At the start of the week, I kept seeing drama on the timeline about the British government, the Tories and a Christmas party. I thought the “Christmas party” story was something that happened recently, and I felt like people might be overreacting to a December 2021 party at Downing Street. While that would have been a bad look in the Omicron Era, unfortunately the real story is much worse. The Christmas party in question was held in December 2020, before hardly anyone was vaccinated, before vaccines were widely available, and when the UK was under very strict lockdown and social distancing rules.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls to resign over reports that members of his staff attended a Christmas party last year while the country was in lockdown. The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the party took place on Dec. 18, 2020, which would have been illegal under the coronavirus restrictions in place at the time. Johnson has denied the allegation.
In a video leaked to ITV News, the prime minister’s press secretary can be heard joking about a Christmas Party, four days after the party was alleged to have taken place. In the video, the prime minister’s press secretary and other staff members can be seen holding a mock press conference, discussing how they would respond to allegations that Downing Street had held a Christmas party.
“It wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine,” one person can be heard saying, prompting laughs across the room. The leaked video prompted fury from opposition lawmakers and residents alike.
Allegra Stratton, the staff member seen in the video, resigned from her post on Wednesday.
At a weekly scheduled parliamentary session on Wednesday, Johnson repeatedly denied that a party had taken place, but he did apologize for the leaked video, saying: “I was also furious to see that clip … I apologize unreservedly for the offense it has caused up and down the country.”
Johnson said he had ordered an internal investigation into the incident, but the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for evidence to be handed over to the police, saying the prime minister had taken the British public for “fools.”
Apparently it’s bigger than just one party on December 18, 2020. Boris Johnson reportedly didn’t even attend that party, which is why he can apologize with a straight face and push back on calls for his resignation. There were apparently other parties and social gatherings at Downing Street around the same time, including a party on November 27th which BoJo did attend. Despite the calls for a formal police investigation into government officials flouting lockdown laws, the Metropolitan police said they will not investigate because of an “absence of evidence.” They’ll wait to see if BoJo’s internal investigation uncovers anything. LOL, I doubt it will! Will this be the thing that takes down Boris Johnson? My guess from across the pond: probably not, although I expect several more people in his office/administration will end up resigning.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
And right on cue his wife delivered a baby girl this morning.
A lot of Twitter blue checks tweeted about the timing with very shady inquiries on if it was a C-section or induced labor, but what is really sad is this was the first thought that came to many. Britain is in serious trouble and it is sad that the last time I was there they were openly protesting trump in the streets of London now they are supporting trump 2.0. Even after the world watched how that unfolded they refuse to see it when it’s is happening right in front of them. Faith in the police, government and Royal institution should be hitting rock bottom but now you won’t be able to protest it and if you upset the wrong person and think citizenship gives you that right, they are going to strip you of that with no due process or appeal. My grandfather’s who fought in WW2 are crying in heaven at the state of the democracies they fought so hard to preserve.. (including the mess that we will be sorting through for decades in the US also) I wouldn’t be surprised if the end goal was to have a full Monarchy controlled by key politicians and media.
Yes, she has an amazing ability to birth children just when he needs attention taken off of something dodgy he’s done and the narrative changed. It was the same with their previous one.
And “Convenient” and. “Induced” were trending on Twitter. A birth of a child is wonderful news but I don’t blame the public for thinking this is a distraction and the birth was timed to take headlines away.
Doesn’t seem to be working though.
I didn’t even know his wife was pregnant again! (Or that she’d moved on to official wife. Here’s hoping the wedding was small!)
Wow, I guess that’s what happens when depression causes you to bury your head in the sand.
CB had an article about the wedding a few months back. i have no sympathy for her, but i thought she looked lovely and bojo…well. looked about as bad as usual, like it was any other day. all in all: yuck yuck yuck
IIRC that article also had commenters speculating that he already has a new mistress queued up now that she’s official wife.
This is hugely damaging but they’ll weather the storm. It’s appalling.
Yesterday BJ ordered us to work from home but still attend work Christmas parties. Please make it make sense.
With impeccable timing, Carrie J gave birth this morning. I’m guessing the baby’s name will be Diversion.
BJ sounds like an absolute idiot! Though I couldn’t believe he had been elected either! BJ has been an embarrassment for the entire country! Anyone that sucks up to Drumpf is a fool, and BJ is certainly a fool!!
Optics on this were horrible just as PM announced tighter restrictions. Many of us feel very angry and let down by the Irresponsibility of those in government. People have made sacrifices to keep other folk safe so all the laughter on the video made a mockery of that. Not surprised at one rule for us another for you. Boris must be so grateful for baby daughter arrival today to give tabs something to gush over instead of more castigation.
And the spectator wrote an article about how this lady (Allegra Stratton) was being persecuted. Also, the editor of the spectator is her husband, and Rishi Sunak was their best man (or her husband was Sunak’s best man), and they are godparents to each other’s children. Media and government very, very, very cozy! Like, are the Brits okay???
As an African born in the 80s I’m livid (or I would be, if I didn’t manage my emotions and pick my battles) that I grew up believing that my continent is somehow intrinsically corrupt and needs to aspire to the UK’s and Western standards of democracy and accountability. Probably cos my school used UK/Western curriculum… decolonize everything!!
Simon Case, yes that Simon Case, is supposed to be doing the internal investigation. The problem is it is believed by some that he was at some of these parties.
And typically, they’re only sorry they got caught out.
They’re not actually sorry at all for any of it. If they were, the entire cabinet and everyone else who attended the party and all the other parties held at that time would resign.
Honestly, they’re such a-holes.
It’s a mess. There’s currently around 5 parties that are known about and perhaps with more coming on the way. This was barely reported by the BM (surprise surprise) in the beginning until the beginning of this week when it became too large of a storm to ignore.
Not surprised. I have friends who are on the fringes of those upper class circles, and I was told how many perks the blue bloods have received during the pandemic–from being tipped off over dinner parties to evacuate London last spring long before the average Londoner was informed of lockdowns to “illegal” parties like this.
Anyone with half a brain knew/knows what these slimy f***kers have been up to for years, not just Johnson & his cronies. That people vote for them time and time again is absolutely maddening. Entitled, repugnant a-holes, the lot of them.
Remember kids, we are all in this together 🙃
Dr Shola was on fire yesterday about Allegra Stratton resigning and her “white women tears”
https://twitter.com/sholamos1/status/1468664447694778376?s=21
What else should we have expected from Trump the Lesser?
Is he still being vague about / refusing to say how many kids he has?
When queenie gets on her speech soapbox and tells the people that they are all struggling together, she’s full of it. The royals are Never struggling for one and 2nd the queen was giving that speech as she sat at her “Gold” piano. I could have no patience for her or her family members. The govt. is the queen’s govt. They are all for the Tories. It’s like the people are brainwashed with B💩Kate spent 120,000 on her clothes alone last year. We were living in a pandemic and Zoom was the way they did 97% of their so called work. I can’t imagine what she spends on her clothes without a pandemic 200,000 ? The hierarchy 💩 is nothing but another form of racism. BJ always looks unkempt and hungover sort of like Harry’s brother. BJ is a Trump fan, they share many of the same ideas according to Trump.