Downing St parties night before Prince Philip's Funeral

[buddhasbelly]

The telegraph are reporting more parties... The night before Prince Philip's funeral.

• party spilled out into garden

-someone broke Wilf's swing in tthe garden -someone sent with a suitcase to buy booze from the co-op

When the telegraph of all papers are reporting it, he's surely done for now?

Apologies if another thread on this, couldn't see one

First of all, I wasn’t among them and most people thought they were idiots - the other 60million who stayed home. Covidiots was a word coined back then. Secondly, those people weren’t the ones making the laws. Those who are law makers should stick to the rules and set an example. I’d say I am hopping mad about the Johnson’s behaviour.

Strangely in these bizarre times, I think we still expect our rule-makers to be rule takers. Rammed beach analogies are irrelevant to this thread.

Johnson's strategic mistake was to brief against Cumming's when he left and speak personally to newspapers accusing him of lawbreaking. After that, he is leak master central for all disaffects to come to daddy and spill the beans. When Johnson inevitably cuts great swathes through No 10 staff to take the blame - expect an avalanche of inside gossip including videos. The assassin's dagger will have many hands upon it.

This family has put it to music:

Very powerful testimony from Trevor Phillips as to why it matters.

twitter.com/SkyScottBeasley/status/1482652634444189697

I'm not sure what florianus is on but it isn't this planet.

The deflection of blame would be funny if it wasn't serious.

@Againstmachine

I'm not sure what florianus is on but it isn't this planet.

The deflection of blame would be funny if it wasn't serious.

Simply encouraging people to seek the truth instead of blaming those whom the party-goers have hoped you would blame.

We shall see what Sue Gray has to say, but the civil service have a long tradition of protecting their own.

Parts of southend and parts of Shoeburyness were taped off during the lockdown and they had officials moving others along too at the front.
You can't tape everything off though , impossible to do, just the facilities and that caused more problems than it solved doing that.
People going to a public place such as an area of sand isn't the same as mingling at work with alcohol and breaking a kids swing.
Plus they did try to move people on at that time and taped off lots of parking places too. It was only the ones who lived within walking distance who probably went there. Parks etc were all out of bounds.
it's a shame the weather was too good as it's normally rubbish in April and may.
I can't see how the two are the same really plus it's easier to SD on a big beach too.
Unless we had had a Chinese style lockdown how could they stop people going out anyway ?
Not enough police to do that!

@TorringtonDean

First of all, I wasn’t among them and most people thought they were idiots - the other 60million who stayed home. Covidiots was a word coined back then. Secondly, those people weren’t the ones making the laws. Those who are law makers should stick to the rules and set an example. I’d say I am hopping mad about the Johnson’s behaviour.

Out of the 30 or so in the garden of No.10 on the 20th May 2020, how many were lawmakers (i.e. MPs) other than Boris Johnson?

So Boris wouldn't be able to stop a party, is utter rubbish he would and could.

If they refuse there is plenty of options he could use, even the press to embarrass.

People going to a public place such as an area of sand isn't the same as mingling at work with alcohol and breaking a kids swing.

No, I would say that more than 30,000 people crammed onto Bournemouth beach on the 25th May 2020 was considerably worse than 30 people who have regularly worked together being reasonably socially distanced in the No.10 garden. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the photos:

www.itv.com/news/meridian/2020-05-25/carparks-full-in-bournemouth-as-sunseekers-head-to-dorset-coast

@Againstmachine

So Boris wouldn't be able to stop a party, is utter rubbish he would and could.

If they refuse there is plenty of options he could use, even the press to embarrass.

It was an event organised by somebody else, in their workplace, in order to thank their staff. Not even Johnson is bloody rude enough to do that.

So it's "rude" for (shy, terrified) Prime Minister to cancel a party.
But not rude for Prime Minister to break the law - and extol the importance of the same law on national tv.
Party of law and order doing its heritage proud.
Not forgetting that shy, terrified Prime Minister told Parliament they were no parties, if there were parties they followed all guidelines, that he was furious (I'll bet he is!), all workplace meetings involve his wife, baby, cheese and vino as standard etc etc.

Brilliant. Keep going.

During coronavirus he has a duty to report on them.

These people behaved like scum they knew the rules, and if Boris isn't man enough to stand up he shouldn't be prime minister.

@Againstmachine

During coronavirus he has a duty to report on them.

These people behaved like scum they knew the rules, and if Boris isn't man enough to stand up he shouldn't be prime minister.

