We shouldn't forget that Johnson lied in Commons though.
What exactly did he say in parliament?
Given the inconsistency of the law (especially if Starmer gets away with the Durham event), might it have been reasonable for Johnson to have assumed he had not broken the law when he said it?
There is an enquiry into the accusations Boris lied and it will be interesting to see their conclusions
As the police have cleared him of illegal partying there is no way he has misled parliament. Except not appreciating ambushed by a cake between meetings was actually a party, but, well…
The police have not cleared him of illegal partying. They issued him with an FPN. More significantly for your point, what Johnson said to Parliament was not just about his personal behaviour, but about that of all of his staff. He said, “All guidance was followed completely [in] Number 10". 126 FPNs for events on 8 different dates says otherwise.
Can he plausibly claim he had no idea of the various events reported? Indeed, can he explain why he didn’t correct the record as soon as he knew this wasn’t the case, as required by the Ministerial Code?
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
You have faith in the Met Police? The most remarkable such expression since St Thomas Aquinas.
Nobody is more surprised than I am but according to Helen Ball, Assistant Met Police in charge of the investigation, everybody cooperated and nobody was interviewed under caution
It seems most knew they were in breach of covid regulations and accepted their FPN
Or, as Mr Sandpit suggests, some action was taken by someone to ensure that they were not out of pocket. In years to come I suggest there are going to be some 'interesting' memoirs.
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
You have faith in the Met Police? The most remarkable such expression since St Thomas Aquinas.
Nobody is more surprised than I am but according to Helen Ball, Assistant Met Police in charge of the investigation, everybody cooperated and nobody was interviewed under caution
It seems most knew they were in breach of covid regulations and accepted their FPN
Everybody co-operated? You mean they filled in their questionnaires rather than abscond to the Caymans?
What did you expect?
It would not have been unreasonable to expect some could have refused the FPN and challenged the decision which would have been extremely interesting
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
You have faith in the Met Police? The most remarkable such expression since St Thomas Aquinas.
Nobody is more surprised than I am but according to Helen Ball, Assistant Met Police in charge of the investigation, everybody cooperated and nobody was interviewed under caution
It seems most knew they were in breach of covid regulations and accepted their FPN
Or, as Mr Sandpit suggests, some action was taken by someone to ensure that they were not out of pocket. In years to come I suggest there are going to be some 'interesting' memoirs.
Whether you like it or not, the UK is a country in which the wealthy and well connected do operate to a different set of rules to everyone else. I am surprised anyone is surprised by this. But if the Johnsons were legally able to have a party in their flat during lockdown, then millions of the rest of us made a lot of sacrifices back then that we did not need to.
Politically, Johnson's position as Tory leader and PM is now cemented until the general election. His ownership of the Conservative party will get stronger. I am not so sure, though, that anything will change in the country. The majority that now believe he is a lying grifter will continue to think it and the cost of living crisis will dominate.
Very true, and this has been known to people who were paying attention for, really, two years. But something like this makes it undeniable - they imposed rules on us that took away our civil liberties and that weren't needed. It's this, not any perceived lying to parliament, that should be the the focus of our ire.
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Johnson attended a number of parties that we now know were illegal. He did not demand that any of them be stopped. He was happy for them to continue. As far as he was concerned, it was quite literally one rule for his people and another for the rest of us. That may not attract a fine, but it does tell you exactly what kind of man he is.
The number in question appears to be one. And calling that a party is risible.
Nobody will follow any lockdown crap again - a bonus positive I expect the public to be thoroughly pissed off, fed up and want to move on to dealing with COL like now I also fully expect Boris, if SKS is fined' to have the brass neck to brazenly suggest that his minor dalliance with cake is much less serious than Starmers Korma and Beer, the disgraceful large dog that he is
Nonsense. We will all be in lockdown again after the jubilee celebrations to prevent this spread of monkey pox.
I mean I don’t think we should take monkeypox lightly and I’m glad I’ve had a smallpox vaccination, but I can’t see it leading to a lockdown. It’s flu and coronaviruses that most likely present the threats where you might need a lockdown. And that said, the risk per year is low… it’s just the cost is high if you get it wrong.
Of course, with all of these things, preparation against an outbreak and fast action when one occurs are the key to ensuring you never again get to the stage where you need to shut a whole country down. Fortunately, the UK Government committed to funding a world leading health security agency to make sure we are prepared and to minimise the chances of a repeat of the terrible events we faced under COVID-19.
What’s that? The Government has slashed funding for the health security agency… oh, we’re f***ed…
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
You have faith in the Met Police? The most remarkable such expression since St Thomas Aquinas.
Nobody is more surprised than I am but according to Helen Ball, Assistant Met Police in charge of the investigation, everybody cooperated and nobody was interviewed under caution
It seems most knew they were in breach of covid regulations and accepted their FPN
Everybody co-operated? You mean they filled in their questionnaires rather than abscond to the Caymans?
