Boris Johnson has apologised for attending a “bring your own booze” gathering in the garden of No. 10 during the U.K.’s first lockdown in May 2020. Speaking in the Commons just before Prime Minister’s Questions amidst calls for him to resign, the PM acknowledged public “rage” over the incident but said he believed it was a work event, with the Downing Street garden being an extension of the office. Here is the Prime Minister’s apology in full, courtesy of the Telegraph.
Mr Speaker, I want to apologise.
I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months.
I know the anguish that they have been through, unable to mourn their relatives, unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love.
And I know the rage they feel with me or with the Government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself, the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules.
And though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things we simply did not get right.
And I must take responsibility.
Number 10 is a big department with the garden as an extension of the office, which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus.
And when I went into that garden, just after six on May 20th, 2020, to thank groups and staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later, to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event.
But Mr Speaker, with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.
I should have found some other way to thank them.
And I should have recognised that even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way.
People who suffered terribly, people who are forbidden from meeting loved ones at all, inside or outside, and to them and to this House I offer my heartfelt apologies.
And all I ask is that Sue Gray be allowed to complete her inquiry into that day and several others so that the full facts can be established.
It may be that it could technically count as a work event – although the barrister Adam King doesn’t think so – and there was also a (convenient) exemption for Crown buildings that may apply. So it may well be that the gathering didn’t technically break the rules and Sue Gray will exonerate him on this.
However, it’s not just about the letter of the law. How it looks matters – even if technically within the rules, everyone knows a party when they see one. And they also know that they weren’t allowed to go to one or hold one at the time.
While seemingly a minor misdemeanour in the grand scheme of things, along with the other lockdown gatherings in Downing Street it is undoubtedly damaging to the Prime Minister. People are angry because they observed the rules themselves, sometimes at great personal cost.
It’s worth noting that Boris may be more likely to survive this because he got the big Omicron call right and resisted (or was compelled by sceptical Cabinet colleagues to resist) the calls to impose additional Covid restrictions last month.
One potential plus is that, assuming it doesn’t finish him off, it means Boris will be even less able to impose similar restrictions again. A successor may not have such difficulty, however – and some of his possible successors (e.g. Michael Gove) would have fewer qualms about doing so.
Stop Press: Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross has called for Boris to resign, saying his position “is no longer tenable”. Ross is the most senior member of the PM’s own party publicly to call for him to go, though an unnamed senior MP told Sky News‘s Sam Coates earlier in the day that Boris’s apology would be “too little, too late” and MP Sir Roger Gale has called Boris “politically a dead man walking”. Will Wragg, the Vice-Chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers has also called on him to “do the right thing” and quit. Boris is certainly in the most trouble he’s yet faced.
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The eyes have it.
Gut reaction is that Boris deserves all that is coming to him but, at the same time, I have this gnawing fear that this comment in the DM may possibly be of more relevance:
“It is quite clear the ‘Party Scandal’ is a political hatchet job cooked up to get rid of Boris. They want rid of Boris because he is not following the script with regard to Covid-19 restrictions. 1 – this party was nearly 2 years ago. How come we are hearing about it now if 100 people attended? 2 – it comes out less than 1 week after Boris states we will have to live with the virus and lays out a plan to return to normal despite almost every other nation (including Wales and Scotland) moving to continue restrictions”
Looking at the variance between England’s approach and that of other countries, despite clear evidence that the virus is in retreat, I cannot shake the feeling that maybe Boris was resisting as much as possible while those really in control have no intention of allowing us to think we are returning to ‘normal’.
I agree – I’ve voiced that concern myself, why now? However its looking like the Plandemic is coming to an end for now, unless they manufacture another one!
“The World Health Organization said in a statement that a vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original COVID-19 vaccines is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable.
Recognizing the inability of the shots to stop the spread, the U.N. health agency said future vaccines against COVID-19 must “be more effective in protection against infection thus lowering community transmission.”
Boris is a liar and unfit to be PM. He is also unfit on other counts such as his subservience to the globalists and imposition of policies derived from their “green” nonsense. We need rid.
Why do people keep mis-spelling Wanker as Boris?
Can we have an appropriate spelling for BBC journalists? I am sitting in a cafe being forced to listen to BBC News 24, 20 mins on Boris, 10 mins on NHS backlog ( which they caused themselves) and now the BBC is banging on about the loss of Van Tam. Good riddance I say but when did actual news coverage become redundant? It is clearly just a branch of showbusiness the down market variety I mean.
