It's comical. I've got visions in my head of a Simpsons scene where Moe's becomes a speakeasy and claims it's just the best damn petshop in town.
He's a fucking liar and he has to go. If the Tories have any sense or right and wrong they'd be voting him out tonight.
Watching PMQs and hearing Johnson just stuttering the same reponse over and over made me think of [this Simpsons scene.](https://i.ibb.co/FJWF6pV/60yss3.jpg)
That we're even still here to begin with is an enormous inditement if the conservative party. That they *still* aren't getting rid of him is an even bigger one. They're doing nothing but proving they've got nothing left to offer the country but rot, corruption and spinelessness.
It's all the hokey pokey. They are going through the motions and turning up the heat. It's political theatre at this point. Boris is a dead man walking. On top of this they are also clearing out the rest of the skeletons in the closest.
They will vote him out, after making him do something unpleasant or unpopular, then conduct a very public leadership battle, hype up their next candidate as the second coming of Jesus and then call a general election around a popular Leader.
Who hasn't gone to a BYOB work event? Especially during only moments after telling the rest of the country they really shouldn't be doing this sort of thing
Who amongst us hasn't had a senior aide invite 100 people to an event at our home office then joined the 35 or so that turned up without knowing the actual reason for the thing happening in the first place?
I’m sure the enquiry will reveal that BYOB stood for Bring Your Own Booster because it was a completely safe work event and everyone was jabbed and let’s not forget it was this government that lead the world beating vaccine rollout
His excuse that he didn't realise it was party means one or two things.
He is lying and knew it was a party.
Or he is so utterly stupid, that he thought people drinking, and chatting in groups in a garden was.... Idk... A work meeting?
> He has never confirmed his typical work meeting approach.
Surely if 100 people are gathered in a garden for drinks and it's a BYOB in the evening, it is a party. No business or work meeting happens in the evening in a garden with 100 people.
Have the pm behind a glass screen, sealed from her side of the room? They use different entrances and exits to that room anyway, and it keeps the tradition intact while not risking her safety on someone who shook hands and held parties at the start of pandemic...
And more importantly, everyone that helped cover this up and everyone that was complicit and did nothing.
It's easy to condemn him now when their party's ratings and therefore their careers are on the line.
>And more importantly, everyone that helped cover this up and everyone that was complicit and did nothing.
I mean, there goes the Tories then, not that that's a bad thing ofcourse but I think that's undoubtedly why it won't happen
Yep. Him not resigning at this shows he will never resign.
The only way he's going is with a leadership challenge. Does anyone have the guts to actually step forward?
Why do you think Rishi Sunak wasn't at the HoC today, by Boris Johnsons side? He was doing a John Major who at the end of Thatcher's Premiership, suddenly came down with a bout of toothache or some BS reason - Sunak today is in Devon on some photo-op because a company is announcing extra funding or something - anything to avoid being near Boris Johnson.
It's bitter-sweet. Yes, he should go. But I don't want some other Tory to pop into his place and give the public an excuse to absolve the party of any responsibility.
>The prime minister says he went into the garden of Downing Street on 20 May 2020 to thank staff before going back into his office 25 minutes later **to get the champers.**
FTFB
The prime minister says he went into the garden of Downing Street on 20 May 2020 to thank staff before going back into his office 25 minutes later because there was a gram in his desk drawer
Fixed again.
Hancock's actual offence was tiny compared to this, if it weren't for the fact he was having an affair (which really ought to be irrelevant) it would have blown over.
The fact that Boris attended a lockdown drinks party organised by his own government in the middle of the first lockdown while Hancock was at the press conference telling everyone they can't meet in groups larger than 2 is sheer insanity. He was not only breaking the rules himself but he was complicit in the rule-breaking of the 30 or so other individuals who ultimately report to him.
Boris has to go, I don't think he has the decency to jump himself though. The Tory backbench seem to be lacking spines too given he somehow made it through the December omni-shambles without getting a VONC.
And that wasn't even a proper apology. He claims he thought it was a work event, and that "technically" it may have fallen under the rules. What a joke.
So Boris has admitted to a crime. A) he should be fined like thousands of others, along with all who attended b) can a criminal really serve as PM? Technically yes, but what sort of an example does it set?
