Urmstongran
Boris is going in to bat though. Foolhardy?
He will go in and say ‘sorry, sorry’ and say he was acting on the advice of advisers.
I think he’ll get away with it and just get his wrists slapped.
Tell me again how he couldn't possibly have known the rules and could only act on the advice of advisors.
Section 20 of the report:
20. Mr Johnson’s knowledge of the rules and guidance is evidenced by the continuous statements he made at press conferences and to the House outlining and reaffirming rules and guidance that were in force at the time. A selection of these statements includes:
• On 11 May 2020, Mr Johnson said in the House that people should be “limiting contact with others [and] keeping your distance to 2 metres apart where possible”, and that “we are working together as a country to obey the social distancing rules, which everybody understands”. He also noted that the Government was introducing covid guidance for workplaces, saying: “If you must go to work and cannot work from home, you should do so, provided […] that your workplace is covid secure, and that you observe the rules on social distancing. We are publishing further guidance on that”.
• On 10 June 2020, at a Covid press conference, Mr Johnson said: “I urge everyone to continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe […] So please, to repeat what you’ve heard so many times before, stay alert, maintain social distancing and keep washing your hands.”
• On 9 November 2020, at a Covid press conference shortly after the introduction of a second national lockdown, Mr Johnson said that: “Neither mass testing nor progress on vaccines […] are at the present time a substitute for the national restrictions, for social distancing, for hand hygiene and all the rest. So it is all the more important to follow the rules.”
• On 30 December 2020, at a Covid press conference, Mr Johnson outlined the ‘Tier 4’ restrictions which had recently been imposed on several areas of England, and which were analogous to the national lockdown restrictions subsequently imposed in January 2021, saying: “That means not meeting up with friends or family indoors, unless they are in the same household or support bubble, and avoiding large gatherings of any kind.”
I suggest that you read the report, Ug. I don't think this committee is impressed by 'The big boys made me do it', and they're not going to do any wrist slapping.