour.

'My Tory friend - yes, I know, it constantly astonishes both of us too - reckons if Johnson is still in Downing '

Really? I have friends, even family who are Labour supporters. It doesn't astonish any of us. Makes for healthy debate. Well if people can do so without insults.

I predict by local elections this will be old boring news, Paul Brand will be appearing on a reality telly show and the economy, jobs, covid recovery will be very much the focus. Hopefully.

@TwentyFirstCenturyTricoteuse

I know people who were having building work done when we went into lockdown who lived without kitchens for months, cooking on gas stoves. What could possibly have been so urgent about redecorating number 10 that it had to be done right then?

The test for work done in the home during lockdown was whether or not the workperson was willing to do it - not the urgency or lack thereof.

We had a leaking roof during lockdown and found that just over half of the companies we contacted were on furlough and not undertaking work, while the remainder were willing to inspect and quote.

[quote 22itsallnew]*@Florianus Who were the "colleagues" to which you refer?

22itsallnew the ones attending the illegal parties. Let’s not split hairs. You know as well as I do that parties happened, Johnson has had to admit as much!*

@florianus We all know all that. I asked who these colleagues were that you mentioned - but you don't seem to know when asked!

For goodness sake of course I don’t know all the attendees - who do you think I am Sue Gray? Your answer last week would have been to wait for the report to establish facts! Which is clearly not going to happen. The point is the PM knew and presided over a culture of parties in the workplace during lockdown. Rotten from the top! Johnson is culpable.

For someone who calls Johnson ‘odious’ you are certainly spending a lot of time defending his duplicitous behaviour.[/quote]
YOU made the claim that Johnson's colleagues were at these gatherings. It is not splitting hairs to ask who they were. If you don't know - and you clearly don't - you should simply retract the accusation that the attendees were colleagues of Johnson.

For someone who calls Johnson ‘odious’ you are certainly spending a lot of time defending his duplicitous behaviour.

No, I am calling out those who make false accusations as if they are "in the know" and then cannot defend what they claim when challenged.

I predict by local elections this will be old boring news

We’ll wait and see. You seem to think the electorate has very short memories - which is odd when people are still harping on about Blair and the Iraq war.

@urbanbuddha

The overwhelming majority of alleged partygoers did not set the coronavirus rules. Not unless parliament has replaced MPs with Civil Servants, anyway.

Civil servants should conduct themselves with honesty and integrity. Part of the job description.

I agree.

I predict by local elections this will be old boring news

I know this is what the government are hoping but I think they are kidding themselves. The more the cack handed attempts to cover up the worse it gets. Johnson is destroying the Tory Party like he destroys everything he touches.

'We’ll wait and see. You seem to think the electorate has very short memories'

No I don't, I just think as we're coming out of the pandemic the success they have had with the economy and vaccines will be more important to the electorate not some weird revenge witch hunt whipped up by Cummings and enabled by the hapless media.

ChangeChangyChange:

They are looking specifically about who organised the office parties, and Boris will convince some poor junior civil servant to take the blame and deny any responsibility himself.

I doubt it. The name of the person who sent out the invitations to the 20/5/20 gathering is known: he is relatively senior and is widely expected to be fired.

I doubt that there will be much problem in identifying who sent out invitations to other events (unless emails have been destroyed).

@florianus YOU made the claim that Johnson's colleagues were at these gatherings. It is not splitting hairs to ask who they were. If you don't know - and you clearly don't - you should simply retract the accusation that the attendees were colleagues of Johnson

No you are quite right all the attendees weren’t colleagues as allegedly his wife and house decorator attended at least one party in No 10 so the other guests may not all have been colleagues. You would hope that given these have been described as ‘work’ gatherings at least some guests were colleagues at No 10!!

The one person I am confident wasn’t there is Johnson’s hairdresser.

Johnson is destroying the Tory Party like he destroys everything he touches.

Yes.

In your opinion @JaniieJones. You are an anonymous poster on a parenting website. I’m sure you do reflect the opinions of some but not anyone I’ve talked to.

If you’re attributing public opinion to the media it’s not doing very well in terms of pulling the strings is it considering how this is dragging out.

Your basically dismissing peoples outrage as conspiracy because you don’t agree with it. At what point do you accept that the public carry weight in holding their public servants to account or do you not believe in that?

@JaniieJones

'Lulu Lytle and Carrie Johnson's presence in the Cabinet Office, unless you can tell us what Government or Civil Service position they hold which would entitle them to be there'

But as has been said she was working on the flat maybe she needed to discuss something with BJ. Totally plausible.

