Ministers dismissed any new questions about partygate on Monday by claiming “the world has moved on” from the scandal – but Twitter disagrees.
Only last week, the Metropolitan Police issued 20 fixed penalty notices for people linked to partygate, yet two members of Boris Johnson’s cabinet have repeatedly rejected any press queries about what this might mean for his time in office.
On Monday, Welsh secretary Simon Hart told Sky, “the world has moved on” away from the string of gathering held in Downing Street throughout the pandemic.
Speaking after The Telegraph revealed No.10′s former ethics chief Helen MacNamara was fined over having a karaoke party in lockdown, Hart said: ”The PM has on numerous occasions come out and said how bitterly he regrets the circumstances which led up to the events.”
The cabinet minister also maintained that Johnson should not resign.
“The idea that it might be appropriate to have a six-week self-indulgent leadership contest, frankly I don’t think that’s very sensible either.”
He added that the “world has moved on by some considerable distance” and that people should not be “automatically sacked” over partygate.
Shortly afterwards, Jacob Rees-Mogg refused to apologise for previously describing partygate outrage as “fluff”.
Rees-Mogg tried to deflect from the scandal by pointing to the other main news of the day, including the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis during an appearance on LBC.
The cabinet minister also claimed the Covid rules, which were put in place by the government, were “inhuman”, although No.10′s spokesperson later refused to endorse this comment.
The Brexit opportunities minister resolutely defended Johnson too, and said the prime minister was only telling Parliament what he had heard – that no Covid rules had been broken in Downing Street – and therefore did not intentionally misled Parliament with such a claim.
Neither of these public appearances have gone down very well with the government’s Twitter critics.
Here’s how people responded to Hart’s comments:
And here’s what people have said about Rees-Mogg’s appearance:
Meanwhile, some people have just been enraged at the government’s entire approach: