Wait for the Fireworks !!!

Reported that Sue Gray's report on 'Partygate' has this morning been delivered to Downing Street !!!

 

Beginning of the end for bastard Boris ???


Boris Johnson told to quit by Tory MP over ‘damning’ Sue Gray report

Richard Wheeler, PA Parliamentary Editor
25 May 2022, 2:06 pm


Boris Johnson faced calls from his own side to quit, as a Conservative MP warned they are on course to lose the next general election.

Former minister Tobias Ellwood was heckled by Tory MPs in the Commons chamber as he questioned whether they can continue to defend Mr Johnson’s behaviour.

Mr Ellwood said of the Sue Gray report into lockdown-busting parties in No 10: “This is a damning report about the absence of leadership, focus and discipline in No 10 – the one place where you expect to find those attributes in abundance.

“I’ve made my point and my position very clear to the Prime Minister: he does not have my support.

“But a question I humbly put to my colleagues is ‘are you willing day in and day out to defend this behaviour publicly?’

“Can we continue to govern without distraction given the erosion of the trust with the British people?

“And can we win the general election on this current trajectory? I’m being heckled by my own people.

“If we cannot work out what we’re going to do, then the broad church of the Conservative Party will lose the next general election.

“But my question to the Prime Minister is very clear, on the question of leadership: can he think of any other prime minister who’d have allowed such a culture of indiscipline to take place under their watch and if it did would they not have resigned?”

Mr Johnson focused his answer on his prospects of winning the next election.

He said: “I think the answer is overwhelmingly and emphatically yes, we are going to go on and win the next general election because we’re going to get on with the job.”

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who accused Mr Johnson of adopting a “sinister pattern of evasion”, appealed to Tory MPs to oust the PM.

He said: “I hope they will bear in mind the now infamous Government advert featuring a desperately ill Covid patient, it said: look into her eyes and tell her you never bend the rules.

“If they don’t submit a letter, if they don’t remove this Prime Minister, how will they ever, ever look at their constituents in the eye ever again?”

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said: “In this farce of a parliamentary system it’s now all down to Tory MPs… for them to grow a backbone and oust this moral vacuum of a Prime Minister.

“Will he spare them the trouble and resign?”

Mr Johnson replied: “No.”

Conservative MP John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) asked Mr Johnson if he believed his statements on “partygate” in the Commons had “passed the test of reasonableness”.

He said: “I believe both leaders have a lot to answer for with regards to this issue. The British army teaches you, or certainly believes at its very core, that you serve to lead and you lead by example.

“Given the extent of rule-breaking in Number 10, does he believe that what he has said to the House since about their being no rule-breaking passed the test of reasonableness?”

Mr Johnson restated his argument that he believed he was attending work events.

Conservative former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick (Newark) said it was “now time to turn a page” and spoke of the actions of “brilliant” civil servants to create the shielding programme in the early stages of the pandemic.

He said: “These achievements and others should mean that nothing in this report is a stain upon the character of the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of civil servants whether in Number 10, other government departments or across the country who helped steer this country through the pandemic.

“Secondly difficult though this is to say for many, with a war in Europe, with an economic crisis, with the challenges this country faces, is it not really true that it is now time to turn a page and for this country, our politics and this House to move forwards.”

SNP Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) said there had been “no attempt at remorse” from Mr Johnson, adding: “Surely if he was half the man that he thinks he would summon that self-respect and just go.”

Labour MP Afzal Khan (Manchester Gorton) said his mother, father-in-law and mother-in-law died from Covid-19, adding: “The laws broken by the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and others were not victimless crimes.”

 

These miserable bastards (including Boris, because despite protestations to the contrary he DID know these were illegal gatherings)
are laughing in our faces that they have 'got away with it', whilst the rest of us were hiding away, not partying, not visiting ill relatives, not attending funerals etc, etc.

Show these miserable bastards that is nothing further from the truth !!!



Partygate: The texts and emails that show No 10 knew they were flouting lockdown rules

Matilda Long
25 May 2022, 2:53 pm
A top Downing Street official told a colleague that he and his staff had "got away with it" after throwing a "bring your own booze" (BYOB) party at the height of lockdown, the Partygate report has revealed.

The 37-page document, produced by senior civil servant Sue Gray, was published on Wednesday morning, laying bare the details of booze-fuelled gatherings in No 10 and Whitehall.

