It Needs More Cowbell!

[UlstermanAbroad]

Apparently The Sweeny are looking at this video to assess whether any crimes have been committed.
We know politicians lie. Boris is a prime example. Yet the country will probably vote him back into Number 10
when the election rolls around. So, given that. And given there are so many, more important issues to worry about.
Why is the media and Westminster getting it's collective knickers in a twist about cheese and wine, a year ago
in Downing Street? Are we being distracted by something else that is infinitely more serious?

 

[CatmanV2]

Are we being distracted by something else that is infinitely more serious?

I assume you mean 'from'

To which the answer would be 'no. The media like to take shots at the government. Such is always the way

C

 

[Oneball]

Presumably it’s now news because someone got the hump about a missing bit of pineapple* on their cocktail stick at this year’s party so released the video.

* guessing they needed it for the pizza

 

[sionie1]

So they should, as if proven to be true at the same time 'normal' people had weddings broken up, splashed all over the Met's own Twitter feed, fines handed out & Xmas cancelled for lots of families. They shouldn't be above the 'law' no matter how temporary the said guidance/ruling/law is. And isn't that what police do, look at crimes that have happened in the past - unless the new Clairvoyance department is up and running..

 

[Oneball]

So they should, as if proven to be true at the same time 'normal' people had weddings broken up, splashed all over the Met's own Twitter feed, fines handed out & Xmas cancelled for lots of families. They shouldn't be above the 'law' no matter how temporary the said guidance/ruling/law is. And isn't that what police do, look at crimes that have happened in the past - unless the new Clairvoyance department is up and running..

They can’t have actually committed a crime. And you genuinely couldn’t have made this up!

According to number of independent barristers because of the pre-existing statutes used to bring in the Covid legislation it doesn’t apply to Government buildings within the City of Westminster

 

[Scaf]

What amazes me is how badly all political scandals are handled from a PR point of view, afterall they should have the very best advisors …….. I wouldn’t employ them to make tea, let alone advise / represent me.
Tell the truth, apologise, sack someone and move on. Lies always catch you out, and being evasive makes you look like you have something to hide.

 

[Phil H]

They can’t have actually committed a crime. And you genuinely couldn’t have made this up!

According to number of independent barristers because of the pre-existing statutes used to bring in the Covid legislation it doesn’t apply to Government buildings within the City of Westminster

There are also barristers who argue to the contrary. In reality it matters not whether the law was broken, but whether trust in politicians is broken - and according to a recent poll it very much is, and it's getting worse. We're (potentially) a couple of years away from a general election, and many MP's are already getting nervous about their futures as they rode the crest of Boris's popularity wave and that's rapidly collapsing. I agree with Scaf, there are PR lessons still to be learned, but not many signs of that ever happening.

 

[philw696]

So they should, as if proven to be true at the same time 'normal' people had weddings broken up, splashed all over the Met's own Twitter feed, fines handed out & Xmas cancelled for lots of families. They shouldn't be above the 'law' no matter how temporary the said guidance/ruling/law is. And isn't that what police do, look at crimes that have happened in the past - unless the new Clairvoyance department is up and running..

Well Said it's an absolute shambles what's going.
Getting into a comfy chair ready for PM's Questions here.

 

[Zep]

It does seem like a bit of an omnishambles. In fact, the whole video of the twerps giggling about it is straight out of “In The Thick Of It”.

The first instinct of the current government does to be “Lie first, evade questions later”.

Then I try and unpick the reasoning behind this, 1. It’s a gift to the opposition. 2. It is a gift to the anti-lockdown faction of the Tory party. 3. It’s a gift to the anti-vax government conspiracy folk.

I do think they would be better to have said it happened, it was wrong, and then try to move on. But it’s too late now.

 

[safrane]

I have worked for each successive government and they are all as bad as each other... what do you expect when ministers change every few months/years, and few live in any semblance of the real world.

There is no shame in politics in this country, had I or anyone in our department come close to the shenanigans delivered by most ministers and Jnr Ministers we would have been sacked.

 

[Swedish Paul]

Well Said it's an absolute shambles what's going.
Getting into a comfy chair ready for PM's Questions here.

What? Sky in France? Don’t let it get out, the peasants will be around to burn you at the stake.

 

[philw696]

What? Sky in France? Don’t let it get out, the peasants will be around to burn you at the stake.

I don't have Sky but many other options for watching and it didn't disappoint again today.
What a Shambles.

 

[Gazcw]

Merkel is free now. She doesn't party.

 

[Oneball]

Merkel is free now. She doesn't party.

I take it you’ve put her car keys back in the swapping bowl then?

 

[Gazcw]

I take it you’ve put her car keys back in the swapping bowl then?

I threw it away and legged it

 

[Ewan]

A story out of fresh air. Who cares whether or not a few people, allegedly, had a glass of wine in a large house?
The World is on fire, and some people think this is the biggest story? Pathetic.

 

[UlstermanAbroad]

When life starts to imitate art. You know that you're already part way down the rabbit hole.
When I saw the video, I immediately thought, Thick of It.
When I saw Boris at PMQs, I thought, Yes Minister.
In Yes Minister there's an episode where Hacker or AN Other puts their foot in it and
needs a way to defuse the issue. Sir Humphrey to the rescue, with his list of proven ways
to deflect/defuse/disassemble (not the word I'm looking for but brain's working to rule)
On that list is stating that you're setting up an enquiry. In other words. Kicking the can down
the road and/or into the weeds. Lo and behold, Boris announces that the Cabinet Secretary
will conduct an internal enquiry, with the report placed in the Commons Library.
NOT you'll notice, reported to the Commons during PMQs or other business, with the caveat
later, that it won't take hours or days, but weeks. Given Christmas is almost upon us.
What are the odds that this will receive any ink, apart from in Private Eye, come January.
About as good odds as anyone avoiding Omicron.
Merry Christmas one and all!

 

[UlstermanAbroad]

A story out of fresh air. Who cares whether or not a few people, allegedly, had a glass of wine in a large house?
The World is on fire, and some people think this is the biggest story? Pathetic.

Like Watergate. Its not the party, nor the break in that was news worthy.
But the cover up and in the case of the Government, the lies and obfuscation.
More seriously, I think there was the question of whether the PM had lied to
the Commons. A resigning matter. And no certainty that Boris could survive
a vote of no confidence, given the current unsettled nature of Tory MPs.
So, yes. On the face of it. Much ado. But only a few steps further, a change
of Government in the midst of the third or is it the fourth wave of this Chinese
Pandemic.

 

[safrane]

That would be a vote of confidence... a motion of no confidence is where the government is considered.

 

[Phil H]

When I saw Boris at PMQs, I thought, Yes Minister.
In Yes Minister there's an episode where Hacker or AN Other puts their foot in it and
needs a way to defuse the issue. Sir Humphrey to the rescue, with his list of proven ways
to deflect/defuse/disassemble (not the word I'm looking for but brain's working to rule)
On that list is stating that you're setting up an enquiry. In other words. Kicking the can down
the road and/or into the weeds. Lo and behold, Boris announces that the Cabinet Secretary
will conduct an internal enquiry, with the report placed in the Commons Library.
NOT you'll notice, reported to the Commons during PMQs or other business, with the caveat
later, that it won't take hours or days, but weeks. Given Christmas is almost upon us.
What are the odds that this will receive any ink, apart from in Private Eye, come January.
About as good odds as anyone avoiding Omicron.
Merry Christmas one and all!

A brilliant programme, and as relevant today as it was 40 years ago. This was very clever: