Thepm’spartyisover.it
If I had a pound for every time I have described Boris Johnson’s political decision making as “one rule for us, another for them”, my bank account would be bulging like Rishi Sunak’s by now.
It really came as no shock or surprise when we finally received confirmation of what we have all known for some time – the Prime Minister lied to the public and to parliament about attending illegal parties held in Downing Street during lockdown.
When reports first emerged of the gatherings, Johnson repeatedly insisted there were no parties and “guidelines were followed at all times” and the Good Ship Boris blithely sailed through the stormy coverage. Not unlike when he faced criticism for brazenly spending as much as £200,000 on interior decorations or the time he allegedly said “let the bodies pile high in their thousands” as he resisted imposing another lockdown.
But now the Metropolitan Police investigation has confirmed the rules were indeed broken, and more than 50 fixed penalty notices have been issued to staff who attended the No 10 parties, including Johnson, his wife Carrie, and the Chancellor.
Johnson will now go down in history as the first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law. Yet all he could say in his defence was that the gathering he attended to mark his birthday lasted “less than 10 minutes”, before adding, “In all frankness, at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.”
So the very person who made the rules that most of us were at pains to keep says he didn’t know even know what the rules were. Is that really acceptable? Or even believable?
When it comes to the fine itself, while some members of the public faced paying up to £10,000 for breaking lockdown, Johnson has paid just £50. This for a man who reportedly spent £27,000 on takeaway meals in just eight months.
I can’t help but feel there will be no consequences for Johnson.
Yes, senior civil servant Sue Gray is still to publish the findings from her investigation into so-called partygate, and now that the police probe is complete it could come within days. But only a few Conservative MPS have come out against the Prime Minister since the fines were issued, marking a stark change from just a few weeks ago when he was facing a potential revolt.
In his support of Johnson, MP Michael Fabricant even went so far as to suggest Downing Street should have its own bar like Westminster. He
then added: “I know many teachers, doctors that would sit down and have a quiet drink at the end of the day, and whether or not they took their drink into the hospital or school in a suitcase and whether it was a back pack or whatever is irrelevant.”
To suggest that nurses and other NHS workers, who had struggled through this pandemic, sleep deprived, stressed and stretched to the limit, were having a party after risking their own lives to keep us safe is simply disgusting. But what else have we come to expect from a government who have absolutely no idea how the other half live?
We are fast becoming the laughingstock of the world because our leader is perceived as a bumbling clown, who can get away with any bad behaviour by employing a little sleight of hand and misdirection. Well, I’m not laughing.
The future of the country concerns me enormously. With the cost of living skyrocketing, war raging on Europe’s doorstep and the implications of Brexit still looming, is Johnson really the leader we want guiding us?