Andrew Marr: Historians will ask 'how on earth did Boris Johnson survive Partygate?'
19 May 2022, 18:09
Andrew Marr's assessment of Partygate rulebreaking
Andrew Marr has said historians will wonder how Boris Johnson survived Partygate as he questioned how the Prime Minister could have legally attended illegal gatherings.
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In his opening monologue on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, he said: "No rules were broken.
"We know that because the Prime Minister told the House of Commons.
"After closing its investigation earlier today, 126 fixed penalty notices for rule breaking have been handed out to Downing Street staff by the Metropolitan Police.
"But, no rules were broken
"Three people were fined. Twenty-eight people received up to 5 fixed penalty notices. And, no rules were broken.
"Boris Johnson has received only one fine, for that moment with a birthday cake.
"That must mean he attended illegal gatherings.
"But he did so legally.
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"Must have done - no rules were broken.
Integrity difference between Keir and Boris very important
"People can huff and puff all they like but the end of the police investigation means the legal part of the lockdown saga, this evening, is formerly over.
"I can dimly hear the sound of a greased piglet squealing with relief and cavorting delightedly in the early summer undergrowth.
"As of today I can see absolutely no sign of a revived determination among Tory MPs to get rid of their prime minister. No hubbub. Barely any muttering. In public, at least, a general silence.
"But the politics of partygate isn't over. It's a hard, complex thing to get our heads around. If he has really escaped, then book after book is going to be written about what didn’t happen today.
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"There will be conferences of historians, all with one theme - how on earth did he do it?
"Well, we don't have time to wait for the books and the historians and so to help me with these conundrums I've been looking for somebody who understands policing, who understands the great departments of state from the inside but who isn't involved in the daily rough and tumble of today's politics.
"Is it possible to find such a person? Well I jolly well hope so because I spoke to him just before the show... Lord Blunkett, David Blunkett, the Former home secretary.
"I started by asking him whether collusion between the met and Whitehall is possible or unthinkable?"
