Partygate: Downing Street in order to break rules – Sir Andrew Cook

Public health and the “sacred cow” of the NHS probably trumps even the economy as a political issue in Britain, and early on the left seized the opportunity to outflank the right as more caring.

Partygate: How Boris Johnson became Donald Trump in disguise with lies, slurs and fake news claims – Tom Richmond

With the backing of timid and uncertain science, this political dynamic was the main engine behind the draconian lockdowns and other restrictive measures.

“Planet Covid” began its circular trajectory. With few exceptions, politicians in Britain, Europe and North America competed to demonstrate their “Covid credentials”, attempting to amass political capital through ever more visible measures and restrictions.

Quarantines and closures went hand in hand with the construction of emergency hospitals and the printing of vast sums of money. Mask-wearing became a compulsory gesture, the most ridiculous example being President Biden shown on TV wearing not one, but two.

Never mind the effects of these restrictions, many of which were in doubt from the beginning. Disregard the social consequences, the captured mothers tormented by bored and idle children, the ruined businesses and the ruptured educations.

Ignore the disruption to civil society and the potentially disastrous economic consequences of abandoning the normal rules of “fiat” money.

At its azimuth, the circular trajectory of Planet Covid saw Boris basking in sympathy and admiration, with Britain leading the world in mass vaccinations. But the political orbit of the coronavirus continued. Like the boomerang in the song, it started coming back to threaten the thrower.

Consider where we are today. The coronavirus orbit is nearly completed and the pandemic panic has abated. Despite multiple vaccines and often pettifogging and illogical restrictions, Covid has become just another strain of flu.

Almost everyone gets it, a few die, and vaccinations are at the very best, only partially effective. Vast sums of public money have been wasted, from “test and trace” and PPE procurement to Nightingale hospitals and artificial ventilators. The travel and hospitality industries have been brought to near-collapse. Possibly most ruinously, many people have become accustomed to not working, but still being paid.

One is entitled to ask the question “Why has this happened?”, but instead, we are consumed with the matter of the Prime Minister and his staff breaking their own anti-Covid rules by having a few boozy get-togethers.

They themselves did not invent these rules and in hindsight, it is doubtful the rules were sensible in the first place. Moreover, it should be recognised that the puritanical zeal with which they were enforced might have been motivated more by politics than good sense.

Another reality which seems to have been ignored is the beneficial role of alcohol in highly-stressed situations. Right up until the 1970s, strong drink played a major part in achieving the Royal Navy’s many wartime victories. It steadied the officers and emboldened the sailors. In Russia, both Czarist and Soviet armies relied on liberal quantities of vodka to energise the troops. The term “Dutch courage” originates from the gin dished out to British redcoats before they went into battle.

In World War Two, brandy and Champagne kept Winston Churchill going while ordinary civilians made do with watered down beer. At the same time, in RAF messes throughout the land regular wild parties punctuated the brief intervals between the often-suicidal bombing raids over Germany. Even today, French foreign legionnaires receive a daily wine allowance of one litre.

The facts are that, when you are under sustained stress, an alcoholic drink can often help. Sometimes there has to be one rule for some, and another for others. I don’t doubt that Downing Street was working round the clock during the worst days of the pandemic, and frankly if I had been PM, I would not have hesitated to allow my team to mingle and have a few glasses of wine to keep them cheerful, exchange ideas and help them relax.

I am no standard bearer for Boris Johnson, but I believe in truth. These are the realities behind “partygate”, and the sooner the world of politics forgets about Covid and moves on to some really important issues, the better.

Sir Andrew Cook is a Yorkshire industrialist and chairman of William Cook Holdings.

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