Defending the indefensible - another PM thread

[wordsworth]

jazzer Wrote:

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> Who cares about "partygate", so he lied, so what,

> he's a Minister of the Crown, all ministers of all

> parties don't always tell the truth.

>

> What we should be worried and be more vocal about

> right now are;

>

> i) Rise in inflation

> ii) Rise in cost of living

> iii) Rise in cost of gas, electricity and standing

> charges

> iv) War in Ukraine

You poor soul.

[jazzer]

Sephiroth wrote;

"he didn't just lie - he legislated. People didn't see their relatives die" Yes totally agree with you, that was absolutely wrong.

[j.a.]

jazzer Wrote:

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> Who cares about "partygate", so he lied, so what,

> he's a Minister of the Crown, all ministers of all

> parties don't always tell the truth.

It matters.

https://davidallengreen.com/2022/03/partygate-returns-and-a-reminder-about-how-this-still-matters-in-constitutional-terms/

[diable rouge]

There's a good chance that some of those already issued with a FPN for breaking the law, will be employed as 'civil servants', and as such have to adhere to a code of conduct, which among many things states that a civil servant can't break the law.

That's fine, until you factor in that those who receive a FPN are not being identified by the Met, which then begs the question, how does a civil servant who has broken the law face the consequence of falling foul of the code of conduct, unless they personally 'fess up'?...

[malumbu]

Just hope the fines will be large like the 100s of ?10k fines dished out those having parties with over 30 attending - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/13/no-10-rules-britain-covid-fines-gatherings

[diable rouge]

''Johnson still refusing to say that the law has been broken, despite the Met already issuing the first tranche of fines for...breaking the law.''

As more fines are given, including one to the Gov's former 'Whitehall ethics chief'...you couldn't make it up....Johnson's spokesperson still denying any rules have been broken, meanwhile Rees-Mogg bemoans that the rules that his Gov drew-up and passed in Parliament are wrong and ''inhuman''.

This is what shameless gaslighting in real-time looks like...

[KidKruger]

More tools than my shed in this Govt.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Their appeal to populism & nationalism, their capture of elite support though government favours to the wealthy (VIP lanes), limits on public protest and extension of executive power (proroguing parliament), attacks on legal professionals ('activist lawyers') and now on the independent media through threats against the BBC and privatisation of Channel 4... it's all pretty worrying imo.

[diable rouge]

Man stops giving away furlough money and becomes unpopular shocker...

[diable rouge]

Man secretly holds US Green Card and should resign shocker...

[diable rouge]

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!...

*Switches on Sky News...*

[diable rouge]

There's going to be lots of takes on this over the coming hours/days, this is Robert Peston's latest and he's right to highlight why it's important that it should matter in a functioning democracy...

The police have today concluded that the PM, the Chancellor and the PM?s wife all attended illegal parties, that breached Covid laws written by the PM. This is most serious for Boris Johnson of the three of them, because it was he who told MPs on 8 December that he had been ?repeatedly assured? there were no parties and that no Covid rules were broken. He now has the challenge of his life to prove that he did not wilfully and knowingly mislead MPs - because if he did deliberately mislead MPs then he has no choice but to resign under the code of conduct for ministers, which he signed off and approved in keeping with normal practice on becoming prime minister. This is perhaps the most important test of the robustness and efficacy of the checks and balances in the British constitution of my lifetime. If Tory MPs unthinkingly keep him in office without a proper and public assessment of how parliament was misled, because that is what suits them, and if they blithely ignore the Ministerial Code, then the charge will stick that this or any party with a big majority is simply an elected dictatorship, and the constitution means little or nothing. This is not just a slippery slope. It is the bottom of the slope.

[Sephiroth]

countdown to the "I'm no fan of Boris... BUT..."

[wordsworth]

There's no reason for johnson to go whilst there's a war in Ukraine. Ffs...

[Sephiroth]

It?s not like Britain hasn?t ditched leaders in wartime before (nor is Britain at war right now)

And it?s not like other countries aren?t replacing their head of state right about now

[diable rouge]

PM says he attended "brief gathering" in Cabinet room for birthday "lasting for less than 10 minutes".

Where in the rules did it say you can hold a social gathering as long as it was brief and less than 10 minutes?

Where in the rules did it say you could visit a dying relative/friend in hospital as long as it was brief and less than 10 minutes?

Where in the rules did it say you could attend the funeral of said dying relative/friend as long as it was brief and less than 10 minutes?

And so on.

They're laughing at us...

[KidKruger]

Ha ha repeatedly assured there were no parties, even though he actually attended parties.

Wanna see how he makes that stand up - but he?ll try and they?ll probably swallow it.

[Sephiroth]

Stratton resigned because they were parties. Everyone knows they were parties.

If you really do look at the gibbering buffoon act and want to believe him, or dismiss they whole thing as a trifle then there is no hope for you

[Waseley]

If you had half an ounce of integrity you would resign. No doubt you hope that the Chancellor's family's financial matters and a timely visit to Ukraine are enough of a distraction.

[diable rouge]

If No. 10 has been briefing against Sunak, then Sunak may be thinking about resigning just to put the heat on Johnson. He's already moved his family out of No 11 so could've well been thinking along those lines before this blew up today.

There's still more fines to come, then the Sue Gray report.

I still think a lot of the Tory MPs will only act and try and get rid of Johnson if they feel their own seats are at risk. With the Tory party it's always been about holding onto power and who is best positioned to do that. Once they feel Johnson is an electoral liability, only then will they act, the local elections could be the catalyst..

[sjsl]

Agree, tactically it makes sense for Sunak to resign... it would give him theoretical maral superiority over Boris. What a bunch of usless lying self serving twats.

[diable rouge]

''Stratton resigned because they were parties. Everyone knows they were parties.''

Worth remembering that Stratton didn't even attend the Christmas party alluded to in that video, and therefore broke no rules.

Instead she resigned because of jokey references she made that there might have been a party (we were still talking about a party in the singular), which Johnson then later stood up in Parliament and feigned 'disgust' at what he had seen in the video, knowing full well he had attended several parties himself...

[KidKruger]

sjsl Wrote:

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"... would give him theoretical moral superiority over Boris."

I imagine 99.9% of the population already has moral superiority ver Johnson !!

[KidKruger]

diable rouge Wrote:

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> ''Stratton resigned because they were parties.

> Everyone knows they were parties.''

>

> Worth remembering that Stratton didn't even attend

> the Christmas party alluded to in that video, and

> therefore broke no rules.

>

> Instead she resigned because of jokey references

> she made that there might have been a party (we

> were still talking about a party in the singular),

> which Johnson then later stood up in Parliament

> and feigned 'disgust' at what he had seen in the

> video, knowing full well he had attended several

> parties himself...

Johnson isn't going to admit anything, any measures against him will be based on the efforts of others to evidence his misdemeanours.

He's doing what Trump does - exposing the vulnerability to abuse in our 'constitutional' system and challenging that system to hold him to account.

[JohnL]

Why is Pritti Patel now favourite to replace Boris Johnson

Is that by default as all the rest have mis-stepped.