So ... no more fines for Boris!

Volver, just Starmer and Rayner to be fined , oh wait, Durham do not issue retrospective fines more than 6 months after so they’ll get away with it, If the Met fines were challenged, they would be quashed as they were issued far too late.
Perhaps everyone, especially the media can focus on things that are actually important instead of trivial rubbish now

Chris Bryant recused himself because, according to the letter he sent to the committee, he had previously commented to the media

In a letter to members of the committee, he said: “I understand that some Honourable and Right Honourable Members have questioned whether I should chair such an inquiry into the Prime Minister, given that I have made several statements in the media on this matter.

It is easy to now accuse the Committee of bias because of its preponderance of tory members, but tis could be impugning them. Cross party committees tend to be less partisan and more objective than people give them credit for. And Johnson has p*ssed off so many tory MPs that I doubt many will be out to do him a favour.

I can't find any recent information on who will chair it in his place. Various names were touted at the time, including Harriet Harman.

OakDryad

In the daily deluge of mismanagement and scandal I have rather lost track of some things. Now the police investigations are concluded doesn't Johnson now have to appear before the Commons Select Committee of Privileges?

However, I seem to recall that Chris Bryant said he would recuse himself from the chair after Rees Mogg alleged he would be biased. The committee is biased towards the Tories - four of the seven members are Tories. If Bryant, as Labour chair, is obliged to recuse does that mean it goes ahead with six members only two of which are not in the same party as Johnson? How will this not be biased?

Yes and of course Sue Grey.

She is it is being said threatening to name, but we shall see.

Johnson is very cocky about it all so I guess he thinks that he has somehow managed to get off the hook.

In the daily deluge of mismanagement and scandal I have rather lost track of some things. Now the police investigations are concluded doesn't Johnson now have to appear before the Commons Select Committee of Privileges?

However, I seem to recall that Chris Bryant said he would recuse himself from the chair after Rees Mogg alleged he would be biased. The committee is biased towards the Tories - four of the seven members are Tories. If Bryant, as Labour chair, is obliged to recuse does that mean it goes ahead with six members only two of which are not in the same party as Johnson? How will this not be biased?

One thing for sure if you ever find yourself on a sinking ship and need the lifeboat the first one on it will be leader Johnson regardless of how many he leaves behind.

Quite honestly the fines really are irrelevant even if extremely irritating that Johnson has swerved them..

What is relevant is that a PM of the U.K. lied to parliament.

I disagree that Johnson is an oaf because that suggests he is clumsy and unintelligent. People who have worked with him at The Spectator and the Telegraph describe him as calculating, ruthless and very intelligent. He knows exactly what he is doing. He changes his colours regularly and solely to garner the support of the gullible entirely for his own ends which is to create chaos and destabilise the country.

It is the game that all narcissistics play; to lie, to blameshift, to confound and confuse until people start to doubt their own sanity. How many of us are asking ourselves, How is this happening and how can we stop it?

Johnson will be loving all of this. His very energy comes from pushing the boundaries to see what he can get away with. He has assembled a malleable cabinet to be no more than flying monkeys as are all the people who continue to voice support for him. It is gaslighting on a national level, moreover, achieved with dirty Russian money to influence both the 2016 Referendum and the 2019 General Election.

Johnson's support for Ukraine must go down as one of the most hypocritical turncoat acts in world history. Enabling the dictator and then running to the aid of the oppressed to be seen as a glorified saviour.

DiamondLily

UG I don't think it's about left or right. There are some decent Tory MPs (our local one is ok). There are some pretty awful people, on the left.

The Civil Servants have been thrown under the party bus.

Johnson is a self serving ponce, (with people paying for his food and decorating), he's adulterous, a congenital liar, and an embarrassing oaf, with no idea how to behave. He would be the same, whichever party he led.

He's got away with it - no surprise there. Normal decent standards, for some reason, don't seem to be applied to him.

I wouldn't mind if he was, actually, leading this country well - he's not, he's running it into the ground.

He looks after himself first, followed by his chums and donors.

He cares nothing for the little people.

And that's why he needs to be gone.?

I agree with you 100%, DiamondLily.

UG I don't think it's about left or right. There are some decent Tory MPs (our local one is ok). There are some pretty awful people, on the left.

The Civil Servants have been thrown under the party bus.

Johnson is a self serving ponce, (with people paying for his food and decorating), he's adulterous, a congenital liar, and an embarrassing oaf, with no idea how to behave. He would be the same, whichever party he led.

He's got away with it - no surprise there. Normal decent standards, for some reason, don't seem to be applied to him.

I wouldn't mind if he was, actually, leading this country well - he's not, he's running it into the ground.

He looks after himself first, followed by his chums and donors.

He cares nothing for the little people.

And that's why he needs to be gone.?

Spectacular backfire on the left.

