British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s problems with Boris Johnson’s Partygate never seem to end. This week, a video surfaced of a boozy celebration at the Conservative Party headquarters on December 14, 2020, apparently for a defeated candidate of the mayoral elections. What was happening at the same time in the winning candidate’s party HQ is, of course, not out. But worse still, the loser — Shaun Bailey — is now a life peer (a Lord) thanks to Johnson.
Of the many incidents recorded in the official inquiry report presented by the senior civil servant Sue Gray (who has since quit the bureaucracy and is slated to become Starmer’s chief of staff in autumn!), some stand out. One ‘gathering’ in June 2020 at the Cabinet Secretary’s private office featured pizza, prosecco and karaoke and lasted “for a number of hours”. There was “excessive alcohol consumption” that led to a scuffle and one person throwing up.
Worse still, the month before, the then PM’s private secretary emailed an invitation to over 100 people for a gathering in the garden of 10 Downing Street. About 40 people eventually turned up at what was apparently a BYOB (bring your own booze) party to celebrate Johnson’s birthday. He attended it for 30 minutes. There was another similar but smaller birthday gathering inside the house the day before too, and there are photos of both events.
Gray has listed more such incidents and all add up to a distasteful picture of people in power partying — booze, snacks and more — while the common people are sitting cooped up in their homes, hoping to escape a deadly virus. The visual evidence that party aides and officials of the British government under Boris Johnson’s prime ministership were doing just that, is damning. Which makes Johnson’s claim of a witch-hunt utterly preposterous.
Johnson averred that most photos of people amid liquor bottles and foodstuff were office meetings and at best, ‘gatherings’. He avers that he participated in these meetings as a serious head of government, focused on saving lives (strangely, by telling Britons to “protect the NHS, stay at home”) and rescuing a tanking economy. Even if that were true, the question arises whether these boozy breaks are indispensable accoutrements for this crucial work.
At a time when Britons were being forced to bid loved ones goodbye over video calls as any sort of contact with infected patients was forbidden, and no more than six people were allowed to meet indoors, these relaxed official ‘meetings’ appear even more infuriating. In the latest video, they even knew they were being filmed but did not care. Though Johnson himself survived a serious bout of Covid due to not following safety rules, it did not make him mindful.
Though many vicious jibes were lobbed at the Indian government by the media both domestic and foreign, none contended that ministers or officials shirked work and/or partied as the rest of the country faced unprecedented privations. It was very apparent that India’s governments — central, state and local — were burning the midnight oil in their joint effort to contain an unpredictable virus and to provide protection, succour and then vaccines to people.
Had there been any such merrymaking by our ministers, bureaucrats and party functionaries while India suffered and mourned, these would have been captured by camera phones — which are what have exposed Boris and his bacchanalian band. Nothing remains secret these days, so the irresponsible behaviour of those in the corridors of power in Britain was practically suicidal. Did no one think that photos and videos would be taken and eventually come out?
One explanation is that they thought once the worst was over there would be so much relief that no one would delve into those dark days again later, much less with a piercing spotlight. The least believable explanation is that they were all stupid enough to think their gatherings sans masks at a time when infections were rising was not an infringement of lockdown and isolation regulations. Even so, this was the tenuous line that Johnson took in Parliament.
Little wonder that a joint Parliamentary panel has now found Johnson guilty of misleading the House. How divorced from reality does a ruling cabal have to be to think that their convivial gatherings were okay even though the rest of Britain was being told no get-togethers even on Christmas 2020? That a clever man like Johnson let it happen is even more incredulous. Did Sunak advise caution and get brushed aside by Johnson as a party-pooping wuss?
The UK’s opposition Labour Party also had a few uncomfortable potential partygate moments when photos emerged of their leaders — including Sir Keir Starmer, the party supremo — quaffing beer and eating on various occasions. Starmer’s photos, taken while the pandemic was still far from over in April 2021, were explained away by the argument that they were taken during a short meal break in between a long work meeting at an MP’s office.
For most Indians, the most off-putting aspect of the photos of British officials and political aides supposedly ‘working’ during that raging pandemic is the presence of alcohol. Why was liquor an essential part of “working” meals, that too in the middle of a crisis? The blame can perhaps be laid at the door of that old reprobate Winston Churchill, who is still regarded as modern Britain’s greatest PM and has left behind a hoary tradition of drinking in dire times.
When Churchill went to Washington DC to stay with US President Franklin D Roosevelt just after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941, the White House stocked up on Pol Roger champagne, Hine brandy and Johnnie Walker Black Label. “I must have a tumbler of sherry in my room before breakfast,” he had reportedly told the butler. “A couple of glasses of scotch and soda before lunch and French champagne, and 90-year-old brandy before I sleep.”
Johnson, who has written a bestselling book on Churchill — both journalists-turned-politicians — certainly knew about the latter’s ‘spirited’ approach to tough situations. But we live in different, less indulgent times. How did Johnson think the public would not be outraged? Of course, Partygate has also highlighted how much drinking has become a dangerously indispensable part of British life, right up to the highest levels and during the most trying circumstances.
During the pandemic, drinking at home rose in the UK as gatherings at pubs were restricted. But there were optimistic articles that alcohol consumption would fall eventually as the younger generation seemed less inclined to imbibe excessively. But now a new excuse has been found for alcohol consumption numbers rising again: inflation has made foodstuff and non-alcoholic drinks more expensive so Britons are drinking liquor again to drown their sorrows.
Unlike the Conservatives, Labour party leaders and activists were not tasked with dealing with the pandemic and hence did not need spirituous “stress breakers”. But they are surely not exceptions to the drinking patterns in the UK today. Hence, even the predicted change in government after the 2024 general elections may not lead to a less libatious Downing Street or Whitehall. Maybe if teetotaller Rishi Sunak wins his own mandate, there may be some real change!
The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed are personal.
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