Boris Xmas quiz leak, surely he has to resign now?

[OriginalM]

There is a photo now of Boris hosting a work Xmas quiz with wine and beer when mixing of households and work parties not allowed.
Surely he has to resign or will be keep stating lies as fact that all guidelines were followed?

From the Tory Party perspective (and to a lesser extent their cheerleaders in the right wing press) none of this stuff matters: Brexit and a sinking economy, Covid, Parties, corruption, flat renovations, etc.
What does matter is the fact that he’s now, for the first time ever, trailing Labour by circa 5% points in the latest round of polls. A popular idiot who’s no longer popular is just an idiot. And someone who is just an idiot won’t win an election, which is all they care about - power (and money). So the Tory sharks will be circling.

Maybe no one had explained the rules to the government.

Similar to the withdrawal deal which was signed without being understood for Brexit?!

@Motheroftigers

Your allegation about Keir Starmer is rather big there - you must be certain of your facts to state that - do you have any more on that?

@Motheroftigers
I genuinely dont think Labour could have done any better. In fact I shudder at the thought if they were in charge. We would have been right up there with the worst lockdowns, no one would be back at work and the kids would still be off school, as a country we would be utterly fucked.

Perhaps you should write an alternate history as you seem to have a very high level of access to these parallel universes. Btw, is Solskjaer still at Man Utd?

@ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy

Maybe no one had explained the rules to the government.

Similar to the withdrawal deal which was signed without being understood for Brexit?!

Yes - like that! I do feel quite worried for Johnson because he keeps announcing things then forgetting what they are!

I despise the man, but he's not going anywhere, despite The Mirror's best efforts.

'Virtual social events weren't banned. Many offices had virtual Christmas parties and quizzes. Someone provided him some tech support and was too close. Which I am sure most people have done at some point.'

This.

I think he'll resign though regardless. The constant media onslaught, these alleged hardline journos thinking they are 'holding them to account' when they are posting shit like virtual quizzes, plus his own ridiculous back benchers like Steve wanker Baker who will object to restrictions despite Scotland and Europe doing just that.

I'd just think fuck it if I were Johnson and leave them to it.

@madisonbridges

What makes me cross about this is that it undermines the genuine complaints against him. I was mad about the party because it felt like a slap in the face for the general public. This is being vaunted as being so bad that barristers are being involved to take criminal action, but I look at the facts and the report is full of 'allegedly' so even the newspaper is hedging its bets as if it's not sure of its facts. So if this is the level of evidence, it makes me wonder if I misjudged the first party. And on you of that, I'm beginning to also lose interest because it's all getting so overblown. So if I feel that, and I was quite gung-ho with friends over the party, I'm sure others must feel the same and I can feel the chance to hold him to account slipping away.

100% agree with this. Those spinning this story have overplayed their hand.

He doesn't give a shit what you think of him. He won't resign unless he has no choice.

And, who, out of the rest of the cabinet or government would you rather see in his place? Sunak? Truss? Raab?

It wouldn't trigger a General Election. Just replace him with another Conservative.

I'd love nothing more than to get Labour back in but this isn't the point at which it happens.

@Motheroftigers
People need to be thankful ( believe it or not ) that Tory was in at that point.

I’m not glad that we had an idiot PM who, at the outbreak of Covid in Britain, dawdled for six weeks before taking decisive action, to the shock of virtually the entire world, and at the expense of many lives. In fairness to him I guess his non- reaction wasn’t malicious he was just a Class A idiot, as we saw with his early shaking hands with Covid patients escapades.

@JaniieJones
I'd just think fuck it if I were Johnson and leave them to it.
OMG how would the country carry on without this Leader of the Ages to guide us.

@Motheroftigers

I think he will resign.

I think he is very very tired, he has had covid and guided the UK through a catastrophic event.

I genuinely dont think Labour could have done any better. In fact I shudder at the thought if they were in charge. We would have been right up there with the worst lockdowns, no one would be back at work and the kids would still be off school, as a country we would be utterly fucked.

People need to be thankful ( believe it or not ) that Tory was in at that point.

Keir Starmer was seen at a party, so they are not the only ones to do this but still its unforgivable.

Baseless allegations.

Labour supported the Govt easing restrictions BUT Lab wanted masks to remain, Labour wants better ventillation in schools, which helps keep them open.

Starmer wasn't at all.

Perhaps you should remember that under BJs leadership, we have one of the highest death and infection rates in Europe, with a non functioning NHS, AE in crisis, 6m on waiting lists, tax rises, council tax increases, billions given out fraudulently (Business support scheme)

So much better off under the Tories! not.

Where we do agree is Johnson isn't up to the job.

I'd just think fuck it if I were Johnson and leave them to it

I do hope not because a) the longer Johnson stays the better for all opposition parties and b) I like when we get to the stage of asking the Chair of the 1922 committee about three times per day how many letters they have had

@Motheroftigers

I think he will resign.

I think he is very very tired, he has had covid and guided the UK through a catastrophic event.

I genuinely dont think Labour could have done any better. In fact I shudder at the thought if they were in charge. We would have been right up there with the worst lockdowns, no one would be back at work and the kids would still be off school, as a country we would be utterly fucked.

People need to be thankful ( believe it or not ) that Tory was in at that point.

Keir Starmer was seen at a party, so they are not the only ones to do this but still its unforgivable.