What did you expect?
It would not have been unreasonable to expect some could have refused the FPN and challenged the decision which would have been extremely interesting
Criminal record if you lose or anonymous £100 fine?
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Johnson attended a number of parties that we now know were illegal. He did not demand that any of them be stopped. He was happy for them to continue. As far as he was concerned, it was quite literally one rule for his people and another for the rest of us. That may not attract a fine, but it does tell you exactly what kind of man he is.
The number in question appears to be one. And calling that a party is risible.
BJ has received one FPN. There were other events that have drawn FPNs. BJ appears to have attended some of these, but has not been fined. Hopefully, the Gray report and Commons enquiry will draw out in more details what that means.
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
You have faith in the Met Police? The most remarkable such expression since St Thomas Aquinas.
Nobody is more surprised than I am but according to Helen Ball, Assistant Met Police in charge of the investigation, everybody cooperated and nobody was interviewed under caution
It seems most knew they were in breach of covid regulations and accepted their FPN
Everybody co-operated? You mean they filled in their questionnaires rather than abscond to the Caymans?
What did you expect?
It would not have been unreasonable to expect some could have refused the FPN and challenged the decision which would have been extremely interesting
Criminal record if you lose or anonymous £100 fine?
We don’t yet know whether everyone has paid up. With some FPNs still working there way through the system, it’s still possible that someone issued with one will protest it.
I mean; on here we all know that this isn’t the point, but if Starmer now gets a penalty, the Tories probably will get away with the “score” being 1-1 and “everyone being as bad as each other” all the way to the election.
I reckon there’s a 50/50 chance of a massive economic package invoking, and the PM smelling of roses as far as the public is concerned by the time of the next election: sigh…
Lab Lib green have actually dropped 1 to just 56 on that poll. But much like 40 plays 35 to 39 plays 33 it’s all within margin of error.
Like I said yesterday, this bad week for Tories will take a few weeks to get into the polling trend. And what I have predicted as polling death spiral indicating a change election.
So for 5 other events that Bozo was at, others have been fined and he wasn't.
One rule for them, another for the rest of us.
There has to be legal reasons why the MET have issued FPNs and to whom
Definitely reasons. Whether or not they are all based on legality is another question.
Then you are challenging the Met Police and suggesting they acted inappropriately
That is allowed, you know. You don't have to delve deep to find instances where the Met Police have acted inappropriately. I'm sure @Cyclefree can furnish you with a story or two
Of course accusations can be made about the MET but on something as important as this I do expect them to have followed the law accurately
Whether you like it or not, the UK is a country in which the wealthy and well connected do operate to a different set of rules to everyone else. I am surprised anyone is surprised by this. But if the Johnsons were legally able to have a party in their flat during lockdown, then millions of the rest of us made a lot of sacrifices back then that we did not need to.
Politically, Johnson's position as Tory leader and PM is now cemented until the general election. His ownership of the Conservative party will get stronger. I am not so sure, though, that anything will change in the country. The majority that now believe he is a lying grifter will continue to think it and the cost of living crisis will dominate.
Very true, and this has been known to people who were paying attention for, really, two years. But something like this makes it undeniable - they imposed rules on us that took away our civil liberties and that weren't needed. It's this, not any perceived lying to parliament, that should be the the focus of our ire.
They did not just take away civil liberties but damaged the development of young children, ruined the last years of the old, destroyed marriages, made it impossible to get driving tests causing great difficulties for those in rural areas and ravaged businesses.
Comments
Can he plausibly claim he had no idea of the various events reported? Indeed, can he explain why he didn’t correct the record as soon as he knew this wasn’t the case, as required by the Ministerial Code?
LAB: 39% (-1)
CON: 33% (-2)
LDEM: 12% (+2)
GRN: 5% (-2)
via @IpsosUK, 11 - 17 May
https://t.co/WCXPp19q7D
Of course, with all of these things, preparation against an outbreak and fast action when one occurs are the key to ensuring you never again get to the stage where you need to shut a whole country down. Fortunately, the UK Government committed to funding a world leading health security agency to make sure we are prepared and to minimise the chances of a repeat of the terrible events we faced under COVID-19.
What’s that? The Government has slashed funding for the health security agency… oh, we’re f***ed…
So Labour minority government with LD confidence and supply
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&CON=33&LAB=39&LIB=12&Reform=2&Green=3&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=19&SCOTLAB=26.5&SCOTLIB=6&SCOTReform=0.5&SCOTGreen=2&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=43.5&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
I reckon there’s a 50/50 chance of a massive economic package invoking, and the PM smelling of roses as far as the public is concerned by the time of the next election: sigh…
Like I said yesterday, this bad week for Tories will take a few weeks to get into the polling trend. And what I have predicted as polling death spiral indicating a change election.