I agree. It is simply a repeat of his previous Chief of Staff's drive to Durham, for which Johnson simply defended and congratulated the man. I wouldn't say he is terrified by the leaders of the civil service, but he know that he can do very little without their co-operation.

Pretending Boris ha no control over the civil service is a joke, if they were having a party in my back yard which isn't a working environment however much you say, they would be told to piss off.

I said this back about sturgeon amongst others many MPs are liars or incompetent

They have to choose which they are eithier way they shouldn't be in charge.

And I question the people who at number 10 are incompetent, liars and probably shit at job as pissed most of time.

No 10 and the staff at the parties just don't care.

I shouldn't laugh but I'm born and bred Bournemouth. No locals ever go there apart from fireworks, the Airshow and we avoid our absolutely beautiful beach like the plague the rest the busy season. 😀

Even Clav has ditched Johnson in all but name for Truss. Florianus you're looking to die alone on that lonely hill attempting to defend the indefensible liar-in-chief. You forget Cumming's has plenty more to come and is the lightning rod for those heads about to roll. As 'Big Dog is down time to kick harder and longer.

Operation Red Meat aka "Die in a Ditch". Get Dorries to launch another war on the BBC and set the army on the small boats to deflect from party-gate and get the right wing press and hard Brexit voters back on side. So predictable. All in the name of saving Boris Johnson. Appalling

Anyway, parties aside - one simple fact amongst many the UK track and trace £32 billion vs Germany's £850 million. Spaffer Johnson has spaffed way our children's futures - his legacy will be huge debt, distrust in democracy and an erosion of our nation-state.

committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee/news/150988/unimaginable-cost-of-test-trace-failed-to-deliver-central-promise-of-averting-another-lockdown/

[quote Florianus]People going to a public place such as an area of sand isn't the same as mingling at work with alcohol and breaking a kids swing.

No, I would say that more than 30,000 people crammed onto Bournemouth beach on the 25th May 2020 was considerably worse than 30 people who have regularly worked together being reasonably socially distanced in the No.10 garden. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the photos:

www.itv.com/news/meridian/2020-05-25/carparks-full-in-bournemouth-as-sunseekers-head-to-dorset-coast[/quote]
Do you not recall how it was endlessly discussed that phots taken at that angle make things look much closer together than they actually are, and to get any true perspective on "Covid spreading beach flickers and flouters" you need aerial shots?

Flockers obvs

vera99
Even Clav has ditched Johnson in all but name for Truss. Florianus you're looking to die alone on that lonely hill attempting to defend the indefensible liar-in-chief.

You seem a bit slow in absorbing clue. I have already said that I despise Johnson. But it is foolish in the extreme to blame the wrong people. Those partying in the garden were not, save for a brief appearance of the PM, politicians - they were civil servants. The event was organised by their Chief of Staff and it was apparently (albeit very ill-advised) to thank them for working long hours.

@Florianus

BashStreetKid Do you seriously imagine that if, at any time, he had told the Chief of Staff that they had to stop, they would have continued? Do you think that, just maybe, he should have given that instruction?

He would have been ignored. The Civil Service is run by the Chief of Staff, not the Prime Minister. Just look how Johnson grovelled when Cummings was Chief of Staff and was discovered to have driven to Barnard Castle on the pretext of testing his eyesight.

If the Chief of Staff would really have ignored an instruction from the Prime Minister not to do something that would break the laws that his government had put in place, that simply illustrates what an incredibly weak PM Johnson is.

@Florianus

All the PM had to do was to send/authorise a clear email to all staff stating no gatherings of any sort except for essential work meetings were allowed on Downing Street premises.

How do you prove that any of these gatherings were not essential work meetings? Just having alcohol available is not proof. I have been to many work meetings where drinks were served, including almost every QUANGO meeting I attended over a 30-year period.

The invitation sent out by Reynolds makes it clear that that wasn't a work meeting. Likewise a leaving do isn't a work meeting.

The clue's in the word "work". If the people who organised the various parties thought they were work meetings, why have they apologised?

Fair enough Florianus but you could have fooled me. Anyways from Dominic Lawson's article in the Times today and I know who I would believe.

Last week I spoke to a former Downing Street official who said at least two people had told the PM, after seeing the emailed invitation from his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, that this was “a party” and should be immediately cancelled. I was told that Johnson’s dismissive response was to say they were “overreacting” and to praise Reynolds as “my loyal Labrador”.
I then asked someone who has known the PM for decades what could have made him take such an approach (other than natural hospitality and affability). His immediate answer was: “It’s because deep down he obviously thought the regulations were ridiculous — so why should he observe them?”