What a load of unsubstantiated rubbish!

My office had a virtual quiz last year, but some people who were not working from home, did it from the office. It was just an hour of fun after a pretty shitty year, we didn't break any rules and by the sounds of it nor did Boris. This year we are all still working from home but going into the office one day a month, this is staggered so there are only a few in at a time. Whenever we go in there are nibbles provided by management, it's not a party, just a small gesture to the staff.

It's a pity that the media have seized on an unprecedented global pandemic as a good time to prove they can get rid of a legally elected prime minister instead of encouraging us to all pull together to defeat covid.

I think what will be interesting is how many people today come out to defend him.

This is where we differ. I'm losing interest in the whole blinking thing now. What was serious has now become silliness. Everything going on and people are expected to spend time on talking about a blooming zoom quiz. Ridiculous. I expect you're equally rubbing your hands at the prosecution of the teacher upthread who had a zoom quiz in her teachers bubble! I despair.

Virtual social events weren't banned. Many offices had virtual Christmas parties and quizzes. Someone provided him some tech support and was too close. Which I am sure most people have done at some point.

Two people wearing tinsel and a Santa hat came in to give him tech support?
As I said upthread I don’t think this is an example of massively awful rule breaking, but really? Are we pretending to believe he needed two people to come in and sit with him so he could work zoom? The picture is clearly a very minor breach of the rules.

@rrhuth

Apart from it not being a meeting, and therefore not allowed .I know it gets nit-picky, but the law is nit-picky, that's the whole point.

If you're having to rely on being a nit-picky legal argument to nail Boris, you won't get anywhere.... Moreover it will be counterproductive.

I dislike Boris, believe he isn't a
capable or trustworthy PM, and couldn't vote for him, but ironically this could be the story that starts the swing of the pendulum back, much to the exasperation of those who loathe him.

The leak of this photo may very well have been done by someone in Downing St playing a very clever game here.

People hate being made fools of, they hate being lied to... These are the things that made the public mad this week. They don't really mind the rules being stretched a bit to accommodate a bit of Christmas fun, as that's exactly what most people do themselves if they're being honest.

What Boris seems to have done here is what millions of people did, or would have been comfortable doing had they been in the same scenario, and it really doesn't matter that some clever barrister can make a case for the behaviour being illegal.

I've no idea why other papers aren't taking the piss out of the Mirror and saying is this it Pippa, your big scoop?! 3 blokes in an office doing an online quiz with a bottle of sanitizer in the foreground 🙄.

The media as always are being utterly irresponsible. The focus should be on omicron, share actual rule breaking not an online quiz.

@crowsfeet57

My office had a virtual quiz last year, but some people who were not working from home, did it from the office. It was just an hour of fun after a pretty shitty year, we didn't break any rules and by the sounds of it nor did Boris. This year we are all still working from home but going into the office one day a month, this is staggered so there are only a few in at a time. Whenever we go in there are nibbles provided by management, it's not a party, just a small gesture to the staff.

It's a pity that the media have seized on an unprecedented global pandemic as a good time to prove they can get rid of a legally elected prime minister instead of encouraging us to all pull together to defeat covid.

The media can't get rid of him

Only the Tory party can get rid of him - we have no democratic control of that between elections, unlike in many other (more democratic) countries.

@Warhertisuff I'm not relying on anything to get rid of him, politically speaking the best thing for all opposition parties is for him to stay!

I have zero control and the Tory party will do what the Tory party will do.

It is about the politics - another week of discussing the Downing Street culture, another week of 'has the PM lied', another week NOT discussing what they want people to discuss.

@crowsfeet57

My office had a virtual quiz last year, but some people who were not working from home, did it from the office. It was just an hour of fun after a pretty shitty year, we didn't break any rules and by the sounds of it nor did Boris. This year we are all still working from home but going into the office one day a month, this is staggered so there are only a few in at a time. Whenever we go in there are nibbles provided by management, it's not a party, just a small gesture to the staff.

It's a pity that the media have seized on an unprecedented global pandemic as a good time to prove they can get rid of a legally elected prime minister instead of encouraging us to all pull together to defeat covid.

Exactly.

An online quiz..call the met! .

I don’t know whether or no Boris will or should resign, but I find this interesting - before vaccines, mid-lockdown, all these MPs and associates were partying, going to quizzes, socialising as normal.

Not very afraid of Covid despite instilling fear in the population.

My office had a virtual quiz last year, but some people who were not working from home, did it from the office. It was just an hour of fun after a pretty shitty year, we didn't break any rules and by the sounds of it nor did Boris.

According to @rrhuth those who stayed in the office did break the rules, and are liable to prosecution as a result! They should have been 100% focused on productive work... and I hope they didn't waste precious unnecessary seconds wishing anyone a Merry Christmas either!

It's this puritanical zealotry for abiding by every rule to the maximum degree that some people on here revel in that makes me want to just screw it all. We've had one shitty Christmas last year... Those who want to play Grinch again for no other reason than "it's the rules!" can, to put it politely, go away.

[quote rrhuth]@Motheroftigers

Your allegation about Keir Starmer is rather big there - you must be certain of your facts to state that - do you have any more on that?[/quote]
There was a picture of him the press having drinks in someones house in the press

A well placed photographer ...but still he was there.