What about... Still enjoying Boris' downfall Part 4. The one with the report released?

[jgw1]

Part 4

Lewis Goodall

Here we go- No 10 has Sue Gray, or at least, a version of Sue Gray. Note that the press statement that she has “provided an update on her investigations”- ie not the full thing.

My bold

@JaniieJones

'Some do. Others, particularly those who are bereaved, are deeply traumatised and are unable to move on however much they might want to. '

Yes and it's of course understandable, many people project when they are bereaved. Anger is a perfectly normal part of the process.

What the Government or impartial medical experts should perhaps be doing is reiterating that whatever lines may have been crossed the need for strict restrictions to prevent different households mixing at social events was of paramount importance. I absolutely understand why I couldn't attend relatives funerals, I'm not of the mindset well if they refreshments in the office we should have been allowed to go because I can see the rationale behind the rules.

@JaniieJones don't you think it is a shame that the Prime Minister and his staff could not see the rationale behind the rules?

Is it good to have the leader of the country not knowing how to behave in a pandemic?

I just saw this on the Guardian feed, it reminds me very much of the school report on Johnson. He has not changed much since then, has he?

Johnson saw between 10 and 15 MPs on both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. He argued robustly that Partygate was a “witch-hunt” got up by Labour and the media, that he did nothing wrong and will bounce back. While he apologises that aides were out of control, a friend said, “he genuinely believes that when it all comes out when all facts are in the public domain that a fair-minded person will see that he was sincere when he said he followed the rules in No 10.”

@ClaudineClare

I just saw this on the Guardian feed, it reminds me very much of the school report on Johnson. He has not changed much since then, has he?

Johnson saw between 10 and 15 MPs on both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. He argued robustly that Partygate was a “witch-hunt” got up by Labour and the media, that he did nothing wrong and will bounce back. While he apologises that aides were out of control, a friend said, “he genuinely believes that when it all comes out when all facts are in the public domain that a fair-minded person will see that he was sincere when he said he followed the rules in No 10.”

Ah so it is all the electorate's fault for not being "fair minded".

Is it a good political strategy to blame the electorate for things that you have done?

Nope. Looks like that expensive, naturally paid for by someone else, Eton education was entirely wasted.

The school report:

Boris really has adopted a disgracefully cavalier attitude to his classical studies . . . Boris sometimes seems affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility (and surprised at the same time that he was not appointed Captain of the School for next half): I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else.”

Ooo er. Incoming...

But in the mean time, I'm so sorry I can't keep up, especially with the derailments, but what are all of the fridge references?

“he genuinely believes that when it all comes out when all facts are in the public domain that a fair-minded person will see that he was sincere when he said he followed the rules in No 10.”

Someone who genuinely believed that wouldn't be doing everything in their power to keep information out of the public domain, including but not limited to pulling in favours from Cressida Dick and ensuring that the internal report is neutered.

Apparently he intends to make a statement in parliament apologising for offences, though the offences themselves (including the identity of those who committed them) are to remain under wraps.

You couldn't make it up.

What the Government or impartial medical experts should perhaps be doing is reiterating that whatever lines may have been crossed the need for strict restrictions to prevent different households mixing at social events was of paramount importance. I absolutely understand why I couldn't attend relatives funerals, I'm not of the mindset well if they refreshments in the office we should have been allowed to go because I can see the rationale behind the rules

In times of national emergency, we need leaders who inspire not people who think the rules they themselves made, do not apply to them.

There is also the question of the basic intelligence of these people, did it not ever cross their minds they wouldn't be found out?

Are they really that stupid?

Stupid/ignorant/arrogant. Sadly, yes.

@CSWife

Ooo er. Incoming...

But in the mean time, I'm so sorry I can't keep up, especially with the derailments, but what are all of the fridge references?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/11/boris-johnson-hides-in-fridge-to-avoid-piers-morgan-interview

@Alexandra2001

What the Government or impartial medical experts should perhaps be doing is reiterating that whatever lines may have been crossed the need for strict restrictions to prevent different households mixing at social events was of paramount importance. I absolutely understand why I couldn't attend relatives funerals, I'm not of the mindset well if they refreshments in the office we should have been allowed to go because I can see the rationale behind the rules

In times of national emergency, we need leaders who inspire not people who think the rules they themselves made, do not apply to them.

