Kier Starmer & voice coach during tier 4 lockdown

Thanks Rosie.

surely he would be wanting to spend that precious time with his loved ones on Christmas Eve^ I wondered that too. This is the man who, as PM, leaves work sharply on Fridays to get home for family time, yet is still working until late on Christmas Eve? I don't get it.

Clearly. The reason he spends Friday nights with his family is because they are Jewish. It makes perfect sense that Christmas Eve will be less important to them than to even nominally Christian families. That side of it is no mystery to me.

The question of who was an essential worker is more complicated, I think. KS certainly was - whether people working with him were essential by default is not something I can answer. It was clear from reports about the Downing Street parties that office workers, PR people and so on were deemed essential, and went into work every day (and partied at night), so where the lines were drawn is not straightforward.

tinaf1

If all the rules were adhered to as he is insisting they presumably would be wearing masks how does that work with voice and pronunciation training work.

The rules can’t have been adhered to because you weren’t allowed to travel between different areas at the time unless you were a key worker doing your work. She travelled from Brighton to London and back. I remember the rules well because they prevented my son, living in London, coming to us for Christmas.

With politicians it does seem to increasingly be 'do as I say not as I do'.

knspol

With politicians it does seem to increasingly be 'do as I say not as I do'.

Doesn’t it just!

One of my parents was Jewish, but we still were all together on Christmas Eve. For one reason, most businesses and shops closed early so families of any religion could be together.
Not that I really care, but it's strange the coach's train didn't head out of London until after 6pm. I like a mystery, I'm not speculating just wondering!
The "essential worker" label is more tricky.

LizzieDrip

Oh right, yes Mt61 … the curry and beer ‘party’!

It wasn’t a party. They were taking a break from canvassing in a constituency office during a by election, canvassing was allowed at the time.

It is just all so depressing, even this was strictly within the guidelines, a man who aspires to be the Prime Minister should have been following the spirit of the rules which were in place, we should remember, to try and save people's lives.
The same as the actual Prime Minister at the time, who was also doing as he pleased.
Who on earth can be trusted?

Barleyfields

tinaf1

If all the rules were adhered to as he is insisting they presumably would be wearing masks how does that work with voice and pronunciation training work.

The rules can’t have been adhered to because you weren’t allowed to travel between different areas at the time unless you were a key worker doing your work. She travelled from Brighton to London and back. I remember the rules well because they prevented my son, living in London, coming to us for Christmas.

The quote about the rules being adhered to was a bit tongue in cheek Barleyfields

Mollygo

I’m not absolutely certain that people will be hoping this is a storm in a teacup.

I'm sure they won't.
Much like Angela and her council house "crime".

On the day this news broke I could have done this man serious damage.
His crime.
He was the scientist who worked out how many of us would die if we didn’t adhere to the rules.
The only problem was, he didn’t adhere to them, why?
Because he fancied a bit of afternoon rumpy pumpy with his married lover😡 He didn’t even wait long he hung out until 30th March 2020. Lockdown started on the 22nd of March.
When the news broke I got in my car and went to see my family.
If I was stopped by the police I didn’t care. I was prepared to go to court and worse.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/05/uk-coronavirus-adviser-prof-neil-ferguson-resigns-after-breaking-lockdown-rules

Jane43 maybe BJ & co were also taking a break with beer & cake!

It’s true bathsalt, if we don’t agree with left leaning people, we are mad, or bad!

knspol

With politicians it does seem to increasingly be 'do as I say not as I do'.

It always has been, but the difference is that KS criticised others for that attitude.

”It wasn’t a party. They were taking a break from canvassing in a constituency office during a by election, canvassing was allowed at the time”

Yes, I know Jane43

My post was an ironic response to a previous poster - that’s why I put the word ‘party’ in quotation marks. I know that irony doesn’t often translate well in written text - I should have made it clearer.

Anyway, I agree with your above comment👍

His voice reminds me of one of Doctor Who's Dalek toys with the batteries running down.

Absolutely! Starmer's Beer and Curry was just as much a breach as BJs' parties but the BJ crew were running the country. They deserved a drink!

I didn't work during lockdown, but when I did work I would often have lunch in the office with colleagues. Very occasionally there would be a party after work if someone left or had a significant birthday. Nobody ever confused the two things.

Legally people have to have time to eat during the working day, and if their colleagues are in the room with them working, why wouldn't they eat together if they want to?

The bottom line is that lockdown was only ever for us "little people". Politicians of all parties considered themselves above the law and behaved accordingly, ignoring the rules which everyone else was expected to obey

WoodLane7

The bottom line is that lockdown was only ever for us "little people". Politicians of all parties considered themselves above the law and behaved accordingly, ignoring the rules which everyone else was expected to obey

It seems as if a lot of people ignored the rules but, unlike politicians, they got fined.

The police were waiting in a woodland car park near here, waiting to catch anyone who dared to take their dogs for a walk there and threatening them with fines - because they'd driven a mile or so to get there!

I never called anything that happened at work ‘a party.’ Parties happen in someone’s house or at a specific venue. There’s usually music, dancing, maybe entertainment, people dress up, and there’s food. Not a piece of cake, proper food. By the definition of eating a bit of cake, we must have had a party every time someone at work had a birthday, because on our birthdays, we took cakes in. Everyone then had a doughnut (or whatever) with their coffee during their fifteen minute break in the morning. By the Covid definition that was a party!

They must have been the worst parties I ever went to.

Yes, it was quite scary the way people reported one another and seemed to relish the power over those who broke the rules. In some cases that was fair enough (eg the drive from London to Barnard Castle), but incidents like the students having a snowball fight, and people reporting one another for having 'non-essential' items in supermarket trolleys really showed the unpleasant side of human nature, IMO.

Maybe another thread but it was a time of utter madness really.

The arrows on floors, keeping a meter apart, ordering a drink if you were sitting down,queuing at Sainsbury's, don't touch packaging, red zones, masks, hand san ,bubbles, key workers gazebos, don't use the toilet.

Mt61

Jane43 maybe BJ & co were also taking a break with beer & cake!

As I said canvassing was allowed under the rules at the time, during the number 10 parties the rules on socializing were more strict.

Starmer, when asked about it all today, seemed quite ratty.

He does get rather rattled and cross frequently, like when questioned over his clothes or glasses.
I don't think the voice coach gave him any lessons on taking deep breaths using his diaphragm fully in order to appear less ruffled when being cross questioned!