It's my party, I can lie if I want to.

Hello, lovelies. 

          There is nothing better than being invited to a party. A good party can lift a bad mood. It can be morale building. You can meet your future partner or make that all important network. Parties come in all shapes and sizes. From large lavish formal dos to small intermit affairs. A party brings fun, plenty of food and a modicum of booze. I love a good party, who doesn’t? From the planning to the clear up, parties can go down in history as a make or break event. And over the past two years we’ve learnt to hold online parties, trying our to do our best in these crazy times. And now we can all forward to 2022 and all the good times we are finally able to have. We can all count on the fact that we have followed the rules, even when it was difficult and painful to do so. We held back from celebrating with our friends, family and colleagues through our Christmas and the New Year. And now it is time to let our hair down and celebrate as much as we want, all the while knowing that those in Government have, too, followed the rules, abstained from parties as we are ‘all in it together!’ Haven’t they?

        Back in the good old days, I loved throwing parties. I would invite all my friends, ladle down table after table with sausage rolls, mini pizza’s, crisps, chocolates, cake, cake and just a little more cake. It became a little family joke about how much food I would lay out, and the doggy bags I would force on everyone as there was always way too much food left over. Okay. So maybe 400 mini sausage rolls in one sitting was a little overboard. But it kept myself and my brother laughing for a long time. They came in bags of 100, so buying four bags might have been a little bit excessive. I didn’t really need an excuse to have a party. Good time at work, lets have a party. Bad time at work. Let’s throw an even bigger party. Husband problems, party. Kids throwing a tantrum, party. Just because it was a Thursday, that must mean that it’s party time. And because myself and most of my friends had young children, I would hold mum’s night party. All my girlfriends would leave their children with their respective partners and come around to my house. We would all bring some food, okay, so we mostly brought cake, and we would sit around eating, letting off steam and laughing so hard that we were in pain. Maybe we would throw on a film and pick it apart actor by actor. Or, and this wasn’t too often, as some of my friends were a bit squeamish, we would watch a horror or slasher movie, all hiding behind a cushion when the scary bit came on. Then there was this one time that my bestie was over, and I had made her watch a very mediocre film rated 15, and at the least scary bit she turned to me, totally scared and screamed in my ear. At which I fell of the arm of the sofa that I had been siting on.

   

         I have such fond memories of those times. And just like everyone else, there hasn’t been too much to celebrate recent times. And I would like to say that I am shocked and dismayed to hear that No. 10 not only held one ‘lock down’ party, but many. As we were all cooped up in our homes, dealing with the attacks on our collective mental health, the uncertainty of our livelihoods those in power were bringing in the booze, dining on the canape’s and toasting themselves on a job well done. From the 15th May 2020, Johnson has been pictured sitting in the No 10 garden with about 20 civil servants and Tory aides with food and drinks. He has clapped back at us saying that they deserved a drink for “beating back” coronavirus, as around 20 staff drank alcohol and ate pizza. This was at a time where we were only permitted to meet with only one other person from another household in an outdoor public place, at a distance of two metres. But he was doing a ‘good job,’ so how much could one little party matter. 

         Then there was the 20th May 2020. The No. 10 ‘BYOB’ party. And to be fair, who would want to go to a party where there wasn’t any booze. That party the Prime Minister’s Private Personal Secretary invited about 100 people to gather in the No 10 garden after work for some “socially distanced drinks” to “make the most of the lovely weather”. And who wouldn’t want that? Johnson instructed them to bring your own booze. Guests arrived from 6pm, with many getting their own drinks from a trip to the Westminster Tesco Express – as the email invite had suggested – and mingled with each other until late. And to be fair, our Prime Minister was only there for about 25 minutes, as he thought the gathering was a work event. And who can blame him? I mean, how many times have we been to that one dull as dishwater party, that was indistinguishable from a work meeting?! And it has been reported that that ‘work party’ had left the garden in such a state that the Downing Street cleaners lodged a complaint. Yikes.

       What about the 13th November 2020. The Downing Street ‘flat party.’ The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, claims that Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie hosted a party at their Downing Street flat. That occurred just over a week into the UK’s second national lockdown, when England entered the tier system of restrictions. Oh, how we miss those tiers. Then, all non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues were closed as well as pubs, bars and restaurants, and people were urged to stay at home except for limited reasons including work if it could not be done from home. But to be fair, Johnson, the man leading the country has denied that a party went ahead in his flat on 13th November. So, we can take him at his word, can’t we? But what about the 27th November 2020. The Cleo Watson’s leaving party. Then he is said to have given a speech at a leaving party for senior aide Cleo Watson at No 10, while the national lockdown was still in place. When he was questioned about this party, the PM said Downing Street staff ‘work extremely hard,’ and, ‘according to extremely well-respected civil servants and special advisors who I’ve talked to about what happened in the events that you describe, no rules were broken.’ So that’s alright then. 

        Right. So, what about the 15th December 2020. The Downing Street Christmas quiz. Then the PM is pictured as the quizmaster of a No. 10 virtual Christmas quiz. While many of the participants joined via Zoom, the PM was pictured sitting between two colleagues and the Sunday Mirror reported that staff were ‘huddled by computers, conferring on questions and knocking back fizz, wine and beer.’ Then we were in the Tier 2 restrictions, but as Downing Street has claimed the quiz was remote, that’s alright then. 

        The 18th December 2020 Downing Street Christmas party where between 40 and 50 people allegedly attended a Christmas Party in Downing Street three days after the quiz. The 16th April 2021 the Downing Street leaving parties. Then one staffer was reportedly DJ-ing while another was sent out with a suitcase to buy wine. A suitcase of wine!! The Prime Minister was away from Downing Street on the day of the events. At the time indoor socialising with people outside your household or bubble was banned. 

       And what of the party that was held on the eve of the Queen’s husband’s funeral. The heart-breaking pictures of her Majesty sitting alone as she mourned the loss of her husband. But it’s alright, No. 10 has called to apologise to our head of state at her most trying time. Not the PM, of course. But if he can’t do it, at least No. 10 said sorry. What would you have done to be a fly on the wall for that phone call? 

        These are the parties that we are aware of at this time, but I think that more dirty laundry might come out before our PM is forced to resign, because I really don’t think that he will go out willingly. 

     But what have we learnt? How much does this really matter? The parties were thrown by people under enormous pressure, leading the rest of us through a very catastrophic time, so letting off steam and morale building is only for the better, isn’t it? So if there had been one party, out in the open with the country knowing that it was needed for the men and women working towards putting our lives back together, could we really blame them? No, maybe not. But that’s not what happened. It wasn’t just one party. And it wasn’t open and transparent. They have lied over and over and over again. And when they were found out, the tried to slip through the truth like a greased pig. And now with a completely ‘independent’ inquiry to look forward to, how can we really believe and put our trust in those lying through their teeth to save their own skins? NO! They have to be held accountable for all their actions.