By now anyone following the news in the UK knows of a slew of illegal parties attended by Boris Johnson and his compatriots, despite strict lockdown rules prohibiting said parties. The excuses given out by Johnson (and his cronies) are among the most ridiculously weak excuses imaginable. ‘I thought it was a work event‘ has become something of a mocking mantra. We’ve had illicit summer garden parties, illegal Christmas parties, and now rule-breaking birthday parties, and yet there are people who continue to defend or deflect these antics.

Andrew Pierce, self-styled political hack (he’s got that bit right) had this to say on Twitter:

So apiece of cake brought into Cabinet Room, where 10 people are in a work bubble, and @BorisJohnson is there for less than 10 minutes, and that’s a party? Please

— Andrew Pierce (@toryboypierce) January 25, 2022

Rules are rules Andrew. And it wasn’t a ‘piece of cake’. It was a planned event, and one that should never have gone ahead, but Andrew knows this and prefers to deflect attention from it with a pathetic defence.

Nadine Dorries, who appears to be thoroughly brainwashed, said the following:

So, when people in an office buy a cake in the middle of the afternoon for someone else they are working in the office with and stop for ten minutes to sing happy birthday and then go back to their desks, this is now called a party?

— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) January 24, 2022

Gatherings were illegal at the time Nadine. What part of that is difficult to understand?

Peter Kyle, a Labour MP, had some pertinent words to say on the subject:

The decorator who was spending £140,000 of other people’s money upstairs was invited to an illegal party downstairs.

Meanwhile £4.3bn in fraud was going unnoticed and in the outside world everyone was doing their bit. pic.twitter.com/x9wa27zvMq

— Peter Kyle MP (@peterkyle) January 24, 2022

Labour haven’t covered themselves in glory during the pandemic, but it’s hard to find fault with what Mr Kyle had to say.

A report commissioned by the government into these parties was due out tomorrow, but now the police are involved, and thus Ms Sue Gray’s report could be delayed, which in turn could be beneficial to the government and Johnson. That said, if the police are serious in their investigation it might not be the reprieve/distraction the Tories are hoping for. There’s a lot to discuss and digest, but what remains abundantly clear is that the Tory belief in their immunity from rules starts from the top, and pervades every level of the Party. Boris Johnson does not believe he’s broken any laws, and whilst anyone else would have had the decency to resign, he is desperately clinging to power.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has written off £4.3 billion of fraudulent covid benefit claims at a time when he’s also cut Universal Credit under the guise of saving money. His move is a let-off to various fraudsters, whilst families struggle to heat their homes or put food on the table. Who benefits from this? It’s not the average Briton, that’s for sure.

He, like many other Tories, acts not in the public interest but in favour of donors, cronies and unelected bureaucrats. The Conservative Party is not fit to govern. I can only hope they are destroyed at the next General Election.