Not one of the parties at No 10 as far as w know …
The ‘event’ the Nation has ‘breathlessly’ been waiting for, according to the MSM, has finally happened. Yesterday afternoon Ms Gray published her report or rather, the parts the Met police permitted her to publish. Let me state right at the outset that this whole ‘drama’ was akin to the fabled pregnant elephant giving birth to a mouse.
There was confusion galore. Firstly, the Westminster papers wrote that it was nine pages long (paywalled link), then that it was updated and is 12 pages long. For us politics nerds, the ‘discrepancy’ is due to the fact that the actual report has two ‘intentionally left blank’ pages and the title page. According to simple maths that’s three pages, with nine pages of text. Yes, nine whole pages! You can, if you must, read the whole thing here at the government site.
Ms Gray was told by the Met Police to keep all that really interesting stuff out. She had handed them a ‘dossier’ of 300 photos and 500 pages (link) – the ‘good stuff’, all the ‘evidence’ the MSM have been drooling for. Still, now that the mouse is out, the MSM bloodhounds have been let off the leash and are picking up all the delicious gossip from their ‘sources’. The DM is thus able to quote from Ms Gray’s covering letter – here’s the link if you’re interested.
Next, we read in the DT that Johnson has ‘asked’ Ms Gray to produce ‘a new report’ because she was unable to publish a ‘meaningful report’ at this time (paywalled link). The spectacle of ‘Partygate’ can thus continue, to the delight of the Remain crowd in Whitehall and the Westminster MSM.
Meanwhile our dear MPs demonstrated yet again that their hearing and understanding is extremely selective. Why else would some demand Johnson must publish fully yon report even though everybody surely knows by now that the Police is keeping the lid on it?
Still, this ‘event’ has been a goldmine for the MSM’s opinion and comment writers. It’s simply too tedious to list them all, it’s too tedious to read their efforts: they are all going on about what it means, or about ‘Johnson must go’ and ‘Johnson clings on’. Reading them is a waste of time.
There are only two writers who make some important points. There’s Dan Wootton for the DM, his article is not paywalled (link). The other is Brendan O’Neill’s article in Spiked which you can find here. I heartily recommend reading it. His conclusions are devastatingly to the point:
“I’m sorry, but I find the idea that you and I and the teeming citizens of this democratic nation must await the political judgement of a woman who has been cooped up in the sclerotic, Byzantine civil service since the 1970s deeply disturbing. Who died and made her deputy god? This all feels positively pre-democratic. Politics as a passive spectator sport. The citizenry reduced to grinning infants waiting to find out if a functionary will save or condemn the government we put into power. It all suggests that the fallout from partygate will be far worse than partygate itself. Give me arrogant elected politicians who have wine and cake over these unaccountable elites who are obsessed with correcting the ‘mistakes’ of the dim, feckless electorate any day of the week.” (link)
There’s nothing more to be added to that analysis! There are however a few points which even Mr O’Neill isn’t making because he, like all the other London-based journalists, must beware of angering the Westminster cabal more than they find acceptable. Me, being only a cynical, nosey old cow, can let rip.
Hence I think it’s irrelevant who did what or how many bottles of wine were drunk when. The whole ‘Partygate’ shows me that the ‘culture’ at No 10 is not so much one of drink and parties but one of immature kids, believing they have the power to do as they want. From Carrie playing Abba’s ‘The winner takes it all’ after Cummings left the premises to cakes and alcohol-fuelled get-togethers every time someone left for a new job.
it’s an image of a crowd more intent on ‘celebrating’ themselves than on work. No wonder we’re in such a mess. No wonder SAGE could ride roughshod over No 10: were they all too drunk or hung-over to put up some coherent resistance? We’re told this morning that Johnson won’t let heads roll, so nothing will really change (link, paywalled). Hence the serious political consequences will pile up.
