By Tony O’Riley-
Boris Johnson and those ministers who held lockdown parties did not take Covid-19 as seriously as the official line the government were putting out, after all they were pressured into the lockdown by scientific advisers of the government.
This is the view of some observers assessing the reasoning behind all those who attended the party.
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The likes of Kate Joseph, former education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, Cleo Watson, and the many other attendees for whom parties were thrown,couldn’t have possibly thought the virus was anything serious to worry about.
Kate Joseph Image:freeworldfitforu
News that the virus was mainly killing the elderly and those with serious underlying issues was widely circulated, and the general belief was that healthy people were generally fine, even with the occasional headline about healthy people dying. That did not make the lives of the vulnerable any less important and worthy of protecting, but not everybody saw it that way.
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Boris Johnson himself suffered with Covid-19 and was taking to hospital as a precautionary measure in April, the month before the garden party. His breathing was deteriorating slightly but he recovered eventually. Johnson knew he fell within the vulnerable group to be affected by Covid-being over 50 and slightly overweight at the time.
Shutting the whole country down because of a virus the vast majority would survive was not something the prime minister believed was necessary, but something he was forced to do as leader of the country. The pressure was on, but perhaps too much for him.
People in hospital who tested positive for Covid-19 were generally put in the ICU unit and a ventilator stuck down their throat, which in itself was capable of killing them accidentally, scientists later revealed. Covid-19 deaths were covered in a mist of confusion, skepticism about the reality of its power to kill the regular man and woman was heard in many corners, though real as it was.
Boris Johnson had initially suggested herd immunity , but was eventually given an ultimatum by French President Emmanuel Macron who threatened to prevent the British from entering France unless a lockdown was pursued. In his first television address to the country, he told the British public that many people would die, but whether he believed this could be the fate of many ordinary people who would otherwise live many years to come is another question.
Leaks by his former adviser, Dominic Cummings that the prime minister once said let the bodies pile has been said by some to have been a sarcastic response to those warning of many deaths unless he undertook a second lockdown in November, but if the prime minister and his buddies did not believe the pandemic was what it was being made out to be, why would they punish themselves in nice weather just because the rest of the country was under the thumb?
Johnson himself had Covid-19 in April- a month before the party. He and his colleagues fronted the idea he was alright until he was forced to attend hospital as a precautionary measure. His breathing was deteriorating, but he emerged out of hospital fine and probably viewed it as just another illness a bit more intense than a flu not worth shutting down the country for.
Many people disagreed with him, especially those with family members dying in hospital of the virus.
This doesn’t mean Johnson felt the country should stop, he had already told the world that he had been shaking hands with infected patients in hospital before he caught the virus- meaning he felt the world was making too big a deal about it.
The widespread infringement of the rules by those supposedly running the country leaves only one conclusion – they did not believe the pandemic was as bad as they claimed it was , but had to follow the script just in case it actually was and to save their political face.
The hypocrisy revealed from these parties expose their true outlook on the pandemic at the time, it is no wonder Covid-19 was put on so many death certificates even when the deceased had died of another illness.
Downing Street itself admitted that you could have got hit by a boss and had Covid-19 put on your death certificate if you tested positive for Covid, even though all sane people know that doctor should confuse another cause of death with Covid-19 just because the patient had once tested positive for Covid-19.
Johnson and his team of ministers must have been suspicious of the wildly exaggerated statistics coming from hospitals and the media, but did not want to be seen to be insensitive to those losing loved ones to the virus, or who were told they had lost loved ones to the virus.
At the end of 2020, Gavin Williamson who had been threatening schools will legal action if they did not remain open, had been enjoying parties before then like there was no pandemic to worry about.
Gavin Williamson broke lockdown rules Image;news.sky.com
The pressures of Brexit were still burning in the background for Johnson and his cronies during the pandemic, rarely getting attention in the media
When ITV recently published a leaked email from Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, inviting staff to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden” on 20 May 2020 – during lockdown rules in England banned large outdoor gatherings, the country was shocked.
The invitation encouraged people to “bring your own booze” and “make the most of the lovely weather”.
”This is hardly the attitude of people who think there is a deadly pandemic around, although if they were all social distancing at the party, that’s an explanation worth looking at.
”The other question is where did all the other 100 people come from to attend the party? They must have left their homes and there was no guarantee they were observing the rules at home either. The truth has to be that they knew something we didn’t.
Mr Johnson has said it is a matter for Sue Gray – the senior civil servant investigating a series of reported parties in Downing Street and in Whitehall in 2020 – to determine what happened.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Mr Johnson must quit if he was found to have broken Covid rules.
One Mp told this publication on the grounds of anonymity that they were rules not law, and rules for the rest of the country to look good for other countries. The prime minister’s circle knew it was all a bit of joke, but had to play the game to avoid the endless criticisms that would come from the press and other countries.
Sir Charles Walker, vice-chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, said there was a lot of anger over what had happened, adding that the prime minister urgently needed to rebuild public trust.
“I think the prime minister needs to spend the next six months restoring trust in No 10 and making some good and strong decisions. I think that is the challenge for him,” he told Channel 4 News.
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