Christmas party at Downing Street last year

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Squirm, squirm, squirm.

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.

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 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.

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.

Well said Shropshirelass.

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.

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 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,

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!

Jeezy peeps, are you being intentionally obtuse?

All this squirming to say that it wasn't a party, Johnson wasn't there, it wasn't really illegal, it didn't make any difference...

If you have to make so many excuses, can you not just give in and agree that it was a bad idea? Even if Johnson wasn't there and knew nothing about it, if he had any cajones he would have come on TV the day after he found out about it and said that a group of this staff (or whatever) had had a party in contravention of the rules and he'd sacked them because he understood how important it was for people to see that the centre of government was unimpeachable.

That's not going to happen, is it?

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.

Following this and a similar thread I have come to the following conclusions
a) if you voted Tory you see nothing wrong with the occupants of No 10 having a party because you, your DH/DD/DS/DG did something similar and came to no harm
or
b) if you didn't vote Tory you are obviously a left leaning, Corbyn loving, Guardian reading Remainer who was silly enough to follow the rules and are now being pathetic by complaining about those who didn't.

That’s why Boris and co get away with this sort of thing.

“Oh do get over it” is the chorus from their supporters.

I have no objection obviously to how anyone votes, I object to the wholesale unquestioning acceptance of any behaviour by anyone they elect.

Oh do get over it. I missed out on seeing my family too. Lots of us did. Lots of people are unable to see family yet again this Christmas. I adhered to the rules too. I know not everyone did but I’ve got more to think about than an office do a year ago. As have the Met.

I care. Rules that were in place at the time were broken. I adhered to them, and cried the Saturday before Christmas when tighter measures announced meant I couldn't see my daughter and her family on Christmas Eve. Lots of people sacrificed much more. It's wrong, this is not about politics, it's about integrity.

Waste of stretched police resources?

MaizieD

To return to the OP

A tweet

Re No 10 parties, The Met have said they don't normally investigate retrospective breaches of the law. That will be good news if you murdered someone last year. But they've graciously said they'll read the letters sent to them.

I'm very puzzled now. Surely every breach of the law is investigated in retrospect?

Or does the Met have a crystal ball so that they can investigate breaches before they happen

Cresida Dick said they'd "look into it" if they received a complaint. They've received more than one apparently but aren't going to do anything.

Political pressure?