The lessons have been learned: The lockdown rules were nuts.
The lessons have been learned: The lockdown rules were nuts.
W hich is more scandalous, sharing birthday cake or curry with colleagues? Nibbling some cheese or sipping a beer? It’s incredible that both the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, and the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, are facing the potential end of their careers over these objectively unserious offenses.
True, when the two engaged in these activities, the country was in strict Covid lockdown. But how much longer can “partygate” and now “beergate” be dragged out? It’s time to move on, surely.
To quickly recap: In June 2020, Britain was under a strict lockdown. Along with twelve other events that may or may not have broken the rules, Boris Johnson attended his own surprise birthday party in 10 Downing Street. His excuse? “It did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the Cabinet Room, just before a vital meeting on Covid strategy, could amount to a breach of the rules.”
When the police investigated the matter, they took a different view, however. Johnson was deemed to have broken the rules and fined $66; he apologized and maintained he had not lied, only been mistaken. Starmer questioned Johnson’s integrity and called on the prime minister to resign.
Alas, those who live by partygate may very well die by partygate. A photo taken on April 30, 2021, emerged of Starmer drinking a beer with staff during a by-election campaign. This, too, appears to have been prohibited by the rules at the time, which prevented people from socializing outside their own household or “support bubble.”
Like Johnson, Starmer insisted that this was a “work event.” However, as with Johnson, the police have announced the launch of an investigation owing to “significant new information.”
Starmer remains “confident” that no rules have been broken. But unlike Johnson, he has promised that if the police decide he’s a scofflaw, he will resign. “I believe in honor, integrity, and the principle that those who make the rules must follow them,” he said.
However silly this may be, it’s on-brand. Throughout the pandemic, Labour’s line of attack was to insist that the government wasn’t going far enough in pushing lockdowns.
It’s not an infrequent occurrence for politicians to be caught in acts of hypocrisy. Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, resigned after breaking his own social-distancing rules by making out with his mistress. (Never mind that he betrayed his wife and children.) Mhairi Black, a Scottish National Party MP, recently flouted her own party’s Covid-era alcohol ban on trains. Black apologized and moved on.
Politicians caught in the act of hypocrisy appear to have two options: resign or apologize and hope it blows over. What they almost never do is suggest that the rule they broke was not serious to begin with. And yet, with both “partygate” and “beergate,” many Brits now admit that this is the case.
Of course it should never have been criminal to socialize with one’s colleagues or friends. Of course there was no credible scientific justification for such assaults on civil liberties. This, it seems, is what people are really angry about.
It’s easy to forget this now, but Covid policy was popular at the time. The British public made huge sacrifices. They forwent funerals, weddings, comforting sick or lonely loved ones; they allowed their family members to die alone. And now they’ve caught on to what their leaders always knew: They needn’t have.
If there is any resounding lesson from “partygate” or “beergate,” it’s that Brits should never consent to any such measures or make such pointless sacrifices — ever again.