Education secretary only asked about Sue Grey

[ChiselandBits]

Just watching it now. 20 mins of fierce questioning about whether Boris called Sue or the other way round and now energy. Ffs, get Boris on if you want an answer to that. Why not ask the Ed Sec about funding crisis in schools, how the CoL crisis is affecting services, teachers, their pay scales etc. Whichever Tory MP is dragged on to take a beating for Boris will only ever trot out a party line. Its a waste of time. (and I'm NEITHER a committed Tory nor anything else). Not on anyone's side here, but generally think way too much time has been spent on this partygate fiasco and there are bigger problems.

Yeah that’s not how the ministerial morning rounds work. They send a minister out to answer the questions of the day and today that’s Sue Gray. It’s what’s expected and it’s why when there’s a bigger scandal going on you get a very junior minister out as none of the bigger fish want to answer to it

But this was the education secretary, not a junior minister. I really don't care about the party stuff. It's optics, I want them to address important stuff, not nonsense from two years ago

It’s not optics or nonsense. Some of us couldn’t be with loved ones when they died.

I think regarding criminality by the PM in office as “nonsense from two years ago” might be where you disagree with many other posters.

By failing to call for the PM’s resignation, Nadhim Zahawi is complicit. Of course I think he should be asked about it.

You're right to be annoyed that they're not focusing on the significant issues that are facing us as a country, but it's inevitable that the media will ask about a major scandal in which the PM has broken his own laws and about which it looks as if he is trying to orchestrate some kind of cover up.

Yes, the issues affecting real people's lives should be taking up more of everyone's time and attention, but the integrity, transparency and accountability of our politicians is also important. And the fact is, Boris has seen fit to spend his time meeting with Sue Gray about her partygate report, instead of investing his energies into tackling the cost of living crisis or addressing the chronic underfunding of schools. If it's worthy of his attention, do you not think that it's also worthy of ours?

Honestly, no. And I do think its nonsense. I absolutely understand the anger people feel re being unable to be with loved ones etc. That is awful and nothing can in any way mitigate it, but personally, I don't think investigating this to this extent is a good use of police time and resources nor a good use of journalism when we should be asking why catch up funding and tutoring has been so badly bungled (for instance).

So you are content for the PM to spend time meeting with Sue Gray and "managing" the fallout from the story in order to minimise any damage to himself, and you don't think that he or his team should need to answer any questions about that?

I disagree. I think it's perfectly reasonable for the media to hold senior politicians accountable for how they spend their time or where they direct their focus, and if their energies are invested in primarily in managing their images and trying to cover up their mistakes instead of actually focusing on fixing the problems that this country is facing, then I think that's an issue and that the public have a right to know about it.

I agree. Downing Street was unique in terms of it being a home and a workplace, and I can’t imagine the pressures they were under. A cake given five minutes before a meeting? Oh please! The media need to move on.

The way to resolve this would be for the people who broke the laws of the time to actually take responsibility and resign. Then it might go away and we can get on with the issues of the day. The more the Tory party and their faithful try to sweep it under the carpet, the more it will drag out.

But I don't understand why he wouldn't see the report in advance. If a report was done about me and going to be published nationally, I'd like the courtesy of seeing it in advance so I'd know what I was being accused of and how to defend myself. Otherwise, when the media storm starts, there'll just be a stonewall of I haven't read the report.
It seems like everything is about kneejerk responses and aha moments, none of which are productive in telling the truth.

I so agree with this. Its taken 12 police detectives and cost the best part of £200,000. And the big take away is Johnson had birthday cake with some people. We knew that before. Has anyone got a better or worse of of him because of this? No. We're all pretty fixed in our opinions of him.
If I ring for a policeman, it can take days for them to contact me. A poster on here wrote about her house being attacked by 13 thugs and the police didn't come. And yet, they've got months to investigate some parties. Months. How does it take so long to ask some questions? And how many years on investigating Carl Beech? The investigation cost a fortune but then on top of that were all the payouts for compensation over lives ruined because of their incompetence.
Meanwhile, there's no money for ambulances and people are dying because no one shows up.
I can't get my head around where priorities are in this country?

I wonder if Boris will be ready and more than willing to answer any and all questions about Partygate and the Sue Gray report to deflect from another sexual assault from a senior Tory that's just been reported on.

How are they still in power? Surely anything the Labour Party has done that's frowned upon is nowhere near the scale of what the tories have done?

I think until this goverment stop constantly lying to us, the press need to be on their backs. (No 10 said Sue grey had called the meeting, Sue Grey denied this).
They’re all a bunch of crooks and I cannot wait until they have all fucked off.

How can you trust a thing the government will say about education or anything else for that matter, when they are proven liars with no regard for the law?🤯

Party gate is a big deal @ChiselandBits.

Well partygate dragging on is their own fault. But that aside do you really think this government have a clue how to tackle education, the cost of living crisis or anything else?

Just look at the recent Queens Speech, nothing in it, no ideas, nothing, fuck all! They cannot run this country because they are talentless has beens who are only in power ‘to get Brexit done!’

