On 20 May 2020, 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence, issued a "romantic" invitation to email 100 government officials to the Prime Minister's garden to party, "bring your own drinks" and "don't live up to the good weather". By then, Britain had been locked down for two months, and people were required to meet friends or family only one-on-one in the open.
Nearly a year later, on April 16, 2021, dozens of staff in the Prime Minister's Office held two more parties in Downing Street. Boris Johnson's men allegedly went to a nearby supermarket to carry a full suitcase of red wine and sang and danced in the basement. On that day, 127,457 people in the UK died of COVID-19. The next day of the party is the funeral of Prince Philip, and the 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth mourns alone at the funeral according to the epidemic prevention regulations, sending off her lifelong partner.
Over the past few weeks, the British media has spared no effort to break out one party scandal after another in Downing Street. During the critical period of the British lockdown, downing street garden parties, birthday parties, and employee departure factions rose and fell, and Prime Minister Johnson was all present.
The British people are tolerant of the prime minister, who is unobtrusive, informal, and whose private life is as messy as his hair. This time, however, Johnson may have hit the red line.
Conservative MP Aaron Bell referred to attending grandma's funeral during the lockdown: "I didn't hug my siblings or my parents, and I didn't even go back to her house for a cup of tea after my eulogy, but drove straight home for three hours." Does Mr. Prime Minister think I'm stupid to do this? ”
The latest results of the YouGov poll: "How do you evaluate Johnson's work as prime minister?" " / Screenshot of the web page
His words spoke to the hearts of many. The inability to meet with relatives and friends because of the epidemic prevention policy, or even the last face, has become a collective pain for the British people. At the same time, the rules-makers ignore the rules and have fun, which is more unacceptable than any political maneuver or policy blunder. According to data from the British polling website YouGov, Johnson's approval rating has dropped to an all-time low of 22% on January 13, and as of the latest poll before press time, the figure has rebounded to 25% on February 10.
After the "party door", the crowd rebelled
After the scandal broke, there was a lot of crusade inside and outside the party.
Needless to say, the attacks of the opposition parties are self-explanatory. At the prime minister's question, a Labour MP even shouted at Johnson: "For God's sake, resign!" Theresa May directly questioned Johnson about "not reading the epidemic regulations"; Charles Walker, a prominent Conservative backbencher, said in an interview that there are too many injuries in britain today that only Johnson's step down can alleviate it.
Quite a few people have already started to act.
According to the Financial Times on February 11, a Conservative Party insider said that "about 45" MPs have submitted a joint letter calling for a vote of no confidence in Johnson. Once more than 54 MPs (15 per cent of Conservative MPs) have been submitted for signature, the Prime Minister's No Confidence Motion will be launched. If more than half of Conservative MPs cast a vote of no confidence, Johnson's prime ministerial career would be over.
British media coverage of Johnson's "PartyGate" /network
On January 31, senior civil servant Sue Gray released part of the results of an internal government investigation into "PartyGate", and through a survey of 16 gatherings between May 2020 and January 2021, concluded that the British government had "failed in leadership and judgment" and that some parties had failed to comply with the code of conduct for government officials.
"The difficulties faced by citizens across the country who work, live, and even die in strict compliance with government regulations and guidance are well known." Gray wrote in the report, "In the context of the pandemic, when governments demand that citizens accept severe restrictions on their lives, some of the actions in these rallies are difficult to justify." ”
Also conducting the investigation is the Metropolitan Police, which was designated as Operation Hillman. More than 50 people will receive the questionnaire and will be asked to "explain and explain the participants of the recipients in such activities", and the responses must be submitted within 7 days. The Prime Minister's Office confirmed on Feb. 11 that Johnson had received the questionnaire and would respond "as requested."
Even in Britain, it is not unusual for the prime minister to be investigated by the police, the last time dating back to 2006, when Tony Blair was questioned twice by the police at the end of his term over power-for-money deals.
Rescue Big Dog and Red Meat Operation
In the face of questioning and investigation, Johnson's attitude is: the courage to admit mistakes, but resolutely do not go. "He (Johnson) made it very clear that if he wanted to get him out, he had to send an armored convoy." That's what mr. Prime Minister's sidekick said.
In order to tide over the difficulties, Johnson first sacrificed the Dafa of passing on contradictions. He tried to expose opposition leader Keir Starmer in parliament, saying that while working as a prosecutor, he had left jimmy Savile, a prominent host caught up in a pedophile scandal, with impunity. But the facts soon punched him in the face—Stamer had nothing to do with Savile's case.