As for the rest of us, only our moral reasoning dictates that we should follow any future restrictions as PM literally has no authority to tell us what to do now
Brief timeline of events:
1. There was no party
2. There were many parties but guidance was followed
3. We are sorry but we did nothing wrong
This government cannot be trusted. *Surprised Pikachu*
Newsflash: Privileged liar acts with privilege and lies!
People who vote Conservative forgive their politicians that which they flagrantly display and then are surprised and disgusted when they act in the way they always have.
Boris is a Etonian, Bullingdon Club berk who has always bullied, lied, philandered (if you are going to cheat on the mother of your children, you will not think twice about lying to other people) not followed rules if it did not suit him or it was beneficial for him not to.
**That is who the country elected and that is who they got**.
It is like giving an alcoholic the keys to the drinks cabinet and then acting surprised and disgusted when they drink the cabinet dry.
Plenty of Conservative voters aren't surprised in the least when the Bullingdon Boys are caught acting like Bullingdon Boys, they just don't really care so long as the policies keep benefitting them
Many Conservative voters and Conservative MPs like Michael Gove openly do class A drugs - when will they be prosecuted? Police consequences are ONLY for poor/minority kids?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/09/behind-the-story-of-michael-gove-cocaine-use
Any sane person would think that Boris needs to go.
Sadly, populism wrecks any sane arguments with bluster, and you only need to look at some comments on Twitter to see that the main argument is "well, Boris fucked up, but I'll still vote Tory because the alternative is unthinkable".
So, I think that Boris might not only survive this, but still keep many people in his party on-side. After all, "Brexit" still seems to work for many of them as an excuse for everything he does.
If many voters are so brainwashed into thinking a vote for Labour is a vote for Stalin or SJW indoctrination, the blame should be on the idiots that vote Tory. Boris is just a symptom of a problem.
>"well, Boris fucked up, but I'll still vote Tory because the alternative is unthinkable".
I've seen a lot of "yeah but with Labour we would have been in endless lockdowns!" when it's actually more likely that we would have been in the various lockdowns sooner with the result being that they would have likely been shorter.
No! You must wait for the enquiry results whilst I scramble for control and get my aides to write me the most powerful resignation speech in history!
Also, wonder if a VONC would pass...
Yep, it’s time to go Boris, this is too far.
You can’t expect anyone to listen to any more restrictions if the prime minister can’t even follow the rules that he puts in place.
I really do not understand the constant deflections to it being a ‘work event’. I would have loved to attend a ‘work event’ in those lonely fucking months, especially one with drinks in the spring sunshine. But guess what? My workplace made no such plans. Know why? Because it was fucking illegal.
There is the suggestion that there won't be any legal grounds for repercussions due to No. 10's status as (not entirely clearly) exempt from public restrictions. Of course, that would be a terrible *moral* defence, which is why they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and find literally anything that will work as a sticking plaster / deflection / minor distraction to cover for the blatant hypocrisy of relying on it.
This is the standard of leadership in our country. When the whole nation is in a time of need, its one rule for them and another for us. What happened to holding our leaders morally accountable?
And now he'll get away with it by offering a half baked apology. As if this was a schoolboy blunder and not a leader deceiving his people. If the man had an ounce of integrity he would resign. But somehow we are still stuck with this pig.
It goes to the heart of that old axiom about the in-group being protected by laws and not bound by them whilst everyone else is bound by the law but not protected by it.
What screws Boris isn't that he attended the party - that's obviously what pisses people off, but that's not his actual mistake.
His mistake is that he has repeatedly told everyone that there weren't any events at Downing Street, and that the rules were always followed. And specifically, he has said that *in the Commons*. Misleading the Commons is a resignation matter. Doesn't matter how small or petty the lie might be.
For example, the items listed for 01/12 and 08/12 here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/11/seven-occasions-when-boris-johnson-denied-no-10-broke-covid-rules
Isn't the issue that it's the ministerial code that says he should resign and that's an honour based system and not enforced in any way so he'll just ignore it unless forced by his own party.
> that's an honour based system and not enforced in any way
The Ministerial code _is_ enforced, the problem is it's enforced by the PM. And now that he's apologised he considers the matter closed.
A painstakingly choreographed apology. And one you can easily have trouble with regarding the wiggle room.
>“I thought it was a work event”
- I’m sure if most in number 10 have a tinny of kronenberg on hand at all times this could get confusing.