You're not the only person in the country.

I do really care, about the hypocrisy and lies. It is not from two years ago, the government is still lying about it now.

Anyway - on the issue of education they are grotesquely underfunding schools and raging higher education, so not sure you missed much.

On the Sunday morning political TV shows it is OK (just) to question the Education Secretary about Partygate investigations or to question the Shadow Education Secretary about Beergate.

I think it is incredibly rude and disgusting when UK politicians are visiting foreign leaders (or vice versa) for the media to concentrate on domestic news at joint press events. eg. PM & Zelensky meet in Ukraine and questions are about the £150 council tax rebate. Sturgeon visits USA and questions are about Scottish Rail Timetables. Kamala Harris visits UK and questions at the press conference are about Summer Lee beating Steve Irwin in the primary for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District.

The government would not be discussing parties at Downing Street if they had behaved as most people did and not had them.

It's not the main reason that the present government should go, but if it by some small chance gets rid of the worst Prime Minister ever in the UK, worth spending tv discussion time.

Maybe our dear leader could just, like, not go to illegal parties and lie about it. Or maybe confess before we need to spend £500k investigating their lies.

Then they could just focus on governing.

Anyone sick of hearing about our government's partying should direct their anger at them for doing it and not confessing, rather than journos trying to stop them brushing it under the carpet.

It’s not the parties, or the cake, that people care about.

It’s integrity, honesty and decency. And our PM has none of those, so whilst the Ed Sec should be able to go on Sophy Ridge and talk about Education issues, the Tory party and their abject lack of basic decency and governance means that he’s forced to discuss things like that as though the PM is a rowdy Year 4 child who’s become slightly too big for his boots. We look like a nation run by berks. Because we are a nation run by berks.

Boris Johnson rarely appears doing long live interviews.
He has a tendency to avoid scrutiny - especially with journalists who can challenge him.

He sends out cannon fodder instead

I actually don't disagree that BJ has little in the way of integrity, but I think there are real political issues to skewer him with rather than partygate or his personal life. Obviously as a person, he's pretty appalling, but IF he was a capable and effective PM, I would not want to see him or anyone else on either bench resign over a thing like this. I can't get worked up about people who were working cheek by jowl all day, managing the covid crisis, having some cake before a meeting or a beer and a curry at 10pm as they were working late. I'm a teacher. I had coffee and cake and even wine once, after work, in a room with people I had been working with all day alongside the 500 or so kids I mingled with. I completely understand why parties, gatherings etc were banned so that people who weren't ALREADY mixing wouldn't, but the hysteria over this has been OTT and a distraction. Yes, it is my opinion, and not shared by all. That's fine. Doesn't mean I am wrong or that those who disagree with me are. I don't think it's right to categorically state as fact that it DOES matter.

Yes, it is my opinion, and not shared by all. That's fine. Doesn't mean I am wrong or that those who disagree with me are. I don't think it's right to categorically state as fact that it DOES matter

Does misleading Parliament matter?

I think partygate and the associated lies from BJ are symptomatic of the deep dishonesty and corruption in the Westminster conservative party, and because of that they cannot be ignored. They are one manifestation of a malaise that looks set to ruin the UK and damage its democracy. And if you can't see that you're either very naive or an apologist.

Misleading Parliament

As millions of people were locked down last year, was a Christmas party thrown in Downing Street for dozens of people on 18 December?

The Prime Minister

What I can tell the right hon. and learned Gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in No. 10. May I recommend that he does the same with his own Christmas party, which is advertised for 15 December and to which, unaccountably, he has failed to invite the deputy Leader of the Opposition?

Keir Starmet

Nice try, but that won’t work. The defence seems to be that no rules were broken. Well, I have the rules that were in place at the time of the party. They are very clear that
“you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party”.
Does the Prime Minister really expect the country to believe that while people were banned from seeing their loved ones at Christmas last year, it was fine for him and his friends to throw a boozy party in Downing Street?

The Prime Minister

I have said what I have said about No. 10 and the events of 12 months ago, but since the right hon. and learned Gentleman asks about what we are asking the country to do this year, which I think is a more relevant consideration, let me say that the important thing to do is not only to follow the guidance that we have set out but, when it comes to dealing with the omicron variant, to make sure that—as we have said, Mr Speaker—you wear a mask on public transport and in shops, and that you self-isolate if you come into contact with somebody who has omicron. Above all, what we are doing is strengthening our measures at the borders. But in particular, Mr Speaker—and I think that this is very valuable for everybody to hear—get your booster!
I know that the right hon. and learned Gentleman is eligible for his booster. I am not going to ask him, Mr Speaker, as I am forbidden to ask him questions, but I hope very much that he has had it.

Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister says that we should concentrate on what he is asking the country to do. We are asking the country to follow the rules. The Prime Minister does not deny that there was a Downing Street Christmas party last year. He says that no rules were broken. Both those things cannot be true. He is taking the British public for fools
As for following the rules, Prime Minister, it might be good just to look behind you when it comes to the question of masks. As ever, there is one rule for them and another rule for everybody else.