I have seen the worst apology, or rather non-apology so far this year. Our Prime Minister has decided that we was not aware that what he termed was a legal work meeting (where you bring your own bottle) was a party or could be considered such. If we ignore the breach of COVID guidelines and assume that he is right, the issue of just how drunk staff at Downing Street can be while working comes to mind. In my job, I cannot drink alcohol and work. Needless to say, in my job, I would be rightly sacked if I took a bottle of wine in to drink during a meeting. His excuse is as follows.
"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 they have been through - unable to mourn their relatives, unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love. I know the rage they feel with me and with the Government I lead when they think 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 there were things we simply did not get right and I must take responsibility. No 10 is a big department with a garden as an extension of the office which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus. When I went into that garden just after six on May 20, 2020, to thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event. With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them. I should have recognised that even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there are millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way, people who have suffered terribly, people who were forbidden for meeting loved ones at all inside or outside, and to them and to this House I offer my heartfelt apologies. 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."
That Boris is lying is no news to me, after all, he has past form on this. What I am shocked by are those MP's who are defending his lies, but I am glad to see that many Conservatives are not standing by him.
There is to be an investigation into this, but I think that Boris Johnson will do what he has done in the past and will ignore the findings.
And for those who may not know what this is about, the first video is about the e-mail for the socially distanced drinks meeting in May 2020, the second a reminder of that the NHS was facing in May 2020 when front line workers were literally dying.