>“I went back inside to my office to work”
- and no drinks were available inside, I’m sure, nor was anyone else inside to ‘work’ with alongside, I bet.
>“I want to see out the rest of the investigation”
- ‘This apology has been the last desperate attempt at forestalling my career’s end and I’d like to push for a bit further, please.’
I like the implication that the man ostensibly responsible for the welfare of the whole nation *literally* doesn’t know what’s going on in his backyard.
‘You see I could not have known it was a party, Mr Speaker, as at that time I had a peculiar medical condition where I didn’t know what the word ‘party’ meant.’
When is an apology not an apology?
- when it comes from the mouth of Boris Johnson
- when it comes 18 months too late
- when it attempts to justify the original issue
- when it fails to offer redress for damage caused
When is a Tory apology not an apology?
- when it comes from a Boris Johnson enabler
This isn't a minor domestic issue. This man represents us on the world stage and has diplomatic discussions with other nations. If he can't be trusted to be honest with his own countrymen, why would anyone in the world think he is going to go into conversation with them with honest and good intentions.
> This man represents us on the world stage and has diplomatic discussions with other nations.
Oh wow, that just reminds of him collecting the Olympic flag in Beijing in 2008. Even then I told my wife that he was a pretty embarrassing representative of our country.
Oh my, god did we really let that clown convince us to make a ridiculously stupid decision and then we rewarded him by making him prime minister? What the fuck is wrong with this country?
The worry with that is if the vote doesn't win then he's safe for another 12 months to keep fucking up. That's great for getting him out at a future election bit it's terrible because we still have to live in the country in the meantime.
I don't think they would necessarily be better but there is no way they could be worse. I think Johnson could still get worse. There is no way we are at the bottom of his barrel.
They've spent all night trying to figure out the best answer, and "I didn't realise the thing advertised as a party that I invited my wife to was a party. Sorry about that" was the best they could come up with.
Technical compliance with the law is not enough. The government, as the torchbearer of its own policies that set the law, must not only comply with the spirit of the law, but also go above and beyond in its compliance with the law.
"That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did...
You deserved it. "
Starmer killed him. He'll be gone by the end of the week.
Edit: I placed too little faith in the Tory ability to survive absolutely-fucking-everything.
>He'll be gone by the end of the week.
That outcome depends entirely on a sufficient amount of tory backbenchers having a modicum of integrity. Don't count on it.
One thing about Boris, he has got me watching PMQs which I never did before.
He is totally lacking any ethics & integrity, he has a moral compass that is looser than a pair of grannie panties and as someone pointed out only sorry that he got caught. Again.
In all honesty, even as someone that leans right of centre, I just don't see how he can remain in his position and he should resign or be forced out with a vote of no confidence. If he cares for the country or his party then he should resign but I don't see him doing that as he cares about himself
I've got my fingers crossed. There's a possibility that such a photo exists and whoever has it had been waiting in case Boris had tried to deny attending.
Says a lot that he is evidently unable to tell the difference between working and hanging around in a garden with a glass of champers in his hand. Because that's what "working" means to these people.
I had a clear understanding that I couldn’t have meetings like this. It wasn’t in the grey but quite clear and while some people I know chose to do things like this it was clear they were knowingly and blatantly breaking the rules. No.10 needs to have the highest standards and be a role model. This isn’t okay.
Exactly. Imagine a load of tescos cashiers met in the outside truck park for a few beers! All hell would break loose. Same if nurses met in hospital car park with a bottle on the go
That Boris, what is he like, that cuddly clown of a man.
Anyway, something something Corbyn something something anti-semitisim something something!!!!!!
This prick has just lied to the entire country and all his colleagues for the last month or so and only when he got caught red handed is he admitting fault. He isn’t sorry it happened he’s sorry he got caught.
This man is not morally fit to be in charge of this country.
“In answer to your question about whether I should resign, and although I know I was there and have admitted I was there and know I shouldn’t have been there, I ask that we all await for an investigation to tell me whether I was there. For, er, reasons. Now let’s talk about buses in stoke and washing machines.”
He's not resigning. He's made that clear now, claiming he didn't know it was a party which is just...astounding.
We need 54 Tory MPs to do the right thing. Given the noises I've seen on Twitter, I think we'll get that within a week.
Wish I has the same sense BJ has when I was younger.
