>Mr Johnson attended and made a speech to thank Mr Cain, but as the party developed “there were about 30 people, if not more, in a room. Everyone was stood shoulder to shoulder, some people on each other’s laps…one or two people.”
>
>At the party on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral on 16 April 2021, they portray a “lively event… a general party with people dancing around”. The gathering becoming so loud that security guards in the building told them to leave the building and go into the No 10 grounds.
[…]
>The insiders admit that events were routine. “They were every week,” one says. “The event invites for Friday press office drinks were just nailed into the diary.”
.
>The invitation was known as “WTF” – meaning “Wine-Time Friday” and a reference to a less polite acronym.
>
>The drinks were often scheduled in No 10 for 4pm. Sources say Friday drinks had been a tradition in Whitehall for some time.
>
>But drinking wasn’t limited to Fridays. One former official describes turning up at work in No 10 often to find “A mess! There were bottles, empties, rubbish – in the bin, but overflowing – or indeed sometimes left on the table.”
[…]
>But all three point to the culture set by the prime minister himself, suggesting he “wanted to be liked” and for staff to be able to “let their hair down”.
>
>One suggests they felt like they had the prime minister’s permission to socialise even it meant breaking the rules because “He was there.”
>
>”He may have just been popping through on the way to his flat because that’s what would happen,” they add. “You know, he wasn’t there saying this shouldn’t be happening.
>
>”He wasn’t saying, ‘Can everyone break up and go home? Can everyone socially distance? Can everyone put masks on?’
>
>”No, he wasn’t telling anybody that. He was grabbing a glass for himself.”
3 comments
Why did they blur the other criminals faces?
The obligatory:
>[NT: Police find damning evidence of parties at Downing Street, after remembering they provided the security](https://newsthump.com/2021/12/10/police-find-damning-evidence-of-parties-at-downing-street-after-remembering-they-provided-the-security/)
–
and from today’s [Panorama piece](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61566410):
>Mr Johnson attended and made a speech to thank Mr Cain, but as the party developed “there were about 30 people, if not more, in a room. Everyone was stood shoulder to shoulder, some people on each other’s laps…one or two people.”
>
>At the party on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral on 16 April 2021, they portray a “lively event… a general party with people dancing around”. The gathering becoming so loud that security guards in the building told them to leave the building and go into the No 10 grounds.
[…]
>The insiders admit that events were routine. “They were every week,” one says. “The event invites for Friday press office drinks were just nailed into the diary.”
.
>The invitation was known as “WTF” – meaning “Wine-Time Friday” and a reference to a less polite acronym.
>
>The drinks were often scheduled in No 10 for 4pm. Sources say Friday drinks had been a tradition in Whitehall for some time.
>
>But drinking wasn’t limited to Fridays. One former official describes turning up at work in No 10 often to find “A mess! There were bottles, empties, rubbish – in the bin, but overflowing – or indeed sometimes left on the table.”
[…]
>But all three point to the culture set by the prime minister himself, suggesting he “wanted to be liked” and for staff to be able to “let their hair down”.
>
>One suggests they felt like they had the prime minister’s permission to socialise even it meant breaking the rules because “He was there.”
>
>”He may have just been popping through on the way to his flat because that’s what would happen,” they add. “You know, he wasn’t there saying this shouldn’t be happening.
>
>”He wasn’t saying, ‘Can everyone break up and go home? Can everyone socially distance? Can everyone put masks on?’
>
>”No, he wasn’t telling anybody that. He was grabbing a glass for himself.”
–
eta:
>[NT: ‘How did we miss this?!’ screams furious police chief insisting detectives re-read Boris Johnson’s self-completed questionnaire](https://newsthump.com/2022/05/24/how-did-we-miss-this-screams-furious-police-chief-insisting-detectives-re-read-boris-johnsons-self-completed-questionnaire/)
It’s called Brexit