“I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”
Oooh you little liar 🤥
Came in 14 minutes late - is he giving us his version of things before the questioning all happens?
And who the bloody hell decided to kick off at 2pm knowing full well the bell would be ringing in 20 mins so they can all go to vote 🙄
Only in this country could you have a really important vote scheduled for the same time as a comittee that everyone is going to be fixated with, when for the rest of the week there appears to be about 4 people in the Commons, including the speaker
And when was the last time Boris was actually bothered about turning up to vote on anything?
I have a feeling he's going to keep on with 'I believed xxx was right', therefore I didn't lie.
Questioning Harman's impartiality.
Can't see that going down well.
Electro magnetic force field to ensure social distancing???
I believed
He's used that phrase a thousand times already. he's basically challenging them to be able to prove inside his head that he didnt believe it, which'll never happen.
It'll need rock solid evidence - an email, recorded call, WhatsApp or similar with a time and date stamp where someone is advising him correctly to the guidance before he commits an act of rule breaking to get him.
Is he 'mansplaining' to the entire country how we all interpreted the rules wrong?
He is, isn't he?
It's just the usual next level of waffle from him. He's guilty as charged!
It is utter waffle, but I'm still not convinced this is going to go the way we believe it should...
It's a load of bollocks this partygate stuff. I dislike Johnson as much as the next person but raking over this stuff is not particularly important. He does seem quite peeved about it though. I'm hoping he just walks out and tells them to go f*** themselves 🙂.
so did he interpret the rules wrong and as he wasnt advised otherwise he carried on as he believed? that it?
the rules that were disseminated to the mass population in an easily understandable manner?
maybe it was all vague to gve them deniability.
raking over this stuff is not particularly important.
Yes, but it's so satisfying watching him squirm.
It's dull though, innit? I think they need Aaron Sorkin to liven up the script a bit, make it a bit more like A Few Good Men
I'm tuning in on the coverage now. Just audio ! Photo's now !!! 1m, or 2m ?
It’s a load of bollocks this partygate stuff. I dislike Johnson as much as the next person but raking over this stuff is not particularly important. He does seem quite peeved about it though. I’m hoping he just walks out and tells them to go f*** themselves 🙂.
It really isn't tho - this is down him misleading parliament over the partygate stuff. So it's massively important.
He still believes !
So it’s massively important.
If he was still PM I would agree, but he's not. There's a remote chance he could be PM again and if that becomes a possibility the voters will have all the info they need to make a decision on whether he should be. This is just political mudslinging by people (ie Sunak and his supporters) trying to destroy him.
I’m hoping he just walks out and tells them to go f*** themselves
actually so do I as that would probably be considered contempt of parlament
It was still OK to have a work leaving event, but not attend even funerals.
NOpe - its very important because of the effects on parliament. the topic in itself is not but he habitually lied to parliament and this is the one example they can get him on
Its important because its about setting standards for future PMs
t’ll need rock solid evidence – an email, recorded call, WhatsApp or similar with a time and date stamp where someone is advising him correctly to the guidance before he commits an act of rule breaking to get him
Which the committee have in their evidence
Fluency is disappearing,being replaced by waffle and bluster.
Another suspension !
The gist of Johnson's defence seems to be that "the guidance" was that they could do whatever they wanted.
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As an interesting aside, the rebellion against the Windsor framework fizzled out.
He picked the wrong horse in that one, another nail in his legacy!
As for the "evidence" he is giving, it's full of stammering because his brain can't manufacture the bull shit fast enough to get to his lips in time.😁
The gist of Johnson’s defence seems to be that “the guidance” was that they could do whatever they wanted.
No his defence is that they were working in a cramped space where social distancing was next to impossible and had they implemented it to the letter of the guidance it would have seriously hindered the operation of government. I don't necessarily disagree with that. At a time of national crisis I would expect the people in govt to take some personal risks in the national interest. Obviously that doesn't extend to having parties but you can see how staff in number 10 might have thought the rules didn't apply to them. If they weren't social distancing in the course of their work, then it makes it pretty pointless in other circustances.