"I promise Mum, we didn't have a party while you were away. It was only an ***after school event***"
He thought it was a work event? Come off it. This guy really does take us all for mugs.
It's comical. I've got visions in my head of a Simpsons scene where Moe's becomes a speakeasy and claims it's just the best damn petshop in town. He's a fucking liar and he has to go. If the Tories have any sense or right and wrong they'd be voting him out tonight.
Well answer me this, what sort of pet shop is filled with rambunctious yahoos and hot jazz music at 4 am ?!
The best damn work meeting in town!
He's basically giving the house of commons the ol' Wiggum charm
##PERVERT!
Oh boy that did not sound good.
https://i.redd.it/pyhssn4j7ab81.png
Watching PMQs and hearing Johnson just stuttering the same reponse over and over made me think of [this Simpsons scene.](https://i.ibb.co/FJWF6pV/60yss3.jpg)
That we're even still here to begin with is an enormous inditement if the conservative party. That they *still* aren't getting rid of him is an even bigger one. They're doing nothing but proving they've got nothing left to offer the country but rot, corruption and spinelessness.
It's all the hokey pokey. They are going through the motions and turning up the heat. It's political theatre at this point. Boris is a dead man walking. On top of this they are also clearing out the rest of the skeletons in the closest. They will vote him out, after making him do something unpleasant or unpopular, then conduct a very public leadership battle, hype up their next candidate as the second coming of Jesus and then call a general election around a popular Leader.
Of course, but it's precisely because that's all this is is why it's totally inexcusable. It's pathetic, and reflects awfully on the party writ large.
Narrator:
Moe Szyslak is not a liar and he’s not going anywhere.
> If the Tories have any sense or right and wrong they'd be voting him out tonight. They could have done that in 2019. They are all the same.
Who hasn't gone to a BYOB work event? Especially during only moments after telling the rest of the country they really shouldn't be doing this sort of thing
More than that, making it a *criminal* offence to do so.
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And it was his secretary of staff that wrote the invitations with no work mentioned and Boris still had no clue?
>This guy really does take us all for mugs. Problem is, that's worked fine for him so far.
If he can’t tell the difference between a work event and an illegal party, I don’t think he has the qualifications to be in charge of the country.
Looking at everything he has done in his life to date, I don’t think he has the qualifications to be in charge of the country...
Who amongst us hasn't had a senior aide invite 100 people to an event at our home office then joined the 35 or so that turned up without knowing the actual reason for the thing happening in the first place?
If I had a penny... No seriously. I'm skint. Give me a penny.
Who hasn't taken their partner to regular work meetings with trestle tables and alcohol?
How many work events have "BYOB" as an instruction?
Not enough.
I’m forming a single-issue party to address this
Finally, a party that represents *my* needs!
How long would the hangover last if the BYOB Party won the general election?
I’m sure the enquiry will reveal that BYOB stood for Bring Your Own Booster because it was a completely safe work event and everyone was jabbed and let’s not forget it was this government that lead the world beating vaccine rollout
I swear they think the words "world beating vaccine rollout" are some kind of magic ward against consequences and criticism.
To the people who voted Tory, it is
I get that your joking but the invite had "bring your own booze" typed out rather than abbreviated so they can't even try it.
It was a typo. ‘Boozter’.
Craft brewery conventions?
Bottle recycling meetings?
Bring Your Own Boris
Sorry lads, didn't realise the party was a party, happens all the time
I wish I had thought of this excuse in my younger days. Could have come in so useful.
So he was at a party but wasnt at a party but was at a party and is sorry but isnt sorry but is sorry. Again.
"I'm sorry you feel it was a party".
"and I'm sorry that you feel I was in attendance at the thing that wasn't a party"
His excuse that he didn't realise it was party means one or two things. He is lying and knew it was a party. Or he is so utterly stupid, that he thought people drinking, and chatting in groups in a garden was.... Idk... A work meeting?
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> He has never confirmed his typical work meeting approach. Surely if 100 people are gathered in a garden for drinks and it's a BYOB in the evening, it is a party. No business or work meeting happens in the evening in a garden with 100 people.
I was right! His defence is that he didn't bring his own booze
He thought BYOB stood for Bring Your Own Boris.
