The Workers Union has issued a statement telling politicians that the party is over and it’s time for both parties to get to work.
In a passionate plea for unity, a spokesperson for the organisation said: ‘By now we have all seen the footage of former government advisor Allegra Stratton tearfully falling on her sword. Now the baying for blood has been answered, we should draw a line under the affair and come together to tackle the latest COVID crisis.’
Stratton was caught on a video obtained by ITV, laughing about how to describe a Christmas Party held in Downing Street at the same time as the rest of London was under tier 3 restrictions.
During a statement delivered in front of her home on Wednesday, Stratton said she would ‘regret the remarks’ for the ‘rest of her days.’
At the same time, PM Boris Johnson was put under extreme pressure at Prime Minister’s Questions. In lively exchanges with Labour Leader Sir Kier Starmer, Mr Johnson admitted to being ‘furious’ about the clip. He added that he was setting up an investigation to see whether Downing Street staff had flouted the rules last Christmas.
However, Sir Kier insisted that the public had been ‘taken for fools’:
‘They knew there was a party, they knew it was against the rules, they knew they couldn’t admit it, and they thought it was funny. It is obvious what happened,’ he told a packed House of Commons.
This latest incident has occurred against a backdrop of tightening restrictions as the country battles to contain the Omicron variant of COVID-19. From last Wednesday, the government announced that it was encouraging home working as well as making mask-wearing mandatory in cinemas, theatres and most other in-door situations.
The Workers Union Says…
The government has shed a spokesperson and politicians of other stripes have taken advantage of an open goal. Now that the blood-letting is almost over, we need to quickly refocus and make an intelligent assessment of where we are.
There is a danger, in these situations, that we lose sight of the fact that people and their safety are at the centre of this affair. Despite temptations to the contrary, we should be prepared to give kudos to the scientists and brave NHS workers for delivering a programme of vaccination that has kick-started the economic pulse of our country and given millions of people hope.
So let’s acknowledge that “Strattongate” has neither been big, nor clever, but move on from it quickly in an act of national determination and unity. We have to with Omicron threatening to breakout.
