How many workplaces still allow alcohol? But do not be distracted by the definition of a party. The regulations in force at the time were perfectly clear as to what was and was not permitted. A Downing Street staffer has already been served with a Fixed Penalty Notice for attendance at Lee Cain's leaving do. We are expected to believe that Boris Johnson was lawfully present at an unlawful event.
This is the stuff of Richard Nixon. Regardless of its normal legal status, nothing can be illegal when it is done by the Prime Minister. The last people in any position to complain about this are those who are back in charge of the Official Opposition, since they have always said that about Tony Blair, especially but not exclusively in relation to Iraq, and they continue to do so. Likewise, "You'll believe any old rubbish as long as it's delivered in a public school accent" is not an argument that a Blairite is entitled to advance.
Downing Street is one of the most policed places in the world, so the Met was present in some numbers. Nor has tonight's Panorama been made in 24 hours. As with James Slack's "work event" because he was off to become the Deputy Editor of The Sun, Cain's sendoff from being the Downing Street Director of Communications will not only have been known to the Lobby at the time, but will have been attended by at least some of its members. Like the Police, they could have brought down the Government the next day. Johnson's every day in office since then has been, and is, their conscious and calculated political choice.
Johnson and Starmer both obviously didn't believe a word of it.
ReplyDeleteYet it was true. Downing Street was a plague pit. These events endangered the cleaning and security staff. Come to that, Johnson himself contracted Covid-19. As for Starmer, he has had to self-isolate several times.
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