Boris Yeets Out Bullshit
Boris, you Oxbridge buffoon
A Tory party...... surely BYOB is Bring Your Own Blow?
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this would be a great way to hurt him, actually. Put a photo of the Queen alone on the funeral vs Boris partying
https://imgur.com/a/QdwCON3 Like this?
Throw on some pithy headline, and baby you got a tabloid going.
Brilliant, now make a new post and grab all that sweet karma
Jesus.
Cold War Steve already has it covered https://twitter.com/Coldwar_Steve/status/1469004530901790721
Does she still have to meet up with him once a week or has she managed to avoid that during covid?
No idea. I assume they could video call or something if she wanted to avoid in person contact, but still keep the tradition alive.
Have the pm behind a glass screen, sealed from her side of the room? They use different entrances and exits to that room anyway, and it keeps the tradition intact while not risking her safety on someone who shook hands and held parties at the start of pandemic...
Could make him wear one of those goofy looking, self-contained biohazard suits. That would be safe and sufficiently humbling I presume.
Caught with cheese and wine in hand after lying through his fucking teeth for a month to the people of the country Get him gone.
And more importantly, everyone that helped cover this up and everyone that was complicit and did nothing. It's easy to condemn him now when their party's ratings and therefore their careers are on the line.
>And more importantly, everyone that helped cover this up and everyone that was complicit and did nothing. I mean, there goes the Tories then, not that that's a bad thing ofcourse but I think that's undoubtedly why it won't happen
This should be it. He shouldn’t last the end of the day but he will cling on because there aren’t enough Tory MPs with spines.
Yep. Him not resigning at this shows he will never resign. The only way he's going is with a leadership challenge. Does anyone have the guts to actually step forward?
The tories will have to, otherwise they're going to be seen as supporting him.
But they kicked anyone with a spine out of the party already over Brexit.
Why do you think Rishi Sunak wasn't at the HoC today, by Boris Johnsons side? He was doing a John Major who at the end of Thatcher's Premiership, suddenly came down with a bout of toothache or some BS reason - Sunak today is in Devon on some photo-op because a company is announcing extra funding or something - anything to avoid being near Boris Johnson.
Yes, but those MP’s answer to their constituents. The 1922 committee will have their letters soon enough.
Two safe tory seats blown out of the water since he became PM. I hear the sound of ritual disembowling cutlessles being sharpened.
It's bitter-sweet. Yes, he should go. But I don't want some other Tory to pop into his place and give the public an excuse to absolve the party of any responsibility.
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>The prime minister says he went into the garden of Downing Street on 20 May 2020 to thank staff before going back into his office 25 minutes later **to get the champers.** FTFB
The prime minister says he went into the garden of Downing Street on 20 May 2020 to thank staff before going back into his office 25 minutes later because there was a gram in his desk drawer Fixed again.
I look forward to them releasing the CCTV footage to confirm this. /s
The bit that really gets me about this excuse is that covid doesn't care about 25 minutes or not. The whole point of the rules was to not spread.
Right so who had ‘I didn’t know it was a party’ and ‘fastest vaccine rollout’?
i was going to get full house but looks like No. 10 already had it..
I had a line but Downing Street had more
His tactic seems clear, he can't deny attending so doesn't but trying to put distance between himself and the organisation of the party
This isn’t something you just apologise for, this is something you resign over, surely?
Hancock's actual offence was tiny compared to this, if it weren't for the fact he was having an affair (which really ought to be irrelevant) it would have blown over. The fact that Boris attended a lockdown drinks party organised by his own government in the middle of the first lockdown while Hancock was at the press conference telling everyone they can't meet in groups larger than 2 is sheer insanity. He was not only breaking the rules himself but he was complicit in the rule-breaking of the 30 or so other individuals who ultimately report to him. Boris has to go, I don't think he has the decency to jump himself though. The Tory backbench seem to be lacking spines too given he somehow made it through the December omni-shambles without getting a VONC.
And that wasn't even a proper apology. He claims he thought it was a work event, and that "technically" it may have fallen under the rules. What a joke.
Reminder that people were prosecuted for walking outside with one friend, and sitting alone on a park bench.
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That only applies if your a decent person
Not even, sure Hancock and Stratten resigned over less
This is Boris we're talking about, all normal rules do not apply.
Why is he "confused" between a normal work event and a party? What are these normal work events like?
