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Adam Wagner Profile picture
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Jan 17,, 4 tweets, 2 min read
The thing is, the legal question wasn’t whether the gathering was work related, it was whether it was reasonably necessary for work. Practically any gathering at an office is “work related”, but that’s not the question
Before saying PM lied to Parliament remind yourself of what he said. Didn't say he thought event was reasonably necessary for work, said he believed implicitly it was a "work event" which has no relation to the legal test, and sounds carefully lawyered

hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-0…
Also didn't say:
- Whether he knew about the event beforehand
- Whether anyone had expressed reservations to him
- Whether he thought it was within the guidance/law
As I said, a careful statement prob written with a lawyer
I'm not saying here that he has told the whole story - the opposite, he has barely told the story at all which to me is a lot to do with trying to avoid legal consequences and lying to parliament. The cost is public opinion who see through it

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More from @AdamWagner1

Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 16,
Obviously this is an attempt to move attention away from the PM but fair to ask whether Keir Starmer's reason stacks up

It was in Spring 2021 and apparently Step 2...

legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/364/…

(thread)
There was the "reasonably necessary for work exception which you have heard a lot about because of the No.10 parties ....
But there was also another relevant exception:

"reasonably necessary for the purposes of campaigning in an election"
Read 9 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 14,
The Covid Task Force "is responsible for coordinating the Government’s response to the pandemic" which, I assume, means coordinating the rules themselves (see committees.parliament.uk/publications/4…). Remember Cabinet Office was responsible for the regulations throughout
So, to recap, the person who appears to have been the lead civil servant responsible for the COVID Guidance and regulations was thrown an apparently rule breaking leaving party on 17 December, during Tier 3, which she has now apologised for.
And I bet there were others at that particular party whose responsibility it was to write the rules themselves. Extraordinary.
Read 4 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 14,
The details of this are quite something - and plainly they knew they were doing something wrong.

And now No 10 has apologised - clearly accepting this was a party, and that surely puts paid to any possibility of saying this was also "reasonably necessary for work" Image
How that didn't breach the regulations at the time - really not that long ago by the way - is beyond me.
Nb. it's only when the Queen is involved that they apologise off the bat rather than trying to say "all guidance was followed".
Read 6 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 13,
This was during Step 2 when it was unlawful to hold gatherings indoors of 2+ people or outdoors with more than 6 unless "reasonably necessary for work"

As I have said a few times recently, boozy parties were probably not reasonable necessary for work

legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/364/…
There was also a £10,000 fixed penalty notice for people organising unlawful gatherings in a private dwelling. If the garden of 10 Downing Street is the garden attached to private dwellings (as the PM has said) then organisers might be in line for a big fine...
The government's own guidance during this period for offices was extremely strict. It is impossible that a boozy indoor (or outdoor) leaving party could fit within it.
web.archive.org/web/2021040616…
Read 7 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 13,
I think this is a fair point. Sue Gray is not independent in any sense would stand up legally e.g. if an independent inquiry was required for human rights legal purposes. Not questioning her integrity but this is best though of as an internal not independent inquiry
Sue Gray is in a very difficult position. Previously eg with the Damian Green inquiry she was investigating an MP. Here she is investigating her direct boss (Simon Case) and his boss (Boris Johnston) amongst others including I assume her senior colleagues. It’s almost impossible
One thing that hasn’t really been focused on but is important is that Simon Case was also said to be independent but turned out, not by his own admission, had held his own gathering - and remember just as that was revealed ministers were suggesting he was about to exonerate
Read 5 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
Jan 12,
The Johnson apology was carefully worded and obviously lawyered. He said that he attended because he "believed implicitly that this was a work event", that "with hindsight" he should have sent everyone back inside, and "technically" it could be said to fall within the guidance.
The apology - when read carefully - was to the millions of people who "wouldn’t see it in that way", but because he also said technically it could be said to fall within the guidance he is implicitly saying the millions of people are wrong in their interpretation.
This was only what *he* thought the event was. He "went into the garden to thank groups of staff for 25 minutes [he] believed implicitly this was a work event". So defence is a personal one only and leaves open the possibility the event was something else without him realising
Read 13 tweets

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