Johnson and Bernard Jenkin don't seem to like each other do they?
It’s a load of bollocks this partygate stuff. I dislike Johnson as much as the next person but raking over this stuff is not particularly important.
This isn't about partygate, it is about whether or not he deliberately misled parliament. And that is very important.
you can see how staff in number 10 might have thought the rules didn’t apply to them.
by that token you could say the same of staff in care homes, hospitals, various essential and safety-critical industries. They didn't have parties because the culture in these organisations is very different to that No.10 being set from the top.
Not allowed at my workplace and the whole long hours hard work balderdash is just that - balderdash
He knows it, we know it, the committee know it
"Parties" is irrelevant. Gathering for social purposes had firm rules and they were clearly not followed as everyone can see.
its not work when you are getting pissed and no work is being done
"If they weren’t social distancing in the course of their work, then it makes it pretty pointless in other circumstances."
does that apply to hospitals? We were catching covid from patients because we had to be close to them and passing it around colleagues because we had to be close to them. does that mean we could get pissed up together after shift?
"
does that mean we could get pissed up together after shift?
Why not if it didn't create any extra risk of spreading the disease? I wouldn't have had a problem with it.
it is about whether or not he deliberately misled parliament.
PMs and ministers mislead parliament all the bloody time. Why is this getting special treatment? Mainly because it helps the people who don't like Johnson. Meanwhile when we're all fixated on this soap opera, the govt is doing all manner of things which we don't seem particularly interested in. 🤷♂️
Johnson claims it is “unlikely” that he said, at a particular leaving do, that it was the “the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK right now”.
Weasel words. He knows damn well he said it and he knows the committee have sworn statements he did so no denial just "unlikely" I've done loads of unlikely stuff in my life
If he was still PM I would agree, but he’s not. There’s a remote chance he could be PM again and if that becomes a possibility the voters will have all the info they need to make a decision on whether he should be.
To be fair, I did rob a bank, but I'm no longer in the bank, and banks have all the info they need to make a decision on whether to let me into banks in the future. This "prosecution" business is just mudslinging by my critics.
Johnson and Bernard Jenkin don’t seem to like each other do they?
It’s not personal… Johnson is taking the piss out of the standards committee, its members, and the whole process. He’s insulting them. And parliament. But no surprise there.
They like a good piss up these Ministers don't they. Can't recall ever having alcohol on the 'job'.
Why not if it didn’t create any extra risk of spreading the disease?
Because it does increase risk. the longer the exposure the higher the risk. Being pissed makes you lax about precautions
No one seems to have picked up as well that they should have had masks on if they couldn't socially distance
If he was still PM I would agree, but he’s not. There’s a remote chance he could be PM again and if that becomes a possibility the voters will have all the info they need to make a decision on whether he should be.
He is however a Member of Parliament. He is bound by the rules of the house, as is every other MP.
I dislike Johnson as much as the next person but raking over this stuff is not particularly important.
Missleading parliament (again) and then lying about it, you see as "not particularly important"?
He should be heavily fined and banned from working in public office ever again, as a bare minimum.
Imagine if you did something at work that warranted a disciplinary investigation, contrary to your own policy and then you lied during the investigation.
You would be fired, no questions asked.
Aside from setting a very dangerous precident for how much crap MP's can get away with, he was the PM at the time.
Why not if it didn’t create any extra risk of spreading the disease? I wouldn’t have had a problem with it.
Aw thanks Dazh. But pretty sure your standards, the rules and guidance as they were laid out at the time, and the benefit of hindsight aren’t under scrutiny today. This is about standards in, and misleading of Parliament. Thanks anyway.
He just deployed the Mis-Remembering line.
Mis-remembering is only a word that politicians use when they have be caught out. No-one else in normal life ever admits to mis-remembering.
PMs and ministers mislead parliament all the bloody time.
Except they don't. They can give all sorts of rubbish opinions on whether something is a good idea or not, announce plans that will never realistically happen, etc. But they can't lie on a matter of fact.