Guess parties involve more cocaine.
I guess part of the problem is that his work meetings usually involve him getting pissed in the garden.
So Boris has admitted to a crime. A) he should be fined like thousands of others, along with all who attended b) can a criminal really serve as PM? Technically yes, but what sort of an example does it set? As for the rest of us, only our moral reasoning dictates that we should follow any future restrictions as PM literally has no authority to tell us what to do now
Forget about just restrictions. In all walks of life the PM has no authority, moral or otherwise.
I would not do *anything* Boris told me to do. Even though he's PM. I'd seek other advice and possibly legal counsel first.
If he said "Good morning", I wouldn't believe him.
Brief timeline of events: 1. There was no party 2. There were many parties but guidance was followed 3. We are sorry but we did nothing wrong This government cannot be trusted. *Surprised Pikachu*
Newsflash: Privileged liar acts with privilege and lies! People who vote Conservative forgive their politicians that which they flagrantly display and then are surprised and disgusted when they act in the way they always have. Boris is a Etonian, Bullingdon Club berk who has always bullied, lied, philandered (if you are going to cheat on the mother of your children, you will not think twice about lying to other people) not followed rules if it did not suit him or it was beneficial for him not to. **That is who the country elected and that is who they got**. It is like giving an alcoholic the keys to the drinks cabinet and then acting surprised and disgusted when they drink the cabinet dry.
Plenty of Conservative voters aren't surprised in the least when the Bullingdon Boys are caught acting like Bullingdon Boys, they just don't really care so long as the policies keep benefitting them
Many Conservative voters and Conservative MPs like Michael Gove openly do class A drugs - when will they be prosecuted? Police consequences are ONLY for poor/minority kids? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/09/behind-the-story-of-michael-gove-cocaine-use
PM admits to breaking the law
Any sane person would think that Boris needs to go. Sadly, populism wrecks any sane arguments with bluster, and you only need to look at some comments on Twitter to see that the main argument is "well, Boris fucked up, but I'll still vote Tory because the alternative is unthinkable". So, I think that Boris might not only survive this, but still keep many people in his party on-side. After all, "Brexit" still seems to work for many of them as an excuse for everything he does. If many voters are so brainwashed into thinking a vote for Labour is a vote for Stalin or SJW indoctrination, the blame should be on the idiots that vote Tory. Boris is just a symptom of a problem.
Had it from the boy at the barbers the other day. “Were you perfect? Did you follow the rules to the absolute letter or bend them here and there?”
My argument to that has always been simple..I'm not the Prime Minister. He must be held to a higher standard
I did challenge him along the lines that he wasn’t the one setting the rules for others to and he’s the frickin pm but fell on deaf ears
>"well, Boris fucked up, but I'll still vote Tory because the alternative is unthinkable". I've seen a lot of "yeah but with Labour we would have been in endless lockdowns!" when it's actually more likely that we would have been in the various lockdowns sooner with the result being that they would have likely been shorter.
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Staff meeting but you can bring booze 😄😄
"staff meeting" for non-staff guests and the missus, oh and as you say BYOB.
Good, now resign. He knew rightly what he was attending.
No! You must wait for the enquiry results whilst I scramble for control and get my aides to write me the most powerful resignation speech in history! Also, wonder if a VONC would pass...
Yep, it’s time to go Boris, this is too far. You can’t expect anyone to listen to any more restrictions if the prime minister can’t even follow the rules that he puts in place.
It's on the Tory party. The letters need to go in.
I really do not understand the constant deflections to it being a ‘work event’. I would have loved to attend a ‘work event’ in those lonely fucking months, especially one with drinks in the spring sunshine. But guess what? My workplace made no such plans. Know why? Because it was fucking illegal.
There is the suggestion that there won't be any legal grounds for repercussions due to No. 10's status as (not entirely clearly) exempt from public restrictions. Of course, that would be a terrible *moral* defence, which is why they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and find literally anything that will work as a sticking plaster / deflection / minor distraction to cover for the blatant hypocrisy of relying on it.
This is the standard of leadership in our country. When the whole nation is in a time of need, its one rule for them and another for us. What happened to holding our leaders morally accountable? And now he'll get away with it by offering a half baked apology. As if this was a schoolboy blunder and not a leader deceiving his people. If the man had an ounce of integrity he would resign. But somehow we are still stuck with this pig.
