Keir and Angela’s drinks party

Mmmmm....doesn’t surprise me at all.

I think there's a significant difference between pizzas eaten as a meal with people you'd been working with and were still working with and a birthday cake, which is not a meal,not necessary sustenance, eaten with wife and interior designer, neither of whom were work colleagues

My point is there may be a difference but a significant difference?? Not sure about that when you look at how each occurred.

Absolutely, Carrie should not have arranged it. But walking in on it, to a group of people who you work with on a daily basis, lasts 10 minutes etc etc etc....I'm NOT banging the drum for Boris atall. I AM saying that when you look at the details of each event within the context of the law at the time the two differing decisions are somewhat worrying in application of the law. And if the application is different here, what the heck was it like for the general public depending on interpretation of different forces?

So really they are all the same. Sylvia

Madgran77

*I think there's a significant difference between pizzas eaten as a meal with people you'd been working with and were still working with and a birthday cake, which is not a meal,not necessary sustenance, eaten with wife and interior designer, neither of whom were work colleagues*

My point is there may be a difference but a significant difference?? Not sure about that when you look at how each occurred.

Absolutely, Carrie should not have arranged it. But walking in on it, to a group of people who you work with on a daily basis, lasts 10 minutes etc etc etc....I'm NOT banging the drum for Boris atall. I AM saying that when you look at the details of each event within the context of the law at the time the two differing decisions are somewhat worrying in application of the law. And if the application is different here, what the heck was it like for the general public depending on interpretation of different forces?

Absolutely.

Boris Johnson is the Prime Minister

I wonder how many MPs everywhere broke the rules, it is hardly the point is it

Boris Johnson was the Prime Minister and still is. Where is he?

They're banged to rights, I think.
Better than the 50 incidents by the Tories, but they still broke the rules.

The Covid rules on 31st April 2021 and on 19th June 2020 weren’t the same though of course.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/timeline-coronavirus-lockdown-december-2021.pdf

1. Boris returns from a work visit; heads to Cabinet Room for a Covid meeting. Several staff come in with a cake and to wish him Happy Birthday, arranged by his wife. Rishi Sunak arrives for Covid Meeting, stands inside door. Whole shebang lasts 10 minutes and apparently the cake was never cut! Boris and Rishi carry on working

Where have these details come from, Madgran77?

The police didn't release any details, did they?

Sue Grey passed the details of 12 of the 16 parties to the Met and they have questioned the people involved. I don't think that Grey would have passed details of a relatively innocuous 10 minutes to the police and I don't think the police would have bothered much about it.

If it hasn't come from the police or Sue Grey then it's hearsay and not reliable.

No they weren't but in both cases, the interpretation applied to the particular events seems questionable linked to the rules at the time, even if they were different between the two events!

What, MaizieD surely you can’t be right, the Daily Mail is far more reliable than the police! I’m expecting some of the Tory posters to start calling Sir Keir ‘Two Cakes’ any minute now.

If it hasn't come from the police or Sue Grey then it's hearsay and not reliable

True! But on that basis, Keirs, Angela's, Labour Party and cronies statements are just as much hearsay.

In both cases the people involved are making statements about what happened. And that information from the people involved begs the question about what the differences are between the two events. And why the police interpretation is so different!

Who knows!

It would be good to know the content of Sue Grays report. But there won't be one on beer and pizza gate!

Where did "Tory Posters" come from? Who are the "Tory posters" in this discussion then? Or the "Labour Posters" for that matter!

Dear Me!

Can you believe this. Richard Holden is the Tory MP who has pressed the police to reopen the case into the Labour event.

But a statement on the North West Durham MP’s own Facebook page from May 1 last year casts his campaign in an awkward light.

Posting about a visit to Gurkhas in Kent the week before, he said: “It was particularly great to meet the young Gurkha soldiers and to chat with them properly over lunch in their mess and to find out more about them and their families back in Nepal.”

Madgran77

Where did "Tory Posters" come from? Who are the "Tory posters" in this discussion then? Or the "Labour Posters" for that matter!

Dear Me!

Apologies Madgran77, that was shorthand for the usual people who post on the Political threads and know each other well enough to know their allegiances. I wasn’t assuming anything about other people.