They went after Boris, missed the target and hit their own people in the blob. Civil serpents copped it.

If Adam Wagner is struggling to make sense of this then I have no chance. He writes:

I don't think the regulations allow for someone to participate in an illegal gathering legally, as it were. The questions are (1) is there a reasonable excuse for the gathering, e.g. the gathering is reasonably necessary for work, (2) if not did a person "participate"

Among the comments from others is one that says, as a consequence of this, should a new wave of Covid occur, any attempt to impose new restrictions on the public could be widely ignored. The police would be powerless to act.

I'm starting to think this is all deliberately orchestrated. Hunger and cold. Uncontrolled spread of deadly infection should a new wave of Covid occur. It's a cheap way for a fascist dictator to cull the old and the poor without the need for gas chambers.

MaizieD I have given up on this Government under Mr.Johnson.

Nothing surprises or shocks me, speculating when not in possession of the full facts is a waste of energy. There is absolutely nothing I can do until the GE.
I feel the same towards Mr.Starmer and Mr.Cummings Durham episodes.

I have other things to worry/use my energy on.

GrannyGravy13

I think that it is common practice that police officers do not work on cases where family members may or may not be implicated.

Was his brother ever even mentioned in connection with the parties?

Even if he didn't work on the investigation he is well positioned to exert pressure...

You have to admit that there are a lot of peculiarities in this result...

Interesting to revisit the press coverage of the court case about the vigil for Sarah Everard:

Tom Hickman QC said: "The most significant 'threat' identified was not public health but the perceived reputational risk to the (force), including in the event they were perceived to be permitting or facilitating the vigil."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60707646

How does this square with the police who provide security in Whitehall who could not have been unaware of the many social gathering which took place on their watches? Blind eye?

I hope the Met Police have acted with due diligence as I also hope that Durham Police will act accordingly.

How can they have acted with due diligence when they didn't interview any of the suspected party goers, but sent out forms which they were not obliged to fill in? Forms which didn't ask about who else was at the parties?

Lots of questions asked on Adam Wagner (barrister)'s twitter time line

twitter.com/AdamWagner1

I think that it is common practice that police officers do not work on cases where family members may or may not be implicated.

Mr Bas Javid is Deputy Assistant Police Commission of Met Police.

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Is it true that the Health Secretary’s brother was in charge of the investigation?

It’s true that he is a policeman.

Wasn't he Cressida Dick''s deputy?

Is he in temporary charge now or did they bring someone in as acting head until a new political appointee is in post?

OakDryad

Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions, on the radio this morning says this is draining public confidence (as if the tank wasn’t already empty).

Senior staff e.g. the cabinet secretary who organised events was not fined. Junior staff who were asked to attend the events the cabinet secretary organised were fined. The police silence and refusal to explain their decisions is unhelpful and smacks of strings being pulled and legal wriggling for the most senior.

No, the police are not releasing names.

The Met: we don't investigate historical crimes (as if there were any other kind) but show us a peaceful vigil to mark the murder of a young woman by one of our own and we'll be straight in with batons and tear gas.

MaizieD

Allsorts

He has paid his fines, what about Keir? He seems to think he’s untouchable for doing exactly the same, could it be he knows the ways if the law inside out and the right people.

What I just cannot for the life of me understand is why you, or anyone at all, are defending this putrid excuse for a human being.

What extraordinarily special quality does he have which completely excuses the lying, the laziness, the freeloading, the sexual incontinence and the law breaking (to name but a few)? What quality of Johnson's overrides the stench of corruption which surrounds him?
What makes you happy with a PM who is leading a government that is becoming the most repressive we have ever known?

This is a genuine question.

Good luck getting an answer….

Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions, on the radio this morning says this is draining public confidence (as if the tank wasn’t already empty).

Senior staff e.g. the cabinet secretary who organised events was not fined. Junior staff who were asked to attend the events the cabinet secretary organised were fined. The police silence and refusal to explain their decisions is unhelpful and smacks of strings being pulled and legal wriggling for the most senior.

No, the police are not releasing names.

Whitewavemark2

Is it true that the Health Secretary’s brother was in charge of the investigation?

It’s true that he is a policeman.

Is it true that the Health Secretary’s brother was in charge of the investigation?

Whitewavemark2

Imagine that you are a junior civil servant who attended parties in No 10 along with your senior managers and politicians including Johnson.

The juniors it seems are the only ones receiving fines.

I would be very, very pissed off.

Have those who received FPNs other than Mr.Johnson and Mr.Sunak been made public?

I hope the Met Police have acted with due diligence as I also hope that Durham Police will act accordingly.

Imagine that you are a junior civil servant who attended parties in No 10 along with your senior managers and politicians including Johnson.

The juniors it seems are the only ones receiving fines.

I would be very, very pissed off.