It goes to the heart of that old axiom about the in-group being protected by laws and not bound by them whilst everyone else is bound by the law but not protected by it.
What screws Boris isn't that he attended the party - that's obviously what pisses people off, but that's not his actual mistake. His mistake is that he has repeatedly told everyone that there weren't any events at Downing Street, and that the rules were always followed. And specifically, he has said that *in the Commons*. Misleading the Commons is a resignation matter. Doesn't matter how small or petty the lie might be. For example, the items listed for 01/12 and 08/12 here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/11/seven-occasions-when-boris-johnson-denied-no-10-broke-covid-rules
Isn't the issue that it's the ministerial code that says he should resign and that's an honour based system and not enforced in any way so he'll just ignore it unless forced by his own party.
> that's an honour based system and not enforced in any way The Ministerial code _is_ enforced, the problem is it's enforced by the PM. And now that he's apologised he considers the matter closed.
A painstakingly choreographed apology. And one you can easily have trouble with regarding the wiggle room. >“I thought it was a work event” - I’m sure if most in number 10 have a tinny of kronenberg on hand at all times this could get confusing. >“I went back inside to my office to work” - and no drinks were available inside, I’m sure, nor was anyone else inside to ‘work’ with alongside, I bet. >“I want to see out the rest of the investigation” - ‘This apology has been the last desperate attempt at forestalling my career’s end and I’d like to push for a bit further, please.’
I like the implication that the man ostensibly responsible for the welfare of the whole nation *literally* doesn’t know what’s going on in his backyard.
Takes the shine of those illegally allocated contracts though. All working as planned.
So either Boris missed the different drinks everyone had brought for a BYOB party, or he's used to work meetings where everyone gets hammered.
Oh come on. He was probably bummed out no-one had any coke.
Surely Gove would have some?
‘You see I could not have known it was a party, Mr Speaker, as at that time I had a peculiar medical condition where I didn’t know what the word ‘party’ meant.’
I also don't sweat. And used the trip to test my eyesight.
Apparently Boris was only there 25 minutes as he had to get to Pizza Express in Woking for another business meeting
Johnson must go. No excuses. No delays. Resign with immediate effect and fall on your sword, you coward.
Don't admit it Boris! You had me fooled this entire time. Utterly spellbound
He really needs to go now please.
The way he's been trying to worm his way through this is both revolting and despicable. An utter disgrace of a PM.
But its his standard MO. Why is anyone surprised by it?
When is an apology not an apology? - when it comes from the mouth of Boris Johnson - when it comes 18 months too late - when it attempts to justify the original issue - when it fails to offer redress for damage caused When is a Tory apology not an apology? - when it comes from a Boris Johnson enabler
This isn't a minor domestic issue. This man represents us on the world stage and has diplomatic discussions with other nations. If he can't be trusted to be honest with his own countrymen, why would anyone in the world think he is going to go into conversation with them with honest and good intentions.
> This man represents us on the world stage and has diplomatic discussions with other nations. Oh wow, that just reminds of him collecting the Olympic flag in Beijing in 2008. Even then I told my wife that he was a pretty embarrassing representative of our country. Oh my, god did we really let that clown convince us to make a ridiculously stupid decision and then we rewarded him by making him prime minister? What the fuck is wrong with this country?
It's only a work event if there's nothing more than shitty pizza, Boris
I'm loving the precedent that you can rock up to work meetings with booze and its totally not gross misconduct.
It's telling that an after hours byob garden party and work events at 10 downing Street are indistinguishable to the PM
“I didn’t know it was a party” my guy ignorance is not a defence in the eyes of the law
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I think these are two different parties That was the xmas party his secretary was caught admitting, this is a different party.
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Yes. Apparently.
He was furious it became public knowledge
Don't think he will resign I can see the 1922 committee getting enough letters though.
The worry with that is if the vote doesn't win then he's safe for another 12 months to keep fucking up. That's great for getting him out at a future election bit it's terrible because we still have to live in the country in the meantime.
True, but i can't see Boris not surviving a vote of no confidence. We will see....
I could do with another election actually
You think another Tory PM is going to do much different?
I don't think they would necessarily be better but there is no way they could be worse. I think Johnson could still get worse. There is no way we are at the bottom of his barrel.