Liars to the left of me, Liars to the right and here am I stuck in the middle politically homeless…

As we oldies remember Nixon - it's the lying that gets you. Johnson constantly lies.

Apologies Madgran77, that was shorthand for the usual people who post on the Political threads and know each other well enough to know their allegiances. I wasn’t assuming anything about other people

OK

Casdon

Can you believe this. Richard Holden is the Tory MP who has pressed the police to reopen the case into the Labour event.

But a statement on the North West Durham MP’s own Facebook page from May 1 last year casts his campaign in an awkward light.

Posting about a visit to Gurkhas in Kent the week before, he said: “It was particularly great to meet the young Gurkha soldiers and to chat with them properly over lunch in their mess and to find out more about them and their families back in Nepal.”

Unbelievable! ??

Surely the key point is we aren’t comparing like with like
Staff at Downing Street bought a drinks fridge, there were regular trips to stock up the booze. There were a series of events where guidance was ignored or flouted
Johnson has a long history of ignoring normal rules of engagement, lying and seemingly believing he’s above the rules or expectations most of us abide by
Starmer’s reputation is for honesty and integrity

My comments relate to the two specific incidents, not the wider context. The police look at each incident. The other stuff is not relevant within the application or otherwise of the law

Allsorts

After all the relentless droning on day after day, about Boris having a drink, the very same month we now find that Keir and Angela did the same. Pity the video came out or they might have got away with it, What hypocrisy, I believe the Durham police are going to treat this in exactly the same way as the conservatives were, or perhaps it’s different rules when you are the opposition, so let’s wait for the sort of apology Boris gave, the sort of grief Keir relentlessly day after day, war or no war, inflicted on Boris to resign, let’s hope he gets the same. All the time knowing what they had done but not owned up to and banking on not being caught out. Talk about two faced. How can you believe award he says. As he was fond of saying, rules are rules whomever you are. (If you are caught out).

Just how low can these damnable Tories sink? First, they tried to win with lies - they are still doing that. But the people have got Johnson's measure. They know him, they know this government; they know its supporters for the deliberate lies that have and are being told.

So now we have a new policy to deceive. The Tories know that Partygate, on top of all the other lies, has hit home. Now they are out to drag everyone down. To make the electors believe that "everyone is doing it". But they are not. These are more lies. Not only that. Just listen to those who support the Great British Liar in his lies, attempting to claim the moral high ground. On what?

Did the PM and many of those at Downing Street break Covid laws? Yes, they did. The police have charged him and them and sent them fines. If you pay the fine, you are admitting your guilt. The social gatherings were illegal.

Did Keir Starmer break the Covid laws? No, he was working. They had been out door-knocking. Canvessing was specifically allowed under a clause permitting campaigning at that time. They stopped to eat. That, not surprisingly, was allowed too. There was no law about what you ate or drank that applied to the socialising at No. 10 or when campaigning. Did Angela Rayner being there or not make a difference. Not one iota. A statement has been issued to say that the report that Angela Rayner was not there was a mistake made in "good faith". Even when the PM acknowledges deliberate lies he goes on to repeat them again and again.

The Tories know the public will now suspect everything Johnson says of being a lie. Before the Tory voter thought these lies didn't matter, they didn't hurt them after all. Oh, how wrong can you be? Now they matter. Now that is how they see him - a man who parties while their loved ones die alone. He has betrayed them.

So they take a line out of the fascist handbook - to accuse the other side of that which you are guilty. They are out to poison the country's trust in all politicians. Then, at least they won't go into the next election with no trust any of the electors. Yet another attempt to destroy our democracy.

Well said.

Casdon

You shouldn’t laugh, but it broke here - look at the headline!
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10764839/Keir-Starmer-flouted-Covid-lockdown-guidance-birthday-bash-TWO-cakes.html

I'm a bit confused here. What date are we talking about? Starmer's birthday is on 2 September, when England wasn't in lockdown.

Agree,*DaisyAnne*, exactly what's happening

growstuff

Casdon

You shouldn’t laugh, but it broke here - look at the headline!
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10764839/Keir-Starmer-flouted-Covid-lockdown-guidance-birthday-bash-TWO-cakes.html

I'm a bit confused here. What date are we talking about? Starmer's birthday is on 2 September, when England wasn't in lockdown.

I'm glad I wasn't the only confused person. ?