On a quick read of the report I think he will ride it out. There is much more detail of the individual gatherings but the conclusions at the end are essentially the same as those in the interim report published in January. He has successfully delayed and smokescreened the whole episode and while there will be howls of outrage, he will get away with it all.
Maybe but there’s a lot of Junior Civil servants unhappy with receiving fines for parties their bosses said were alright , more pictures to come out yet
Just watched PMQ's and DePfeffels "statement". Perhaps 2 things that stood out. Firstly, the ridiculous levels of excuse Johnson reached for. It's a big building. I didn't know what was going on. I wasn't there. I'm appalled. I didn't think it was a party. But very swiftly any faux sorrow was replaced with lashing out at others. No contrition. No attempt to fake it. Hollow words. A man who believes he's got away with it and is content to lie to get out of a lie. But secondly. The speed the benches emptied on the tory side. Only the deranged nutjobs and the most naive of early career tories coming to any form of support. Few nods in support. And more senior cabinet members sitting out of shot to not be associated. Indeed, if they were even there. Its DePfeffels lack of contrition that will do for him. At the very least, I suspect efforts to remove him will now be increased.
Press conference at 3.30. Think that will be the end. When he goes, the ultra-faithful, the Johnson ultras, the brown tongue-ers, should follow him out of office. Truss, Gove, Raab, Sunak to name but four. Boris has set the Tories back years. They are not currently fit for opposition, let alone government. They need a reset but lack the personnel to do so.
I wish I could agree with you, DWLC. I watched the proceedings with a growing sense of despondency. The writing was on the wall as soon as the report was published. Johnson has manipulated the choreography of it magnificently. First he gets an incomplete 'update' published, advising everyone to wait for the full report. Then the plod intervene and he says wait for the police enquiry to be completed. Then, after a token FPN is issued for the least serious infringement, they conclude their enquiry and he says 'wait for the full Sue Gray report'. Then, after another delay we get the report and it feels like it is only fleshing out the bones of the first mini-report. And it feels like "oh yeah, we know about all that". For sure the report is serious enough to cause anyone with any shame, let alone a sense of integrity to walk immediately. But that is not what we are dealing with. And his own colleagues feel they owe him their seats, so they will happily look the other way. I'm afraid the Tories didn't remain in the Chamber through lack of support - I think they were simply bored. I doubt 54 names will come forward with letters of no confidence. But I am cast-iron sure that if they do, there will be no majority in the Tory parliamentary party to unseat him. What dispirits me even further is that I fear there is a similar attitude in the country at large - especially among leave voters - such that he may yet be returned in 2024. What a world we live in!
The tories will always act from a base of self preservation. Loyalty is a fleeting bedfellow of convenience. So even though some may feel some form of gratitude to DePfeffel, that will be easily forgotten if they see their seat being lost at the next GE. Two further by election defeats, in the north and the south, to different parties will set alarm bells ringing. DePfeffel won't be in charge at the next GE (unless he calls one to avert being toppled). It's a long slow death, not a spectacular one. But damage to the tory party is being done. In some places that may manifest as angst and a different vote. In others apathy and no vote. But there is opportunity in one fell swoop to undo a majority which just 2 years ago I didn't think was possible. What is missing at this stage is a strong opposition that allows people to switch directly. At the next GE I can see a lot of tory seats being lost in the South, though I do worry in the North.
That's still short of the magic 54. And there will be nowhere near enough to vote him out should a vote of confidence occur.
He's not going anywhere unfortunately. This lot think they're accountable to nobody. Press conference will be more half hearted apologies and he will likely announce something to distract. Everything forgotten by next week and folk will go out and vote for them again. ALL our political class are a shambles.
He’s hanging on again. Why should anyone comply with any rules or laws anymore with this as the person leading the government. It stinks.
However outrageous all this is, it’s just becoming normalised and accepted while critical thought has been replaced by propaganda. I had a conversation the other day with someone who I thought was pretty intelligent. They just parroted lines right out of the Daily Mail at me… … Boris got the covid vaccine done… Boris is leading the world in supporting Ukraine… doesn’t matter if he was at a party… there’s no strong opposition… Corbyn anti-Semitic… etc, etc. So, if Labour came up with some strong policies, would he vote for them? No because he doesn’t believe anything Labour says because all they do is raise taxes. He would only support the Tories. When I asked him about Johnson’s deceit and lying, you already know the answer. “They’re all the same.” It was literally like he’d been brainwashed in the Ministry of Truth.