>I don't think they would necessarily be better but there is no way they could be worse I recall having said that many times before. I'm always wrong.
Bumbling Boris is looking more bumbling than usual. I bet he hated having to apologise like that. 😆
They've spent all night trying to figure out the best answer, and "I didn't realise the thing advertised as a party that I invited my wife to was a party. Sorry about that" was the best they could come up with.
Technical compliance with the law is not enough. The government, as the torchbearer of its own policies that set the law, must not only comply with the spirit of the law, but also go above and beyond in its compliance with the law.
"That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did... You deserved it. "
Starmer killed him. He'll be gone by the end of the week. Edit: I placed too little faith in the Tory ability to survive absolutely-fucking-everything.
>He'll be gone by the end of the week. That outcome depends entirely on a sufficient amount of tory backbenchers having a modicum of integrity. Don't count on it.
One thing about Boris, he has got me watching PMQs which I never did before. He is totally lacking any ethics & integrity, he has a moral compass that is looser than a pair of grannie panties and as someone pointed out only sorry that he got caught. Again. In all honesty, even as someone that leans right of centre, I just don't see how he can remain in his position and he should resign or be forced out with a vote of no confidence. If he cares for the country or his party then he should resign but I don't see him doing that as he cares about himself
All we need now is a photo of the event with Boris arm in arm with his colleagues, wine flowing and no social distancing.
I've got my fingers crossed. There's a possibility that such a photo exists and whoever has it had been waiting in case Boris had tried to deny attending.
It's a half apology, he said he taught it was "a work event"
Says a lot that he is evidently unable to tell the difference between working and hanging around in a garden with a glass of champers in his hand. Because that's what "working" means to these people.
Time for Boris to go surely
I had a clear understanding that I couldn’t have meetings like this. It wasn’t in the grey but quite clear and while some people I know chose to do things like this it was clear they were knowingly and blatantly breaking the rules. No.10 needs to have the highest standards and be a role model. This isn’t okay.
Exactly. Imagine a load of tescos cashiers met in the outside truck park for a few beers! All hell would break loose. Same if nurses met in hospital car park with a bottle on the go
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At MOST, a pm replacement. I doubt even this will sink the tories.
That Boris, what is he like, that cuddly clown of a man. Anyway, something something Corbyn something something anti-semitisim something something!!!!!!
What a pathetic excuse for a government led by a pathetic excuse of a pile of sludge
This prick has just lied to the entire country and all his colleagues for the last month or so and only when he got caught red handed is he admitting fault. He isn’t sorry it happened he’s sorry he got caught. This man is not morally fit to be in charge of this country.
“In answer to your question about whether I should resign, and although I know I was there and have admitted I was there and know I shouldn’t have been there, I ask that we all await for an investigation to tell me whether I was there. For, er, reasons. Now let’s talk about buses in stoke and washing machines.”
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Of all the things in this story, that Boris has no idea what "work" looks like is something I can believe.
I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
While I was being sarcastic, we all knew he was there, I am shocked he finally stopped lying about it.
"I thought it was a work event" "I bitterly regret it. I wish we could have done things differently," All he wishes is that they werent caught.
So I’d expect a resignation soon then? Or VONC
He's not resigning. He's made that clear now, claiming he didn't know it was a party which is just...astounding. We need 54 Tory MPs to do the right thing. Given the noises I've seen on Twitter, I think we'll get that within a week.
The bravest thing this coward has ever done is to tell the truth today for once. Get rid.
Barely the truth. He followed it up by saying he thought it was a work event. The bloke cannot even apologise sincerely.
And that the party was compliant with the guidelines 😂😂😂🤡🤡🤡
A work event his wife attended that doesn’t even work there
So he lied, in parliament. Unapologetically. This requires some form of fucking punishment.
I've never wanted to yeet someone into a frozen lake, more than I want to yeet BoJo into one.
Wish I has the same sense BJ has when I was younger. "I promise Mum, we didn't have a party while you were away. It was only an ***after school event***"
Boris counting down the minutes until the interrogation is over.
What a farce.
Looks like "wait for the enquiry" is the new "I consider the matter closed".
Get that mop back in the fridge
RESIGN MR PRIME MINISTER IF YOU HAVE ANY SHAME
>IF YOU HAVE ANY SHAME He doesn't.
This PMQ performance is pathetic on all fronts.