Should rwead... and they

Vote and swear by them eh! Lol

https://politicsandinsights.org/2014/06/12/thatcher-mad-cow-disease-and-her-other-failings-the-blair-detour-and-deja-entendu-mr-cameron/#:~:text=Thatcher%20instigated%20a%20series%20of%20%E2%80%9Cfree%20market%E2%80%9D%20decisions,made%20aware%20of%20the%20risks%20to%20public%20health.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/voices-boris-johnsons-two-most-shameful-lies-just-blew-up-in-the-most-spectacular-way/ar-AARzM3d?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBoPWjQ

Staff at Pen Farthing’s charity for rescue dogs have claimed, on the television, that Johnson personally intervened. A whistleblower at the Foreign Office said the same, in evidence given to parliament.

And then, in the early evening: Kiss Kiss. Bang Bang. First, an actual signed letter, from Boris Johnson’s own parliamentary private secretary, Trudy Harrison, emerges courtesy of LBC Radio. In this letter, Harrison writes personally to Pen Farthing, to let him know that he and his staff and his animals have all been cleared for evacuation.

If it’s “complete nonsense” that Johnson was involved, there is absolutely no credible explanation as to why his own parliamentary private secretary would be. Any such explanation would itself be complete nonsense.

And then, twenty minutes later: Wallop. You might recall that around £3m of public money was spent on a White House-style press briefing room that was never, in the end, used for press briefings. But it turns out they did have some rehearsals.

And ITV have got hold of some of the footage, specifically from 22nd December 2020, four days after the Christmas party that apparently never was. And there is Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s spokesperson at the time, being asked by the prime minister’s special advisor Ed Oldfield, who is pretending to be a journalist, about “reports of a Christmas party on Friday”.

Stratton’s response is one for the ages. Remember, this concerns a party that 50 people attended, that the actual prime minister is currently trying to pretend didn’t even happen. First she laughs. “I went home,” she says. Then she laughs some more. Then she laughs again and adds, “This is recorded!” Some people off-camera mutter about cheese and wine and whether cheese and wine is allowed. Someone shouts, “No!” They all laugh some more. Stratton then says, “This fictional party was a business meeting.” Then she laughs some more and adds that “it definitely was not socially distanced.”

ITV have also spoken to someone who as at the party that the government continues to pretend didn’t happen, who told them the following: “We all know someone who died from Covid and after seeing this all in the papers I couldn’t not say anything. I’m so angry about it all, the way it is being denied.”

And the response from 10 Downing Street, to all this? “There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times.”

They can surely not be stupid enough to expect anyone to believe this. There is, of course, a phrase, about the tangled web that must be woven by those who get too deep into the world of lies. But it’s not sufficient.


This government regularly gets compared to outrageous, corrupt, extreme regimes from around the world and around history. Such comparisons are usually far-fetched. But one wonders if they are any more. I cannot readily think of many a historical comparison: of a government maintaining a lie, in the face of certain evidence, on a subject so emotive. Especially when there is scarcely anyone in the country who doesn’t know someone who has died a lonely death, unable to be comforted by friends and family, while all their government can do is lie and laugh about it.

And this leaves precious little time for the other outrage, the Harrison letter. This letter was read out to head civil servant Dr Philip Barton at the Foreign Office, the person nominally in charge, alongside Dominic Raab, of the Kabul evacuation, by the MP Chris Bryant. He nodded, stared at the floor several times over, and said, “I didn’t know about the letter.” It hardly bears repeating that this letter concerns the evacuation of dogs ahead of people who risked their lives for a country that wasn’t even their own. It’s so contemptible it’s almost surreal.

It is often said that governments have the stench of death about them when their time is up. This one has stunk the place out from day one. It’s an active health hazard now, quite literally. There is no precedent for how things are meant to carry on like this.

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Boris Johnson will not quit over Downing Street Christmas party after defending Cummings, Hancock and Patel
Arj Singh

‘They’re laughing at you’: Labour steps up pressure on Boris Johnson over No 10 Christmas party – UK politics live
Reading and Leeds lineup: Dave, Arctic Monkeys and Megan Thee Stallion to…

In the eyes of many, Boris Johnson has fundamentally upended the way scandals are meant to play out.

In the past, those accused of breaking the rules may at first be given the chance to prove their innocence before eventually being swiftly dropped once their position became untenable.

But under this Prime Minister it’s been different.

Dominic Cummings with his Barnard Castle eye test, Priti Patel with her alleged bullying of officials, and Matt Hancock with his lockdown-breaching office snog all appeared to have gone beyond the pale.

But each and every time, Mr Johnson stood by them.

It has cost the PM support in his own party, as MPs have been forced to defend the likes of Mr Cummings and Mr Hancock, only for them to quit anyway.

So why does he do it? Many have highlighted the PM’s loyalty to his allies.

But much more appropriate in the case of the No 10 “cheese and wine night” is Mr Johnson’s “never apologise, never explain” approach to politics, and his steadfast refusal to bend to the will of the media, even if it is only expressing the will of the public.

This time though it might be a little different, with many Tory MPs already questioning whether “peak Boris” has passed after mis-steps on sleaze, rail upgrades, and the infamous Peppa Pig speech which appears to be cutting through to voters.

The backbench anger has been accompanied by calls for a shake-up to the Downing Street operation that supports Mr Johnson, and he may now have to listen.

The video footage of then-No 10 press secretary Allegra Stratton joking about the party provides an image of a scandal likely to be replicated on Labour election posters for years.

Ms Stratton was moved out of Downing Street months ago to become COP26 spokeswoman and she may prove an easy fall guy given the summit has now passed.

Downing Street chief of staff Dan Rosenfield only took up his job in late November 2020, just days before the Christmas party allegedly took place, but calls for his replacement are already resurfacing.

Meanwhile, there could be questions over whoever presided over the Downing Street communications strategy given the story has now been running for 10 days and has simply got worse.

The Department for Education’s contrasting approach of admitting a 2020 Christmas party and expressing regret for doing so makes No 10’s denials look even more silly.