A number of constituents have responded to my blog of 17th April Fixed Penalty Notices (desmondswaynemp.com) with comments along the lines “so you support a liar”. Either they didn’t read it or have difficulty understanding, because the whole thrust of the piece was an explanation precisely why I though the PM hadn’t lied and, however misjudged, genuinely believed that the gatherings at Downing Street he attended were ‘work events’.
Had the PM invited his friends and family to a gathering then the level of outrage that has been expressed would be justified. The gatherings however, were populated by civil servants and officials who were at their place of work, with the people with whom they worked daily. Far from being the PM’s mates, they probably didn’t even vote for him.
I can understand the anger of people who lost loved ones during all the restrictions of lock-down, but the PM was also among them. He was himself hospitalised without the comfort of visitors just like everyone else.
Sir Desmond Swayne TD