It all depends on how definitions of parties are applied. As I've said numerous times people eating together or drinking does not equal a party, if it does I've been to one earlier and I really haven't.

@JaniieJones I quite agree, I quite often have the builders wandering in to my birthday parties as well.

Which members of cabinet were there (apart from the PM) ?

Sunak apparently!

But…apart from the PM? The insouciance of that comment is astonishing. Apart from the PM indeed.

The whole thing is an attempted cover up of a report that is clearly damaging to Call-me-Churchill. Only die hard Johnsonites can't accept that. They can minimise, deflect and patronise as much as they like. People are not falling for it. There is a lot of anger out there and it is not going away.

The test for work done in the home during lockdown was whether or not the workperson was willing to do it - not the urgency or lack thereof

Except that it doesn't reflect well on Johnson and co that they were willing to risk propagating a deadly virus because they simply COULD NOT LIVE WITH THAT DREADFUL MAY WOMAN'S WALLPAPER ANOTHER MINUTE, does it?

Only die hard Johnsonites

I wonder what beliefs unite die hard Johnsonites? The lipstick on the collar got there by accident?

@ClaudineClare

The whole thing is an attempted cover up of a report that is clearly damaging to Call-me-Churchill. Only die hard Johnsonites can't accept that. They can minimise, deflect and patronise as much as they like. People are not falling for it. There is a lot of anger out there and it is not going away.

Not only is it not going away but the longer the dodging and weaving continues, the more the anger will grow. It’s fascinating that some people think it will all be forgotten in three months.

@merrymouse

Only die hard Johnsonites

I wonder what beliefs unite die hard Johnsonites? The lipstick on the collar got there by accident?

They love the light of that gaslight. It must keep them warm.

I think the suggestion that the Met have intervened to assist Johnson (whether it's correct or not) will be very difficult to shake off. As such it draws in more public attention and more outrage - and therefore puts MP's under greater pressure.

If the Met can provide more explanation then it might settle.

But I don't think this story will fizzle out they way some hope it will.

I am seething with anger at people who think Boris has done a good job. What the actual fuck is wrong with people!!!!!

@JaniieJones

'We’ve become the kind of country we only used to read about in the news'

Oh we haven't.

We've become the kind of country with a media that are a laughing stock. These allegations needed thorough investigations but the media hype has just been utterly ridiculous.

I think you'll find we've become a country where the PM is a laughing stock 😩

I am getting sick of all the hypocrisy coming from all directions around the current matters.

1. Attacking Johnson over whether he organised/approved/prioritised animal evacuation from Afghanistan. In August 2021 Starmer was attacking Johnson (& Raab) for dereliction of duty for going on holiday where "they couldn't possibly coordinate events in Kabul".

2. Kay Burley the Sky News hatchet woman laying into MPs over partygate and asking when resignations will be forthcoming, despite her breaking 5 Covid rules for her 60th birthday. She claims she "inadvertently broke the rules" (sound familiar?). No resignation. No fines. Not sacked.

3. One of the leaving parties was for James Slack as he headed to become deputy editor at The Sun. Despite this The Sun seemed to be either unaware or not bothered that they had inside access to partygate and no story was ever published. Was this down to their own embarrassment due to holding their own drunken office parties, which they first denied then claimed they had investigated and dealt with all issues arising.

4. Private Eye magazine who are forever having a dig at ACOBA and the jobs former politicians and top civil servants take in private industry where they can use their government knowledge and contacts. They had a dig at James Slack for NOT using his inside knowledge!

5. Another leaving do was held for Kate Josephs who left to become CEO of (Labour) Sheffield Council. Initially lying to journalists by saying she had not been involved in any Downing Street parties, she has since been forced to admit emailing a party invitation to 40+ guests. The subsequent criticism from Sheffield Council leaders, and all Sheffield's Labour MPs ... the silence is deafening.

6. The previous criticism of the Met for NOT investigating partygate has quickly turned into criticism for undertaking an investigation causing delays to publication of Sue Gray's report.

7. Labour complaining about delays and possible redacting any parts of Gray's report due to government and police concerns, but remaining silent about Civil Service unions demanding delays and redaction of anything that may affect their members.

In conclusion: politicians (Tories, Labour and others), newspapers, TV news - hypocrites one and all. Angela Rayner's famous epithet was targeted far too narrowly.