Quote Originally Posted by Geoff Parkstone View Post
The Durham police don't seem to think so
GP, you are I suspect, quite purposely, missing the point.

Whether the breaking of the rules is primarily a legal or moral issue is a grey area.

The point is that here we undeniably have a very influential person - arguably the most influential in Westminster since Johnson became PM - showing total disregard for the rules which he has put in place for everyone else to live by.

It is on a par with MP’s fiddling their expenses, teachers, care staff or members of the clergy being found guilty of *****philic behaviour, medical staff who are abusers (or worse), accountants fiddling the books, ‘bent’ coppers and crooked local councillors.
The case for such examples having actually broken the law may be clearer in some of those cases, but first and foremost the ‘sin’ is the abuse of position and the complete contempt for the trust which the public has placed in those holding such positions.

As long as there are, otherwise sensible, people such as yourself, who delight more in obfuscation than actually taking a stance, and others who are driven by rather more sinister agendas, then nothing will change and we will continue to stumble from one crisis or scandal to another.

For me the most pressing point now is that we have reached a stage where our scientific and political masters seem more at odds than ever before during this crisis. We are at a crucial stage in the fight against Coronavirus and the scientists and the Government appear to disagree over fundamental issues regarding the easing of the lockdown.

I would honestly love to be able to trust in Government advice but, regardless of any political stance, how can the people of this country trust the increasingly crucial advice of a government when two Cabinet members have broken the rules, another (Grant Shapps) has either lied - or just been totally out of touch - the PM’s chief advisor has behaved in the way he has, and the PM himself has been reduced to talking bumbling bollux in an effort to defend the indefensible?

The days and weeks ahead will determine the success, or otherwise, of the nation’s recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.
We will need truth, leadership and public support like never before.
Unfortunately all we are getting is lies, the betrayal of public trust and fudging from a government which, because of its own behaviour, now has as little credibility as it has integrity.