One has already happened: yesterday Johnson was ‘unable’ to speak to Mr Putin on the phone, as had been planned, because he had to ‘deal’ with the Partygate Report. This is more than just ‘unfortunate’, as the DT alleges, hinting that this leaves the field to Macron (paywalled link). It’s grave because Johnson will fly to Kiev today to show his ‘support’. ‘Partygate’ is thus skewing our standing on the world stage – something which I suggest is a bit more consequential than slavering about ‘illegal parties’.
Also rather more serious than who played Abba when, are the figures slipped out by the Home Office , revealing “that 1,341 people made the 21-mile journey in 46 boats last month. This compares with 223 people in 15 boats in January last year and 87 people in January 2020.” (link, paywalled). This is of no interest to the navel-gazing Westminster denizens, being envious that some were having parties while they themselves were WFH, all alone …
On top of that there’s the warning that the covid pandemic will go on and on. The ONS is yet again fiddling the numbers, having decided to count re-infections in their daily ‘infection total’ even though this will result in a leap in those stats, as they acknowledge, but we needn’t panic:
“They said in advance that they expected “a steep increase” as a result. From today, case figures will include possible reinfections in England — people testing positive for a second (or more) time. Until now, people only became a case when first tested positive. This has been backdated to the start of the pandemic.” (link, paywalled)
Apparently, this latest ‘exercise’ is aimed at reducing the case fatality rate which will become smaller than it is today at 0.14%. We are given the reassurance that these ‘new’ data “are unlikely to make a material change to ministers’ handling of the pandemic” (link, paywalled) – how nice, how reassuring! Of course we believe them, don’t we!
Have all the navel-gazing, Partygate-obsessed Westminster denizens still not grasped that we, the peasants out here whom they so disdain, just want to get on with our lives? That we’ve had enough of covid? That we want to know how much of our money will remain in our wallets? That we want to see an end to the ‘green guidance’? That we couldn’t care less about their fabricated ‘outrage’? That we’ve had enough of being ‘guided’ as if we were toddlers?
Partygate isn’t only a judgement on the immature crowd in No 10 – it’s a judgement on the whole political ‘culture’ in Westminster, Whitehall and especially on the Westminster media who clearly don’t give the proverbial about things which matter to us. It’s not just Johnson’s crew which needs cleaning out – it’s the whole fuggy, incestuous culture pertaining in all Westminster offices, newsrooms included, which needs to be shaken up.
A pity we don’t have truckers such as those in Canada …
Pauline………….no need to fret. Carrie will be gone when her husband (that nice man with the blonde hair) is shown the door. I cannot use anything stronger as I might upset Biscotte!!! Anyway, Nigel Farage, about the only man in the political world I believe in any longer, said yesterday, its not a case of if, but when Boris Johnson is removed 10 Downing Street. It cannot be too long now, with many of his leadership rivals circling above and posturing. Rather than sorting out the myriad of problems facing this country, today he has been in Ukraine telling their President how its going to be with Russia if they invade. I bet Vladimir Putin is shuddering in his boots……..not. Still for a vain man that Johnson is, perhaps it is one last chance to get his face in the papers abroad, before he gets the heave ho back here in Blighty….
Well actually Colin I’ve come to the conclusion that we are better leaving Blondris in situ as the figurehead.
Not one of the CONS within spitting distance of replacing him would be any better.
The only hope is if the various pressure groups within that Party continue to steer the ship, ignoring what the ‘leader’ spouts.
What bell?
I haven’t seen one.
I suppose I shall have to continue to gain entry in my usual way since the new regimen came in.
By going to the previous entry
Try closing down your browser – then open it, go to the site and check out the drop-down box asking you if you want to receive the notification.
If you agree, then you’ll see the bell which you then have to click.
And this is not a new system to keep people out – you can read the site as you’ve always done, only when you agree you’ll get notified that there’s a new article …
BTW the picture offends in so many ways. For example
– gender bias – appears to be heterosexual activity with neither a man dressed as a woman, nor a woman dressed as a man.