Boris could rescue himself and the Conservative Party AND the country AND even the world if he did the following:
Recognise and admit (like Ron de Santis did in May/June 2020) that Lockdown was a catastrophic mistake and IMMEDIATELY repeal ALL Covid legislation IMMEDIATELY proclaim that the Covid-19 theatre was simply that and make a totally clean breast of it all IMMEDIATELY order SAGE and all the hangers-on to do the same IMMEDIATELY stop all the fear porn and Covid lies and lay before the people ALL the facts, namely that this disease, although unpleasant (which disease is not?) and sometimes (not often and does not this apply to ALL diseases?) fatal, is nothing to be afraid of. IMMEDIATELY rescind and refund ALL fines, penalties and whatever for ANY and ALL infractions of Covid legislation. Such refunds to be financed by a tax on civil servants. IMMEDIATELY cut ALL civil service and quango pay by 20% backdated to March 2020. IMMEDIATELY order ALL civil servants to return to their desks IMMEDIATELY scrap Track and Trace IMMEDIATELY scrap the so-called ‘Vaccine Passports’ and sack, without redundancy and pension, ALL civil servants engaged thereon IMMEDIATELY sack ALL Covid Marshals IMMEDIATELY sack SAGE,… Read more »
Hmmm, this whole shenanigans this past two years has been so convoluted a part of me wonders whether the partying scenarios and constant ‘naughty boy’ activities are Boris’ only way of showing us the ‘virus’ is no big deal; in which case, pretty clever of him. But I know I’m being the eternal optimist.
If it was a business meeting how come Boris’ squeeze was in attendance? Where is the formal agenda and the minutes?….every business meeting I ever attended had minutes…..and no wives/husbands or girl/boyfriends in attendance.
Prof Neil Ferguson, Dominic Cummings and Matt Hancock did far worse and they were all lockdown zealots. Hypocricy appears to be a modern political trait as is the fear of getting found out. If Boris has to go it should be because he locked the nation down without good reason. That is and remains his and indeed the entire political class’s main crime against the population. Will we ever get an apology for that?
Apart from the rule-breaking/bending, it demonstrates that Johnson and Chums were LYING when they repeatedly told us that we had to remain isolated in order to keep safe and protect our loved ones. They knew the virus was only deadly to a tiny percentage of very elderly and already sick people. If they really thought associating with groups of other people was so risky to their own pampered, privileged lives they’d never have done it.
Thousands of people will remember precisely what they were doing ….. or more importantly NOT ALLOWED TO DO on 20 May 2020.
He won’t do the decent thing; he doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. The 1922 are going to have to dispose of him.
Better the devil you know imo.
Don’t be a fool & get distracted from the main point this proves : that they knew all along that it wasn’t dangerous . That’s the revelation here . They knew people wouldn’t be dropping dead like flies . They knew
And the booze. I think we are governed by drug addicts and alcoholics. Whoever gets to bring their own booze to a work meeting…..I thought there were laws now about drinking at work. It seems to me there has and always will be one rule for the elite socialist cabal and another for those who pay for their lifestyles.
The grotesque hypocrisy is the lesser issue. They didn’t believe in the medical value of the perverted behaviours they were imposing on everyone else. The Lockdown was performative.
These people in Cabinet Office are going to be the best informed on the impact of Covid and the effectiveness of protections in the country.
If I really thought that going to a maskless knees-up would risk me dying a horrible death, then I certainly would not turn up. And yet they all did.
Either they all want to commit suicide, OR they are well aware that the advice and direction that they give is untrue, and they were not in any real danger.
I wonder why no newspaper wants to mention this bit of logical reasoning?
Dodgy Geezer you have hit the nail on the head. At the time the government was telling us that if we dared to meet up with other people for anything other than an essential purpose then Covid was certain to strike us all dead. So as you say either they were all suicidal or knew or (as we lockdown sceptics all suspected) that what they were spouting at the time was total bollocks. In which case they should be rapidly brought to book for the untold damage they have done to this country.
Those in power are never punished for their wrong doings…..they are always, always rewarded and rewarded heavily. This country has been truly corrupted since joining a socialist political project controlled by ex nazis and the American Globalists
Will the pig dictator be apologising for not following the well researched and documented national procedures for dealing with a viral pandemic?
These procedures were ignored and thrown in the bin by Doris and co, created hysteria, panic and fear as they made up “regulations” on the fly. The international and national procedures don’t mention lockdowns, mass vaccination (as the procedures knew you cannot just knock out a vaccine for a virus), anti social distancing etc.
I wont be holding my breath for any apology on this fiasco.
So: it’s back to the old chestnut: cock-up or conspiracy?