Johnson failed to steal the chicken, but lost a major general. His longtime partner, adviser Munilla Mirza, could not stand the despicable act and submitted his resignation and demanded a solemn apology from the prime minister for his words and deeds. "Maybe you think there's hope, but I'm sorry, it's irretrievable for me." Mirza said.
Protesters /networks in London
On the same day that Mirza resigned, Johnson's chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, chief private secretary Martin Reynolds, and communications director Jack Doyle resigned.
Being forced to regroup at a critical juncture when the "rebellion" within the party is urgently needed seems to be exacerbated. But who knows this isn't Johnson's little calculation?
A number of British tabloids, including The Weekly Report, reported that the prime minister, in order to save himself, proposed a plan called "Operation Save Big Dog" to find scapegoats from senior staff and expel civilians. Rosenfeld, Reynolds, and "some communications and liaison department employees" are on this blacklist.
Accompanying the food is another of Johnson's plans, Operation Red Meat, which "wins back" the hearts of MPs and voters through a series of populist policies, including: sending troops to prevent refugee ships from crossing the English Channel; proposing new ways to ease the pressure on universal health care; lifting restrictions on epidemic prevention and control; and halting the wine culture at 10 Downing Street...
At the same time, he tirelessly meddles in tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and personally visits Ukraine to mediate contradictions; on the second anniversary of Brexit, he vigorously promotes economic opportunities outside the EU, hoping in various ways that people will forget the downing street songs and dances.
"I will survive"
Confused and hunched over, Johnson stuttered again and apologized: "We didn't do it right," but "I was only at the party for 25 minutes" and "I thought I was going to a work event." From parliament to the public, people were accustomed to his ambiguous apologies, just as they were surprised by his lies and unruliness.
Lying without blinking seems to be a big hallmark of Johnson's career. His first job was fired from The Times for fabricating fake news; he vowed not to run for MPs when he was editor of Bystander magazine and then immediately ran for office; he was fired as shadow minister for lying about cheating; and he appeared as a candidate in Uxbridge as a candidate when he was mayor of London.
So, while calling on the public to "continue to exercise restraint and respect the rules designed to keep us safe" at a press conference, he partyed in the Prime Minister's Office, as if he could do it.
Johnson has become one of the exponents of unrulyness/ the web
Another major feature of Johnson is his disregard for the rules. From snowflakes of illegal parking tickets to the fact that the Queen is dragged into a political vortex and suspends Parliament when the Brexit battle is raging — rules are for him to be broken, even those he made himself.
The unabashed efforts of these vices were miraculous, and Johnson was like a mudslide among the watertight British politicians, rushing with votes from both sides of the strait. In the 2019 general election, he led the Conservatives to its biggest victory since 1987, giving the Conservatives 80 more seats in the House of Commons than all opposition and independents combined. The Conservatives know what is wrong with Johnson, but as long as he can keep his votes, they can pretend not to see.
Now the vote may not be guaranteed. YouGov's latest poll shows that 62% of The British public believe Johnson should step down, and the RealTime Support Rate on Labor has led the Conservative Party by nearly 10 percentage points. The upcoming spring has also upset the Conservatives – household incomes are falling, public services are under more pressure, prices, which have already increased by 5% year-on-year, will continue to grow, and the British media "Economist" estimates that average household spending will increase by 50%.
The question now before this old party is whether it will be necessary for Johnson to keep him and clean up his mess if Johnson's unusual people have collapsed.
Indeed, the media and the public may have underestimated the difficulty of deposing a prime minister. Even if the no-confidence motion is triggered, it will still have to be voted for by more than half of the party's deputies (180) MPs, and at the moment, there is no consensus on the no-confidence bill in the party, and there is no attractive candidate who can immediately take office.
Everything is unresolved. Perhaps the time he has waited for the police investigation will give Johnson a breather and the resentment of the people will gradually subside; or perhaps he has broken a rule that cannot be broken, making all those who have made self-sacrifices for the epidemic a "fool".
The only thing that was certain was that Johnson was still sitting firmly on his throne. Guto Harri, his trusting communications director, broke the news that at a recent meeting, the Prime Minister suddenly improvised the song "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. (Author / Yu Vegetable; Editor-in-Charge / Zhang Xibei)
The copyright of the article belongs to the original author and is not allowed to be commercialized
If you need to reprint, please send a private message
@World says little world