Private Eye Number Crunching

[Hymie]

40-50 People who attended staff Christmas party at 10 Downing Street on 18 December 2020, when Tier 3 restrictions said that ‘no events should take place, no mixing of households indoors’.

Zero Coronavirus rules PM insists were broken on this jolly occasion.

[Gromit]

Fines up to £10,000 were levied on regulation breakers last year.

In London 2000 people were fined a total of £1 Million .

But Raab has proclaimed that the Police don’t investigate crimes after they have been committed. And the Police are Sh/t scared of Priti Patel, so they will get away with it just because they think they are above the law.

[goodgoalie]

If there were 40 - 50 people at this 'party', how long till one of them breaks ranks and tells all?

[jno]

goodgoalie, I can exclusively reveal that it was whiny and cheesy.

[ynnafymmi]

We used to have a government"of all the talents",now we have a government of"all the aerosoles".How can Britain survive with such a deficiancy in any sort of worthwhile or clever or intelligent individuals within the ruling party in the UK?

[Gromit]

Unfortunately, we never had a government "of all the talents".
That was a Gordon Brown idea that was half heartedly implemented. Cameron also half heartedly did it.
During the Coalition Government everyone was greatly impressed with LibDem David Laws at the Treasury. Alas he was soon discarded due to Party politics after 2015.

[bobbinwales]

How many people work at 10 downing Street I wonder. 20 ar the most. So a few drinks and nibbles or them would be okay as we did the same at work but bringing in outsiders like our suppliers to double the numbers would of been unacceptable. Of course its them that puts themselves at risk but if its a spreader event it then effects others like family and tube travellers or taxi drivers.
It shows no regard for others, arrogance, no common sense or political sense of how it will be seen

[dannyk13]

Gromit //But Raab has proclaimed that the Police don’t investigate crimes after they have been committed//
He did not say that, he said 'historic crimes' would not be investigated. I suggest that you look up the definition of historic.

[naomi24]

Bobbin, 10 Downing Street in not just the PM’s official residence - it is a working office consisting of around 100 rooms and employing numerous staff. The latest figure I came across was from over ten years ago when going on 200 people worked there. I imagine security issues now prevent more recent information from being published - but I don’t know.

[Gromit]

The Government are still denying that any party took place despite.
And they say that even if it did, (ahem) it wasn’t a breach of the then covid rules.
Now someone has lost her job for apparently talking about something that never happened.

No one believes them. The longer they lie, the less credible they become. Fairly dangerous for a Government to lose the trust of the people. People will start to ignore everything they say and do, and their job becomes a lot more difficult.

[bobbinwales]

Thanks naomi. Okay if 100 work there already at any one time and 40 went to nibbles and drinks that's just about okay if done properly but still ill-advised and naive IMO.... but why not just say so straight away instead of this denial which just gets journalists digging more.

[emmie]

i am sure some are disgusted with the denial there being a party. That some had loved ones die all alone, as we went into lockdown, that doesn't sit well with me at all.

[naomi24]

This has to be the most stupid argument ever. People who work together day in and day out may have a cup of tea together during the course of the working day but can’t drink a glass of wine after the office closes for business. I’m convinced the hot air generated by the permanently incensed is adding to global warming. Get a grip!

[dannyk13]

Gromit. Is this what you really want:-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10290707/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-fastest-route-calamity-Keir-Starmer-Downing-Street.html

[Gromit]

dannyk13,
Do you for one minute believe what Raab said is true?
Do you really believe that the Police aren’t interested in crimes committed 12 months ago? Not sure many peoples’ definition of ‘historic’ is something that happened a few months earlier.

Of course the police will investigate crimes that go back longer than a few months ago. They will investigate crimes going back years, or even decades.

The police should investigate if rules were broken and fines should be given to those involved. But whether they do investigate when you have Ministers publicly warning them off doing so, remains to be seen.

[dannyk13]

Gromit, 12 months ago is not 'historic'.

[bobbinwales]

Agree sort of naomi although some places like ours closed the canteens so tea wasn't drunk in large groups anyway. But more important is why deny it. Should of said not a party but a thank-you message over nibbles and drinks lasting 20 minutes. If it was 2 hours that's not alike a tea break.

[naomi24]

Bobbin, from the way it was reported - and the way it is being discussed by those trying to make political capital out of it - one could be forgiven for thinking it was a hedonistic three day orgy of indulgence. Load of rubbish!

[Gromit]

Thanks for the link DannyK13,

It is quite shocking that the Daily Mail is singing from my hymn sheet.

// So how dispiriting that Boris has handed Labour's leader such a gaping open goal.
Today, the Government not only stands accused of dishonesty, but — worse — of taking the public for fools.

If Mr Johnson had taken action when the party allegations surfaced a week ago, they may have been dismissed as a year-old storm in a teacup. 
Instead, the vacillation, dissembling and denial of the past seven days turned it into a raging hurricane of recrimination.
Such a casual attitude to propriety plays perfectly into Labour's most damaging charge against his administration: that there is one rule for Boris's chums — and one for the rest of us.
Enough is enough. Boris must, finally, get a grip on the No 10 operation because these scandals are occurring far too frequently.
Questions of competence matter. And at a time of rising uncertainty, the public is entitled to ask if his team is up to the job. //

Spot on.

[bobbinwales]

So best be open from the start. Whoever organised it should be able to report back by tonight. How long before someone leaks footage?

[bobbinwales]

Agree gromit.