There is also the question of the basic intelligence of these people, did it not ever cross their minds they wouldn't be found out?

Are they really that stupid?

Indeed. Whatever your view of the monarchy, the Queen got this right and Boris didn't.

What the Government or impartial medical experts should perhaps be doing is reiterating that whatever lines may have been crossed the need for strict restrictions to prevent different households mixing at social events was of paramount importance. I absolutely understand why I couldn't attend relatives funerals, I'm not of the mindset well if they refreshments in the office we should have been allowed to go because I can see the rationale behind the rules.

Actually I agree with part of this though the use of the word 'refreshments' to try and minimise the rule breaking is also part of the same problem.
There was a thread on Twitter from an academic though I'd have to go look it up to see who it was. Their gist was that the contempt for lockdown in no 10 made peoples trauma worse as they felt they had been stupid in following the rules when they clearly didn't matter to those in charge.
People were traumatised twice. Firstly by not being able to be with dying or sick loved ones, or attending funerals, and then secondly being gaslit by the government by no 10s clear attempt to minimise the charges against them.
People were to remember they did the right thing. In May 2020 there we were very much in the unknown with no vaccines and no other mitigation measures apart from lockdown.
That's why Johnson's behaviour and his subsequent lack of candour or remorse is so egregious.

That’s a very good point @UnconditionalSurrender. It certainly chimes with the stories of some very sad and angry people who have shared their accounts over the last few weeks.

Very well said @Unconditionalsurrender

I am also very much in agreement with UnconditionalSurrender

'Indeed. Whatever your view of the monarchy, the Queen got this right and Boris didn't.'

Well we don't know do we. They don't seem to have a Cummings led leak going on at BP. Sitting socially distanced at a funeral was all we've seen her do and tbh if BJ had attended a funeral he'd have done the same.

What the Queen got up to behind closed doors we've no idea. I loathe how she is put on a pedestal. She has her own 'one rule for them and another for me' regarding the treatment of Andrew (if nothing else) to answer.

This (from today’s Telegraph) is just about summed up on this thread.

Already, loyalists are making fools of themselves and trashing their own reputations in his defence. It would be perverse, some say, to remove a Prime Minister over something as minor as a party, yet they know the real problem is the alleged hypocrisy and dishonesty. Some make light of allegations that the PM is careless with highly classified documents, when such classifications exist to protect the lives of human intelligence sources. Some, perhaps unwittingly, repeat misinformation that can be quickly disproved. “They can’t even tell the truth about a birthday cake,” laments a critical MP. And some insist this is all a plot instigated by the media, Labour or Remainers.

It is no such thing, of course. For all the complexity of political calculation, claim and counter-claim, we are dealing with remarkably simple ethical questions. Did the Prime Minister break the rules he imposed on everybody else? Did he lie about doing so? And does he think lying to the public and to Parliament is of no consequence?

In private, few Conservative MPs believe their leader. This is unsurprising, for what he says is scarcely believable. But Johnson judges, in common with previous scandals he has survived, he can play for time and ride out the controversy. If his party allows him to do so, the Tories will invite upon themselves public disdain and eventual defeat. To believe you can lie to the public and get away with it is, to borrow a phrase, nothing more than rhubarb, an inverted pyramid of piffle.

Thanks @ClaudineClare

@UnconditionalSurrender very well expressed

On a lighter note:

Sue Gray releasing her report bit by bit, in magazine format with adverts on the telly: “Month by month, the Sue Gray Report will grow into a fascinating encyclopaedia of government law-breaking for you and all your family. This attractive binder free with Issue One now…”

twitter.com/mrjohnofarrell/status/1488119901755691012

I have a hunch the report will be published late today, and Johnson will skip off to Ukraine tomorrow. But he will have to be here for PMQ's, there will be outrage if he tries to duck that.

@ClaudineClare

I have a hunch the report will be published late today, and Johnson will skip off to Ukraine tomorrow. But he will have to be here for PMQ's, there will be outrage if he tries to duck that.

He's in the HOC 3.30pm discussing it and answering questions.

Anyone taking bets on how many civil servants have been lined up to take the blame for Johnsons' errors? Half a dozen?

I imagine Johnson will be asked for a commitment to publish the full SG report in due course. The wording of any such commitment will have to be carefully scrutinised. Unless and until SG writes a "full" report, such a document does not exist - and may never come into existence.