More No.10 parties

Our esteemed PM when he was Major of London; thanks to Larry the Cat:

twitter.com/Number10cat/status/1481892932617703426

The excuse for one of the ‘gatherings’ was as a reward for how hard they’d worked. Funny that - I haven’t seen front line NHS or ambulance staff partying til they drop !! Beginning to think the people in government are far too alcohol dependent.

I think Boris’s position is untenable - he’s sacked people and accepted resignations for far less. I heard earlier that No 10 has apologised to Buckingham Palace for the party on the Eve of Prince Philip’s funeral and I would hope that Boris will echo that apology personally at their next meeting. If he’s still PM that is.

Daisymae

Wondering what the party situation is like when the country is not in a state of emergency and the evening before the burial of a senior royal?

Quite.

I'm wholeheartedly sick of the lot of them. They have no integrity. They make the rules but obviously think they are above all that themselves. Disrespectful to every single citizen to say the least! I had hoped that Johnson would prove a better PM as he was quite obviously made of different stuff to the ones that went before him, but oh boy has he blown it. The trouble is there's no-one who shows the slightest bit more honesty and integrity to replace him. How the Queen must feel now she knows her ministers were partying the night before Prince Philip's funeral, when she had to stay apart to set a good example to the nation, I don't know. She must be furious and feel so let down by everyone these days. I hope this doesn't see her giving up on life. I hope they all get prosecuted, but I expect they'll wriggle out of it.

At the time of the Duke of Edinburgh's death I was working on the Census, employed by ONS - part of the civil service. It was made abundantly clear to us that working during the time of mourning was strictly limited. When the death was announced we were all pulled off the streets immediately for the rest of Friday. On the day of the funeral we were not allowed to work, meaning I couldn't fulfil my contracted hours and therefore lost pay as I was not a permanent employee.
Consequently I cannot believe that any civil servant working in Downing street could have been unaware of the inappropriateness of a party at that time, even though working on the day before the funeral was allowed!
Whether the invitation involved MPs or just civil servants it should not have happened. I'm sure there will be more revelations to come and I wonder how long Boris' Teflon coating will last. His days must be numbered!

How the Queen must feel now she knows her ministers were partying the night before Prince Philip's funeral,

Let's not get too carried away here. For all we know ministers 'may' have been partying the night before , but the folk who have been shopped were civil servants. Not quite at the same level

Casdon

What’s your definition of a drinks party MayBee70? I always thought it was a pre organised by invitation event. Regardless, as I said in my original post, they were all in the wrong.

I wasn’t defending it. I’m just worried at the way some people are using the parties to push their conspiracy theories.

I think the timing is interesting. The number of Covid deaths are dropping; the Omicron variant is proving to be much less severe; we are all starting to breathe a sigh of relief and looking forward to more normal times ahead, and less restrictions are needed. NOW is the time to drop it into the media that these social events were going on at a time when we were all dutifully obeying their rules. Maybe it's a safer time to do it now otherwise it could have led to a poorer outcome for a lot of us as more people would have decided not to do so? Maybe it's coming from Cummings who wants revenge. Maybe it's coming from those in the Tory party who only wanted Bojo in to "get Brexit done" and then wanted him gone, but have found they are stuck with him and this is part of their plan to "unstick" him? Only time will tell.

PS Forgot to say - whatever the reason for the leaks, holding those parties was reprehensible and we must remember not to Shoot the Messenger, but listen to the message.

An absolute disgrace an insult to the Queen who as most people did followed the guidelines during lockdown.

Speaking on LBC this afternoon a former customs office said that at the start of the pandemic, when these rules went out, the Civil Service sent out notices to every employee forbidding social gatherings, even in kitchens, in the work place.

Absolutely no excuse for these parties, gatherings, whatever you want to call them. These people, because they either worked at Downing Street, or associated premises, were disobeying the rules. I wonder how many tea ladies or cleaners were invited.