My take is that Lord Tyrannus was just a Nero figure: he was personally lazy, incompetent, and work-shy. So it WASN’T cock-up: because he left government on auto-pilot with civil servants and underlings. He had virtually no input or interest is the ‘pandemic’. He honestly doesn’t know what’s been going on – nor does he care. He didn’t ‘make mistakes’ so much as never do anything at all.
Was it a conspiracy we witnessed, then? To the extent that a normal PM would have ignored or steered the country away from creeps like Gates, Schwab, etc. – the fact that the lockdowns and other policies were enacted suggests the PM’s laziness was NOT operative in AVOIDING the globalists machinations. Those policies seeped in through channels such as contracts, back-handers, and naive junior staff scrambling for ‘approaches’.
In short: Tyrannus FAILED at cock-up and he FAILED at conspiracy.
De facto, we witnessed both – BY DEFAULT.
“Things can only get better” for us sceptics and bloody lousy for the political classes…The Labour Party used the song as a theme during the party’s successful campaign in the general election of 1997.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/scientists-believed-covid-leaked-from-wuhan-lab-but-feared-debate-could-hurt-international-harmony/ar-AASG7l3?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/bbc-fury-absolutely-disgraceful-viewers-fume-at-biased-reporting-of-boris-s-party/ar-AASGXZX?ocid=msedgntp
and a bit off-topic does anyone in or near Birmingham want a Freebie…
https://nationalrunningshowbirmingham.seetickets.com/event/national-running-show-birmingham/nec/1528137?OfferCode=LATEST
Why print an image of the actress faking severe Covid?
Not all MP’s are Globalist puppets it would seem, well said madam.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1481277683329814535
Watched the speech in catchup on YouTube. Two words, really:
Absolutely pathetic.
OK. Three words: add ‘cringeworthy’.
When Johnson goes, it will be more crappy soap opera. I predict that it will play out with Johnson in the 1945 Churchill role; the saviour of the nation and warrior sans pareil, ousted by an ungrateful nation and leftist elements. Pathos, bathos and loads of hankies required.
I disagree, because he did nothing and deserves nothing.
Could we now encourager les autres, Bozo?
Not only should Johnson go, but also the fellow clowns at the ‘party’. This is rank hypocrisy and disregard for the general public, the very people whose taxes would have funded this soiree…
Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.
Or so I’ve been told by some French guy.
La Rochefoucauld. He knew a thing or two.
Number 10 is a big department with the garden as an extension of the office, which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus.
Ahhh, fresh air you say? Good environment you say? Hmm, weren’t we largely confined to quarters? Wasn’t being out in the open a naughty thing to be doing outside your alloted exercise period?
Drones deployed by the plod in national parks etc.
This is all very confusing to a pleb such as me.
City parks were closed so that you couldn’t exercise or – heaven forbid – ‘gather’ in the fresh air. People sitting on a beach constituted a ‘major incident’. Children’s playgrounds were padlocked. Wankok threatened to lock everybody up 24/7 if anybody attempted to spend more than thirty minutes a day outside their homes.
As I said yesterday, I don’t care that Johnson went to a party, or that Hancock groped his mistress in his office, or that Ferguson’s bit on the side made a “booty call” to him; all while the rest of us were being locked up, locked down, and beaten over the head with fear porn. Yes, it was all gross hypocrisy, but what really bugs me is that while they were doing these things, they were not the least bit afraid.
Not afraid of being caught (at least not immediately), not afraid of being ill, not afraid of catching covid, not afraid of taking it home, not afraid of passing it on to anyone. And not afraid of troubling the sainted NHS either.
Not afraid. Not afraid because they knew there was no reason to be afraid, despite what they told the rest of us.
That is what Johnson and co should apologise for. They terrified and conned the British people, ruined lives and businesses, and took no responsibility for their actions. We need justice for that.
Spot on! This government, with Johnson at its head unleashed a psychological war of terror on the British people. The damage that this did and continues to do is incalculable and unforgivable. Taxi for Johnson and all his cronies in the Nudge Unit as well as SAGE. Next step legal action to bring them to account.
The thing with “rage” is that it is often inchoate, or worse, impotent. I am not filled with rage, Prime Minister, but fury. And believe me, as we approach the first anniversary of my 87-year-old mother’s sad and lonely death, I know exactly where to direct it.
The clubhouse is rotten and needs burning down.
I don’t want Boris to apologise for having a few beers in a garden with his mates. It shows, clearly, that he and his government never believed the abusive restrictions imposed on us were necessary or proportionate: he should apologise for that abuse.
He is a person who was in the right place at the right time to deal with Brexit. We all knew Boris, what he was and was not. Why do we feign surprise and anger when he acts with such predictability. Bring him down, nail him to a cross……….nothing has changed.