By Gabriel Princewill-
Boris Johnson may not have been aware about parties held in Downing Street , because it’s such a big building, the government’s chief whip, Mark Spencer has claimed.
Spencer provided a plausible defence for prime minister, Boris Johnson, in the wake of a barrage of attacks the prime ministe rhas been subjected to since the revelations of parties in Downing Street.
Some tory Mps alongside multiple critics have lambasted the prime minister following the unfolding news that many of his ministers flouted lockdown rules with such flagrant contempt as to throw parties in Downing Street last Christmas.
The public is collectively incensed by the disregard shown by those who ought to be standard bearers in society, the full impact of the bombshell revelation may not be fully accounted for yet.
Up to seven parties reported to have taken place during the height of restrictions last year has enraged members of the public, particulalrly those who lost love ones to the virus. The difficult sacrifices made by the public has led many people to brand the government a joke, given the multiple transgressions commited by government ministers of late.
Another party held by former education secretary, Gavin Williamson, who was forced out of his position by Johnson over wide discontent about the handling of coronavirus policies in schools in the same month as parties were taken place, provided a deeper reflection of the grossly irrepsonsible conduct at the heart of government at the time.
A number of other parties are under investigation.
Spencer has stepped forward to provide a theoretically credible explanation in defense of Boris Johnson. He insists that the busy schedule of Boris Johnson is such that he could have easily been unaware of the alleged parties, given the impossibility for him to monitor the events in all the diverse offices of the spacious building in No 10.
When asked how Johnson could not have known what was happening, Spencer replied: Let’s be absolutely clear about this. When you describe it as a house, it is a department of government.
This is a huge, huge building, literally with hundreds and hundreds of offices and rooms. No single person could account for what is happening in those buildings. They are huge buildings.
Spencer also insisted that he was not aware of any parties taking place last Christmas, and he said he had been assured everyone followed the rules. He said:
”I am assured that everybody in that building played by the rules, and that’s why the prime minister has asked the cabinet secretary to do a thorough investigation to find out and establish the facts and that’s what I expected him to do”.
What he meant by” played by the rules” is ambiguous in the context he uses it, since the rules prohibited any gathering of more than six people from different households under one roof.
The numbers alleged to have attended parties at Downing Street adds up to two score or more, though there is no evidence to suggest that Boris Johnson would definitely have been aware of those parties.
As the captain of the ship, Boris Johnson would have been expected to be aware everything going on within the spehres of Downing Street, but no assertion can be definitively made in this regard.
Unaware Of Parties: Boris Johnson Image:news.sky.com
The incredulity of what has transpired in the last 24 hours brings into sharp focus the oncept of rules and what they stand for. Rules apply to all, and its equal application gives it legitimacy. Rule makers who are rule breakers, can’t rule. It’s that simple. The underpinning integrity and spirit of a rule is lost once broken by the makers.
Mr. Spencer argued that what was decribed as a party on 18 December was probably just a “meeting” and he claimed that the leaked footage of Allegra Stratton joking about the party was not evidence that a party took place.
Sarah Julian asked why No 10 staff needed to have a mock press conference “to work out how they were going to lie to us about it”, he replied:
Somebody made a joke about whether there was or wasn’t a party. And, actually, when you listen to what Allegra Stratton said, she actually said the imaginary party.
Julian said that at the mock briefing Stratton was asked if the PM condoned holding a Christmas party, and she said if there was no party, Stratton should have been able to say no. Instead Stratton said, What’s the answer?” Spencer replied:
Because there was no party, that’s where the joke was … That’s my interpretation of what happened. Someone made a joke about a meeting that had taken place the night before, or a couple of days before, where they clearly were in the office discussing issues surrounding dealing with coronavirus, and some wag had said, ‘You were all in the office together, were you having a party?’
“C’mon Mark,” said Julian in response, making it clear she thought this was was implausible.
Working Day And Night
Spencer claimed No 10 staff were not drinking alcohol in Downing Street, insisting that people in No 10 were working “day and night” trying to solve the problems the country was facing.
”I am told that they were not, you know, drinking alcohol and having partieswhile that was going on.
Spencer ata first glance may be seen to be acting in the capacity as anadvocate for the prime minister, but throws up a conceivable hypothesis for the prime minister being innocent as a leader in the midst of all the potential breaches that may have occured to the disrepute of the government.
Should Boris Johnson emerge as an innocent sheep among wolves, the prime minister’s survival may be as symbolic as the tale of the cat with nine lives.
Johnson recently responded to news of rampant cocaine snorting in parliament by unveiling a new clampdown on ‘lifestyle’ drug use, threatening to confiscate the passports and driving licences of middle class users.
All the locations tested with drug wipes in the sweep are only accessible to those with a parliamentary pass, or visitors allowed in who have to be accompanied around the building by the person they are meeting.
The prime minister said he wanted to bring in measures that ‘interfere with their lives’ as he accused them of being complicit in driving up drug-related crime across the UK.
Johnson will need to apply the same stringent hand in keeping his ministers in check, beginning by enforcing the disciplinary measures he had committed to apply once the investigation into the parties are completed.
Leadership by example is the only way the prime minister can salvage some of the dignity and credibility badly damaged by the revelations of the past few days.