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Opinion: The Sue Gray Report: If Not Now- When?

 Opinion: The Sue Gray Report: If Not Now- When?

                                                                         1/2/22


So, it's finally here. Senior Civil Servant Sue Gray has published her report into the alleged Downing Street parties. To cut straight to the chase, it's not the full report. It is heavily censored and as Keir Starmer suggested- it is merely just an update. However, despite this it proves one major thing. These parties did happen. Throughout this blog post I will be referencing the report, which can be found here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21193268/investigation_into_alleged_gatherings_on_government_premises_during_covid_restrictions.pdf

Ms Gray's report highlights twelve parties, however, due to the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation, the figure could be higher. The first of which is the origin of the infamous photo of Number 10 staff and politicians such as Boris Johnson in the garden of Number 10 on 15 May 2020. This is the party that was dubbed as Johnson's 'Barnard Castle Moment', which in fact took place little over 2 months after the Prime Minister's top aide made the now notorious trip to the County Durham town. This is by far one of the most significant parties the report highlights, as on this day alone Britain still resided in fear over a virus that had taken hold of the country, and lockdown was still deeply in force with few freedoms, and 350 people losing their lives to COVID under the most terrifying circumstances.

Between the 10th and 18th December, Downing Street staff held four parties. While the Gray report does not say that Johnson was present at these parties, he is still fundamentally responsible for the goings on inside Number 10, therefore it was up to him to know about anything like this and put a stop to this. He presides over the excuse that he 'didn't know about them' but this leads to one of two conclusions: he is either negligent as to what is going on in his own residence- making him unfit for office, or he is happy for the rules not to apply to him and his associates- making him unfit for office. If this had only happened once and he had put a stop to it then of course he could be forgiven on this occasion, but it happened four times. All this during a period when meeting friends and family were off the cards due to government guidance and millions were about to spend a heartbreaking Christmas at the end of a painful year alone. The Prime Minister shows no remorse for this.

But what this report really highlights is the government's willingness to scrape the bottom of the barrel to save their own backs. Johnson's default excuse prior to evidence of parties unfolding was 'it didn't happen', then after that lie was exposed it moved to 'we must wait for the results of Sue Gray's report', and now that this report has proven an unfavourable result to Johnson, he falls back on the fact that 'we must wait for the Metropolitan Police report.' What this demonstrates is that this government are naive cowards. They are happy to take the British people for fools, they are happy to lie to the faces of those who elect them and pay their wages. They are not servants to you or I, they are self-serving charlatans. But what part of that comes as a surprise to anyone? None of it.

Any Prime Minister in years gone by with even the slightest shred of integrity would have handed their resignation straight to the Queen following this damning report, no matter how censored it appears to be. Its reduced content aside, it still reperesents an extraordinary failure in Number 10 to act. But more than that, it shows in black and white how Johnson is a pure liar. At first he denied the prospect of Downing Street parties but now the report officially proves that. With Ministerial Code dictating that those who mislead parliament should resign, any reasonable MP would have stepped down by now, but not the power obsessed Etonian, the boy who wanted to be world king.

So, to answer my original question: If Not Now- When? This has shown a new low from this Conservative government. If Johnson can politically survive the fallout from this and not have his leadership challenged, the evidence to suggest he is untouchable in Number 10 will be mounting. This is a man with no dignity, who will not go by will and instead he will fight until those around him force him out. But until then, we will have the worst Prime Minister, surrounded by the worst group of Ministers we have seen in British history.


Twitter: @OliJHall
www.poliecult.blosgpot.com

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