To want this story to be higher up the bbc news page?

[Punkypinky]

BBC news article with quotes from Sue Grey report

This is shocking it needs to be the top story on the website not buried halfway down the page. There's a headline story about money off energy bills which is a plan clearly released now to distract everyone and make the government look good while all these things come out.

Lets give it more clicks and show this is something people care about and want reported on not just buried.

The emails they were sending each shows they KNEW what they were doing was wrong at the time. Honestly how can you host a press conference and not know a drinks party in the cabinet room is wrong? It's a flipping disgrace.

RS is giving information about a package deal he’s giving out to help with the energy bill increase today. Just heard on the radio…

…well of course he is.

kept for just this purpose probably!

Perhaps they should have made Tik Tok videos of themselves all prancing about then we could have applauded them like the NHS 🙄

I lost a close family member during Lockdown and still can’t get worked up over it. I agree with @Creative34

I’ll never click on a part

Sorry posted too soon. Partygate scandal story again. It’s done now and was overblown and ridiculous in the first place.

I felt quite sick hearing some of the details of Sue Gray's report. Yet Boris won't go and his party won't put pressure on him. It's all so bloody wrong. Then the news of the energy help package. Colour me hugely sceptical yet unsurprised.

But focusing on this as a reason not to vote for them in the election is taking away from the real, valid reasons we don’t want them in power.

Austerity measures,cuts to services, I read yesterday that the access to work scheme which is aimed at helping people with disabilities gain accessibility in the workplace is on the brink of collapse. The cost of living crisis and how it’s been dealt with.

While people continue to focus on these parties they are losing sight of the real issues. Most people aren’t going to not vote for a government because they held illegal parties. But people will not vote for a government if their policies are going to affect them personally, in the here and now.

And the same goes for labour. Keir Starmer spends so much time shouting at Boris, calling for him to resign, playing political point scoring games that it’s looking more and more like a deflection away from the fact that labour don’t seem to have any policies.

And before anyone says “go and look at their manifesto,” that’s not good enough. Labour have enough of a voice in the commons. They need to stop using it to tell the world what the tories are doing wrong, and instead spend that time and energy telling the public what labour would do instead. But they’re not.

It is time we stepped away from the parties. Because right now we have more important issues at steak when it comes to getting this government out.

Completely agree. I just don't get why people are still surprised by it or really give a crap anymore. It happened. It's done. They've been fined and held accountable just like everyone else. Move on.

People are totally contradicting themselves on this topic. "They aren't any different from everyone else in lockdown because they are tory politicians" vs "They should be punished more harshly because they are tory politicians". Ridiculous.

Spend more time being outraged at the cost of living, which people can actually do something about, rather than wasting public money and resources on something that happened years ago and didn't really impact anybody.

Yet they were happy to do nothing to help…

… until they needed to bury news about the report. That’s the scary thing. If they hadn’t needed to wiggle their way out of this there wouldn’t have been any support!

as it is it will probably be very little support packaged up as the best thing since sliced bread.

The party they represent is completely irrelevant and I would feel the same if it were Labour/ a giant green and pink mongoose in power. There was a blatant disregard for the rules they imposed and then further lying from a man with a track record of lying but somehow has become the Prime Minister - Lie Minister is more appropriate.

Then a completely transparent bribe the morning after the Sue Gray report. The fact they are Conservatives is nothing to do with it. Clearly Johnson is no longer fit to lead the country ( if he ever was in the first place ) and they think the electorate are stupid enough to be bribed to forget about it, Sadly they probably are.

I actually struggle to get that worked up about the parties, had they admitted it. It wasn't right and they clearly knew that, but it doesn't surprise me that they thought the rules didn't apply to them. I fail to understand why so many people were actually in Downing Street though - the entire business world was managing to run nearly 100% remote. We launched some major projects remotely over Covid because we had to.

I get very worked up about a PM lying to parliament and getting away with it though. It's a challenge to our entire system. Where does it stop?

Must be difficult typing that long a post with your head buried so deep in Boris' back passage. Quite impressive actually.

yabu op but most of the public are obedient little husks only too willing to be bent over by our illustrious leaders time and time again.

The apathy of the British public astounds me. As far as I am concerned there is no honour in these politicians anymore. The PM is a lying, crass, shameless man.

He also claims that they are doing so much already to help people during this cost of living crisis, that is just not true at all.

ALL politicians are liars. They all have an agenda.
@Booklover3 I honestly don't care the reason behind announcing help now. All I care about (as do the people who are compromising on actual essentials not just reducing luxuries like hair appointments and clubs) is that they are helping.

Will you be refusing any financial aid towards energy costs you may be entitled to because they announced it to cover Boris' ass? Because I won't.

I agree entirely with @Creative34

@Creative34 Well said.

I though Steve Barclay got a terrific mauling on R4 this morning and the centre left press all lead on condemnation. But to be honest I think people are weary of it.

Sorry but YABU, it’s low down due to lack of clicks. I’m bored of it and so is everyone I know (not a Tory before you say). We know what went on, it was wrong, I’m past it.

But she said the behaviour in No 10 during the pandemic “did not reflect the prevailing culture in Government” at the time

I picked this up on BBC last night, in a passing comment, and it is mentioned in several news items, but isn't part of the narrative. It's an interesting comment, and suggests, I think, that "government" ie: the conservatives, are not universally to blame, although MN seems to think they are. The PM had said he was to blame, he had said things must change, but we really should move on. Enough now. No-one is clicking on the story, because it is now becoming repetitive, what more is there to say? It's done, it's gone, things have changed, in hindsight we should have behaved differently. I lost two parents, if they hadn't been locked in a care home, they would have been out and about living their life, and damn to the consequences.

I'm apathetic about the parties because:

People should be asking "were these rules necessary and proportionate" (I never believed they were in the first place)

People in Downing Street, wine or not were not living the months of social isolation that were imposed on the population. Had they been strictly working, they still weren't living the isolation imposed on people in institutions or children with parents of unworthy occupation who were prohibited from legal interactions with peers because they needed adult supervision that put them over rule of 6 or exercise with one other (meanwhile selected children were allowed social interactions in schools) Plus all the other people left lonely, isolated and vulnerable.

Rules restricting visting to hospitals/ carehomes are still continuing to the detriment of quality of life.

I see no great contenders of worthier leaders in the ranks ready to take over. I can't face the instability and polarised vitriol of leadership contests and further elections. Kier Starmer is opposing poorly, he just has an easy job of bitching about the government, would have locked down harder (and isn't above a hypocritical pint and curry either). I haven't seen much about actual plausible policy to improve public services and society.

I don't feel particularly betrayed. I had no faith in the moral integrity of the occupants of Downing Street anyway. I wasn't above scandalous granny-killing acts such as sneaking into playgrounds, illicit picnicking or supervising a pair of children exercising together to protect their mental and physical health over a long winter.

The rules were still cruel however sober or not the occupants of Downing Street were. Let's not lose sight of that.
If they didn't believe they were necessary, why have they persisted so long. Rules were still highly restrictive until July. (And often dragged out even longer by organisations/ governing bodies).

What I really care about is a thorough cost-benefit analysis of what the population went through, because I'm not convinced that all the secondary effects that will take years to address were worthwhile.

BogRollBOGOF So well put. Thank you.

Yes they were saving it up. As it happens an extra £200 is not really cutting it for me, so no it hasn't worked as a distraction and I still think they are entitled, arrogant and out of touch. Nice try. 😂

The parties are enough reason to resign, but well down the list of reasons. The avoidable deaths of at least 20,000 people through belated action or late inaction over the pandemic is top of the list for me.