Christmas party at Downing Street last year

It is in the past, gone and done. Labour loves raking up issues and having a go whenever they can. A lot of water has gone under the bridge and we have the present to deal with so let’s get on with it. I lost my DM to Covid but am not the slightest bit bothered about an historical party!

I so agree with you, Shropshirelass.
The issue of this party (or not) is being raised for the third time this morning on The Andrew Marr Show. There are far more pressing and present concerns to be dealt with,

I'm not bothered about a party.

I'm bothered about a ruling political party who are still in power, who will let the headquarters of the government of the UK be used by members of the government, or officials of their government, or even the tea ladies, to have a gathering that was prohibited. And who don't even admit it was wrong.

I’m happy to agree it was a bad idea even though it seems from the research GrannyGravy posted upthread it may not have broken the rules.

Well said Shropshirelass.

Germanshepherdsmum

I’m happy to agree it was a bad idea even though it seems from the research GrannyGravy posted upthread it may not have broken the rules.

Well that's a step in the right direction.

It did break the rules though. Which you would know if you watched the videos.

I haven’t looked back at GG’s post but I think she said there was a loophole with regard to government buildings and a barrister had confirmed it didn’t contravene the regs then in place. But I do take a dim view of people who find and rely on loopholes, though in this case I don’t know who the people were.

Seriously GSM, it doesn't matter.

I don't know who was there either. So perhaps there was a loophole. So do we think one of the people there spent a long time in advance studying the rules and said that they'd be fine because there was a loophole? Did nobody respond by saying "yes, but how will it look? Is it the right thing to do?"

Even if he wasn't there, did the boss (Johnson) not tear everybody off a strip because of the embarrassment they have caused him and the rest of his government?

This isn't about rules and laws and loopholes. Its about whether the people at the party, for whom Johnson bears some responsibility, think that they can behave how they like and it won't have any consequences.

I would like to know who was at the party and who organised it. I accept that I probably won't. Perhaps Johnson did give them a dressing down, or has by now. I doubt we'll ever know.

Squirm, squirm, squirm.

I'm not squirming. I accept that it happened, maybe it was legally ok because of a loophole, maybe it wasn't, but I really have more immediate concerns about what is happening in this country and elsewhere, and all Starmer can do by way of 'opposition' is create this diversion from what needs to be done here and now.

eazybee

I so agree with you, Shropshirelass.
The issue of this party (or not) is being raised for the third time this morning on The Andrew Marr Show. There are far more pressing and present concerns to be dealt with,

The problem for lots of us is can we have any confidence in a govt so involved with sleaze who think the rules don't apply to them.

How will this affect how people behave if we need more stringent measures. The way people obeyed the rules in previous lockdowns was amazing but will people do it again? Will they do it for Johnson? Will they listen to another Health Secretary when they know what Hancock was up to while he was lecturing us?

How reasonable is it that some people paid fines, and I think some were for thousands of pounds, but other people can get away with it.

The whole thing stinks but maybe some have lost their sense of smell, quite common with covid I believe.

Germanshepherdsmum

Do we know if anyone ‘elected’ was there Lucca?
Dolphin, your powers of deduction need sharpening up. Very much off the mark in my case for one. And we don’t know that any occupant of No 10 was there. Johnson wasn’t.

I think my powers of deduction are very sharp, especially when it comes to posters defending the indefensible

So you’re suggesting I didn’t adhere to the rules then Dolphin? That’s your conclusion given my political persuasion? Let me assure you that I did and do, to the letter.

I keep reading here that discussing the Downing Street party is 'all' Keir Starmer and the opposition are talking about. Having read this morning's papers and looked at Twitter accounts and other social media this definitely isn't the case. The opposition have been busy on a wide range of issues this week.

Drell I do hope you get to see your daughter and her family this Christmas and that you have a wonderful time together.

It is all about trust isn’t it?

Trust in out elected politicians to abide by the law and rules they legislate.

Headlines today show that trust in at an all time low.

63% asked do not trust politicians to act in the nations interest but rather in their own interest.

That is what matters.

c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1106799986?-850:14274
I agree Whitewavemark2. It makes very depressing reading.

Raab has just said that "if" a party was held then it very clearly would have been breaking the rules.
He, however, doesnt believe there was a party.
Presumably Johnson knows differently, since he claims the rules at this non event were followed.

Germanshepherdsmum

I’m happy to agree it was a bad idea even though it seems from the research GrannyGravy posted upthread it may not have broken the rules.

Adam Wagner seems to be suggesting that the party holders could still be prosecuted:

twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1467456310333657090

We can live in hope.
As per usual, nothing will be done, though.

Calistemon

Isn't it a rather superior assumption, though, that those who work on the factory floor vote Labour?

Calistemon
Even within those factories there were class division’s.
I was an apprentice book binder/hand sewer at the time of the 1964 election. We were a closed shop so politics were very much discussed.
What I heard and noticed was: the compositors and and Linotype operators ( the cream of the trade ?) were practically all Tory. The machine shop ( the printers) were 99% Labour. The bindery were 50/50.

And, on the 'legislative loophole:

Adam Wagner
@AdamWagner1
·
16h
There is one more barrier, which is the possibility that the Covid regulations didn't apply to No. 10 because of section 73 of the Public Health Act which may mean Crown Property isn't caught by the regulations without an agreement. But it's obscure

legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/22/section/73

By which I mean the meaning of section 73 is obscure. I am not convinced it is obvious the regulations wouldn't apply to crown property and I think this would have to be resolved by a court unless a specific agreement applies

twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1467218270809833475

I feel that yet again, we, the electorate are being treated as fools, fools who can be told any old load of nonsense and will believe it, or will do the government's job for them and accuse the opposition of mischief making. This is evident on GN with the coterie of people who just will not accept that the man they put in No10 is a liar,a cheat, cares not a jot for them, and is probably sneering at those trying to excuse or defend his behaviour. For me, the start of the serious decline was the Cummings business with the eye tests and Barnard Castle. This recent batch of lies will make any announcements regarding what we are to be permitted to do this Christmas pathetic, all credibility is gone. I have always thought that Don't do as I do, do as I say is a poor motto for government, irrespective of the party.

Exactly that.
Cummings' pathetic lies just showed how nobody even cares enough to make up a half way believable excuse, because they are self serving fools.