The new leader of the Conservative and Unionist party is Kemi Badenoch (not pronounced Bad Enoch, but it should be given the sort of person she is). Bad Enoch embraces division and culture wars. On the hard right of the Tory party, she could start a fight in an empty room. And now, as the Leader of the Opposition, she has started in the way she intends to carry on. In an interview with client journalist ‘Tory’ Laura Kuenssberg on BBC 1 yesterday, Kemi was asked about the ‘Partygate’ scandal. “The partygate scandal was overblown” , she said. Oh really? Yes, really.
The new Tory leader was asked whether people were wrong to be upset about Partygate, when Boris Johnson and, it seemed, most of Downing Street, was on the lash, when the rest of us were told to stay at home and risked being arrested if we went out for a walk or talked to anyone else. It was actually much worse than that and I’ll come to that in a minute, but let’s allow Bad Enoch to go on (and on):
“No, (people) were not wrong to be upset about Partygate. The problem was that we should not have criminalised everyday activities the way that we did. People going out for walks, all of them having fixed-penalty notices, that was what ended up creating a trap for Boris Johnson.”
Well, hang on, Bad Enoch. You did criminalise everyday activities. Indeed, you literally voted in parliament to criminalise us. I was stopped when walking alone during the lockdowns and told to return home and if I didn’t I’d get banged up. Did you not know this was going on and if you did, why didn’t you say so at the time? And there’s more to it than that. A hell of a lot more. Read this letter that appeared in a newspaper:
And this:
The actions of Bad Enoch’s government impacted on our family, too. My beloved mother in law died of Covid and understandably we were not able to see her in her final days. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she died the funeral restrictions were tough. We had a scaled-back outside funeral with very limited numbers. Scores of people could not attend and had to pay their respects by email, letter or by telephone. It was heartbreaking, but here’s the thing. We are decent, honest, law-abiding citizens. We did not want to help spread Covid, which was killing hundreds of people every day and we sacrificed a great deal for what we believed was the greater good.
The pallbearers wore masks and kept their distance, as they were told to do, and our tiny family group mourned more than celebrated a life. To me, it felt slightly empty, more than slightly cruel. The sacrifice we made was that of pared-back grieving. Later came the news that Boris Johnson – “a great PM” according to Bad Enoch – spent a fair bit of time partying, on the piss with staff members and colleagues, including the actual chancellor of the exchequer and later PM, Rishi Sunak. They were among those fined pitiful amounts for what I regarded as laughing in the faces of the bereaved. I have never forgotten those days and for Bad Enoch to describe Partygate as “overblown” is extremely offensive. Here’s a reminder what was going on when we were mourning:
And Johnson himself:
And more:
Picture the scene. A small family group saying goodbye to a much loved wife, mother, mother in law, grandmother and sister – Boris Johnson and Kemi Badenoch were among those to have banned anyone else attending – and this was going on in the halls of government. Do you see why I am angry, yet? I felt at the time Johnson’s government made rules that criminalised ordinary people at the time. Indeed I contacted our useless MP at the time who replied that we all had to follow the rules and that was that. But his mates at the top of the shop did as they pleased. “Overblown” indeed.
It seems that the Tories have learned nothing about the lessons of Covid. Kemi Badenoch, who hates having quoted back to her words she actually used, has belittled the heartbreak of people who could not properly grieve for their loved ones. Some might never get proper closure and there will always hang the terrible thought that people died, quite possibly frightened and alone. Sure you can have an in memoriam gathering at a later date but can that ever be enough? My sadness has largely dissipated, as has my anger, but I will never forget nor forgive the actions of the likes of Boris Johnson partying when people were dying, people whose families stuck by the rules Johnson (and Badenoch) had imposed on us all.
As Peter Townshend once wrote, “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” Exactly.