– unusual racial equality ratio – there is more than one white person shown.
– no wheelchairs, no blind people, no dwarves, no-one missing a limb, no gigantism.
– no hijjabis, no skull caps, only one scabby beard, no headscarves.
– and on and on
Deeply, deeply offensive.
Yep. We aim to please …
😉
When I saw the picture today, I thought it was a university ‘milk round’ poster.
Special Advisor
Are you 21 yrs old? have good politics degree? want 70,000 pounds per annum entry-level starting salary (plus expenses)? congenial working environment with regular work meetings – see poster above.
If yes, then sign up now for a government special advisor position (spad).
Note: no work experience required; no real-world experience required; unusual spelling of surname an advantage.
Thank you Viv. As usual, right in what you say. The Dan Wootton link was also correct and Spiked is a very interesting site.
Very disappointing that heads will not roll if that means that he will not change his advisors, or get himself Heads of Departments that do control the Civil Servants.
Shame that he is using our much depleted Military to threaten Putin. It should be fully occupied preventing the cross channel invasion and policing our fishing waters!
And still no sign of any red meat from no 10. Looks like doing anything Conservative has been ruled out as too risky if Boris wants to stop the letters of no confidence. He clings on, going nowhere.
Yesterday, there was an employment tribunal judgement concerning an employee in London of BNP Paribas. A woman repeatedy told “not now Stacey” was thereby bullied etc. But what struck me was that the team of which she was a member often went to the pub and returned to the office drunk (when their tesaing of her – alleged humiliation – increased). These ‘masters of the universe’, as bankers regard themselves ,obviously feel a sense of entitlement to behave as they wish. Pubic sector employees of a certain seniority feel the same way and staff at no 10 must feel ‘masters’ also, superior to ordinary folk, no less than bankers on large salaries and bonuses, the rules for whom do not apply to them. Over the years I have seen senior corporate people behave in ways they woud never tolerate from lower orders. It’s a cultural problem that is corporate wide – a surprising number of law firms end up at tribunals because a partner groped a secretary. That does not excuse Johnson – the curcumstances at no 10 were exceptional – but the media glee moves focus away from the mandarins who are just as culpable for their tolerance of a drinking culture. I did not find the May 2020 ‘party’ in the garden anything to jump u and down about, but the Carrie organised one in the flat to celebrate Cummings going is something else. She needs to be in the dock too – for all sorts of things!
This is worth revisiting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5iG-728tDw&t=66s
Listen especially to the clip of Ngaire Woods, professor of Global Economic Governance at Oxford.
She’s the Dean of that department, set up with a £75m gift (yes, gift) from Russian-American industrialist Leonard Blavatnik.
She is helping to refurbish assemblies and executive offices around the globe, apparently – by teaching future leaders how to run their countries: “We’re being asked by governments around the world to train their leaders.”
Sorry? As Tony Benn might have said: Who voted for Global Governance; who appointed you for that role, Ngaire, and from who do you derive your legitimacy?
And people wonder how the world seems to have a homogenous layer of globalist oriented leftist leaders.
https://www.ft.com/content/4ce23df8-7136-11e2-9b5c-00144feab49a
(The FT is paywalled, but you can Google it – At home: Ngaire Woods | Financial Times.
Nice house, but that is not important to her of course.
Thank you Phil O’S for making me read about Tony Benn! I had no idea till now, just how right he was about so many subjects!
As for Ngaire Woods – it just shows how badly all our ancient institutions have been infiltrated by something – probably ‘cultural marxism’.
That our Oldest University has a Department advocating Global Economic Governance – well – says it all really doesn’t it.
Stout Yeoman. Oh how I wish there was a way of getting rid of Carrie Johnson.
Once I realised that Cummings was a fanatical Lock Downer I had no regrets about his demise but everything about ‘her upstairs’ and her influence, is blatantly wrong headed and anti democratic.
Sometimes a frog really is just a frog Pauline