At one event, a staff member threw up after drinking "excessive amounts" of alcohol, and two others were involved in a "minor altercation".

Gray laid the blame for the culture of rule-breaking at the feet of "senior leadership" in Boris Johnson's government and team.

“The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” she said.

Read more: Here are the nine Partygate photos released in the Sue Gray report
Gray's report included emails and WhatsApp messages sent by Johnson's most senior staff member explicitly referring to the fact that rules were knowingly being broken.

A number of the messages involve Martin Reynolds, who was the prime ministers' principal private secretary.

These are the messages that show Downing Street staff knew they were breaking lockdown rules:

20 May 2020: A gathering in the garden of No 10 Downing Street for staff
Email sent to by No 10 official on behalf of Martin Reynolds:

To: [26 No 10 Staff]

Subject: Socially distanced drinks

When: 20 May 2020 17:30-19:30

Where: No10 Garden

We are having some socially distanced drinks in the garden later and wanted to invite whoever is in your office. They start at 6 - would you be able to pass on the message to those in today please? Strictly your office though so we don't end up with lots of people!

The same No 10 special adviser, who has not been named, sent a message to Martin Reynolds by WhatsApp at 14.08 saying:

Drinks this eve is a lovely idea so I've shared with the E & V team who are in the office.

Just to flag that the press conference will probably be finishing around that time, so helpful if people can be mindful of that as speakers and cameras are leaving, not walking around waving bottles of wine etc.

Martin Reynolds replied:

Will do my best.

Martin Reynolds later sent a WhatsApp message on an unknown date to a special adviser in which he referenced the party. It read:

Best of luck, a complete non story but better than them focusing on our drinks (which we seem to have got away with).

Lee Cain, the then No 10 director of communications, received the invitation and sent a response to Reynolds as well as Dominic Cummings, who was Johnson's senior adviser at the time, reading:

I'm sure it will be fine - and I applaud the gesture - but a 200 odd person invitation for drinks in the garden of no 10 is somewhat of a comms risk in the current environment.

According to Gray, another No 10 director declined the invitation and raised concerns over the event, telling Reynolds it was not a good idea.

The party did go ahead, with attendees invited to "bring your own booze".

Around 30 to 40 people gathered in the garden, and Johnson was present for around 30 minutes.

Watch: Sir Keir Starmer calls on Tory MPs to 'pack' PM's bags

Staff had “drinks and pizza” and people left between 10pm and 11pm.

At the time of the story, the UK was in full lockdown, with restrictions on people leaving their homes without a reasonable excuse.

18 June 2020: A gathering in the Cabinet Office for the departure of a No 10 official
On 12 June, Reynolds and Lee Cain, Boris Johnson's then director of communications, exchanged messages discussing the possibility of throwing a party – and raising concerns over the "comms risk" of doing so.

Martin Reynolds:

No 10 official's leaving drinks next week - can we discuss handling!

Lee Cain:

Yes - not sure how we do it but want to do something

Martin Reynolds:

Is it safer to do a larger event indoors but with some people carrying on outside afterwards?

Lee Cain:

I'm not sure it works at all to be honest, which would be a shame. I don't see how we can have some kind of party though?

Martin Reynolds:

So you are saying nothing for [No 10 official (1)]?

Lee Cain:

I think it's your decision my friend, not mind [sic]! But it obviously comes with rather substantial comms risks.

The event went ahead despite the concerns raised and lasted for a number of hours.

According to Gray's report, there was "excessive alcohol consumption" and one staff member threw up. Two more were involved in a "minor altercation".
After the report was published, Johnson told MPs he took “full responsibility” for what happened in No 10, and was "humbled" by the contents of the report.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that report “laid bare the rot” in No 10 and called on Tory MPs to tell their leader it is “time to pack his bags”.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner described the contents of the report as “indefensible”, calling Johnson’s Downing Street “rotten from the very top”.

 

That lockdown got us all ..I was bit

 

I wasn't just in lockdown, I was 'shielded' for 14 months !!!

 

Same in the US anyone with a compromised immune system was shielded with extra steps to ensure what the health commission considered for safety

 

One should keep an eye out on the future honours list. Shouls Sue Gray get 'rewarded' for her efforts,.. will tell a lot