In case people feel for sorry for the workers at Number 10 being in small offices, it used to be the case, if you worked in a office that was situated in a former residential building, the rooms were small. I remember working in a town house off Charing Cross Road - a first floor room, probably the sitting room inn another life, and sharing with 3 other people. On another occasion I worked in the former Charterhouse School buildings, near Barts, in what would have been a former study, sharing with 2 others. This is what it's like working in old buildings that were formerly residential.

GillT57
This issue is being hyped and manipulated beyond belief with msm using vile ‘my …, died alone’ to push their agenda.. does this include the members of GN who tragically lost family members and mourned alone?
Yes, they are being manipulated. Of course the grief is real as is the distress for every individual touched by this pandemic., But, the way this grief is being used purely to achieve the exit of BJ is in my opinion barbarous for those bereaved. The msm are not interested in the distress or grief, just the impact this can create to achieve their desired outcome.
The restrictions were applied in hospitals and care homes in an attempt to protect the patients and to the general population to slow transmission.
In the ‘party’ instances these were essential work colleagues who would be working side by side, indoors on a daily basis. Just as shop, construction, nursing, teaching, utility and other staff that were essential were doing. Fortunately there were not spy cameras in these environments or mass breaches may well have been also exposed.
I am classed as highly vulnerable and spent most of this time locked down on my own. To date I am still very careful and do little socialising. I also lost dear friends who I could not attend the funerals of. But am I outraged at a few folk sat in the garden of their work office on a hot sunny day having a drink…no. Had there been a DJ, Karaoke and disco lights I may have wished I was there, but majority there were the young ones in the lowest risk category and work colleagues.

It seems Keir Starmer also had a drinks party last May.
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/13/keir-starmer-branded-absolute-hypocrite-drinking-staff-lockdown/

Do you have inside information on who was there?

^ The number of Covid deaths are dropping; ^

Actually, CarlyD7, they're not. They're increasing. So are hospitalisations.

Case numbers are dropping, but whether that is people not bothering to test 'because it's mild', or fewer tests being carried out because of the well publicised shortage of tests a week or so ago, or because the incidence of infection is dropping, is hard to tell.

You're right MaisieD - these are today's figures...

Sparklefizz

It seems Keir Starmer also had a drinks party last May.
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/13/keir-starmer-branded-absolute-hypocrite-drinking-staff-lockdown/

According to the DM they were simply working late and stopped for dinner...so that’s fine isn’t it? I’d lay money that this went on in every political party truth be told.

railman

You're right MaisieD - these are today's figures...

Actually, those are yesterday's figures.

Joelsnan but apparently some of the parties were attended by people who weren't working in number 10 (2 special advisors to Gove have been mentioned) and Carrie attended the 'working party' in the garden- she doesn't work. I think there's no defending these social gatherings; the rules did not allow for groups of workers to socialise together.

Interesting how many people are having to admit to being at drinks events before they’re actually exposed by the enquiry. And how many journalists are jumping ship having supported Johnson and his lies throughout the years.

The number of daily reported deaths due to Covid are now similar to Feb 2021, and in my own county the rates are the highest ever reported. Not quite out of the woods yet CarlyD7.

I think everyone who attended the parties should resign they have mocked the British public

Doesn't suprise me one jot! And the pitiful spectacle of his lackies opening their veins on TV in a vain attempt to try and 'save' him? Pathetic they don't even know how they're being screwed over on the altar of over entitlement and greed! Hell chuck anyone's babies on the pyre to save his own bacon that one. "They're all doomed!" If we're lucky.

You can accuse anyone of anything but you need proof to rest your case.
Here there's lots of proof but they're telling us there's no case.........not even a birkin handbag........well there is but they're actually saying is that they didn't realise even when whacked over the head with it that it was actually a bag at all, they thought it was a banana...........

Farzanah

The number of daily reported deaths due to Covid are now similar to Feb 2021, and in my own county the rates are the highest ever reported. Not quite out of the woods yet CarlyD7.

I appreciate that the number of deaths is an emotive subject, but I think its important to get the numbers right.

Just now, an average of about 210 people are dying every day.

A year ago, on January 14th 2021, 1,227 people died. We are in a much, much better position now that we were a year ago.