2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Trouble in paradise https://twitter.com/samcoatessky/status ... 33184?s=21
I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list if that’s still in the works
- shpalman
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I’m really trying to reduce my use of bad language but what utter f.cking c.nts
I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list if that’s still in the works
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Dominic Cummings from the look of it https://twitter.com/jamesdoleman/status ... 11654?s=21
I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list if that’s still in the works
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Is drinking alcohol at work permitted in government buildings? Does the civil service allow drinking during working hours?
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
When my parents worked for the civil service there were canteens with bars in the buildings which were open both at lunch and after work. Of course, this was several years ago when it wasn't unusual to drink at lunchtime.
"My interest is in the future, because I'm going to spend the rest of my life there"
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
When I worked at the MHRA a couple of decades ago, I think it was possible to buy a beer at the canteen with your lunch.
Certainly the caterers had alcohol available and one could order food and booze from them for a party.
I know that HMG will have booze available - don't they have a famously awesome wine cellar? Shouldn't be a surprise - PMs need to entertain visiting equivalents & a glass of good wine can really get people in a good mood and be conducive to productive negotiations.
So I would expect wine to be available, even if not offered routinely.
It is usually bright in may after 5pm, and judging by the length of the shadows in the picture it would have been an after-work thing.
In normal times it would surely be entirely unremarkable. But those weren't normal times, innit?
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I'm talking about 2020 not ancient f.cking history Grandpa.
My work permits "social events (such as the Christmas party) where the consumption of alcohol is authorised, with the prior approval of a Head of Department ".
We're not allowed to be under the influence at work, obviously. Under the influence of alcohol is defined as 22 mg per 100 ml, which is the same as the Scottish drink drive limit (lower than the 35 mg England limit).
I would not be permitted to have alcohol at a "work meeting" and if I was having alcohol with colleagues then it would be post-work social gathering, off the premises.
My work permits "social events (such as the Christmas party) where the consumption of alcohol is authorised, with the prior approval of a Head of Department ".
We're not allowed to be under the influence at work, obviously. Under the influence of alcohol is defined as 22 mg per 100 ml, which is the same as the Scottish drink drive limit (lower than the 35 mg England limit).
I would not be permitted to have alcohol at a "work meeting" and if I was having alcohol with colleagues then it would be post-work social gathering, off the premises.
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- El Pollo Diablo
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I'm public sector (not civil service), but it's literally illegal for me or anyone else at my company to drink at work, or to have more than about a third of the drink-drive limit in our systems, even for working at home. Drinking after work is fine if you are in a pub, but in the office? Nah. You'd get told to pack your stuff up there and then.
When you don't have a drinking culture at work, suddenly everyone else's seems weird and unprofessional.
When you don't have a drinking culture at work, suddenly everyone else's seems weird and unprofessional.
If truth is many-sided, mendacity is many-tongued
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Your work is not all works.lpm wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:11 amI'm talking about 2020 not ancient f.cking history Grandpa.
My work permits "social events (such as the Christmas party) where the consumption of alcohol is authorised, with the prior approval of a Head of Department ".
We're not allowed to be under the influence at work, obviously. Under the influence of alcohol is defined as 22 mg per 100 ml, which is the same as the Scottish drink drive limit (lower than the 35 mg England limit).
I would not be permitted to have alcohol at a "work meeting" and if I was having alcohol with colleagues then it would be post-work social gathering, off the premises.
At my work canteen there is a bottle of white and a few bottles of beer in the fridge & a bottle of red out of the fridge. Always.
When greeting new people, we will often have a meeting to welcome them, a proper one in a meeting room, then adjourn to a communal area and crack open a bottle or two of Prosecco to welcome them in an informal way.
If your work had a nice big garden attached, then you might be permitted to have post-work drinks in the garden.
I used to be based in Canary wharf, and there were clearly very many people who would nip out of their office at lunch to a bar or restaurant and have a glass of wine or a pint with their lunch. Given how many people work in Canary Wharf, I suspect that either it was a hardcore of lunchtime boozers or each person would only do it occasionally, otherwise the bars & restaurants (as opposed to cafes/takeaway places) would have been far busier than they were.
ETA: there's not a drinking culture as such, almost nobody has the booze, but it's available and we are trusted to be responsible.
Before kids I'd sometimes have a glass at Friday lunch, either in the canteen or in a nearby restaurant with a friend.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I wonder if it's partly about driving to work.
In an office in the heart of London, people will get public transport to work; whereas somewhere else, they won't and so if they did have a drink it would be encouraging drink-driving
In an office in the heart of London, people will get public transport to work; whereas somewhere else, they won't and so if they did have a drink it would be encouraging drink-driving
- discovolante
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I guess this is the weird thing about environments that are public and political. I work for a charity, I don't think it would even cross anyone's mind that any kind of booze in the office would be acceptable, even unopened. I think if it happened and it 'got out', the public reaction would be pretty wide ranging from 'good on you, you deserve it', to 'how dare these so called charity workers get pissed up, I'm cancelling my direct debit IMMEDIATELY, they're not spending my hard earned cash on their piss ups etc etc'. But if you're schmoozing people then all of a sudden it becomes sort of fine again.El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:20 amI'm public sector (not civil service), but it's literally illegal for me or anyone else at my company to drink at work, or to have more than about a third of the drink-drive limit in our systems, even for working at home. Drinking after work is fine if you are in a pub, but in the office? Nah. You'd get told to pack your stuff up there and then.
When you don't have a drinking culture at work, suddenly everyone else's seems weird and unprofessional.
To defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I find it very hard to get worked up about this latest one. He’s in the back garden, not in the office. There’s plenty of social distancing on display.
I know I need time to relax, it would be weird if the PM didn’t.
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three
now I sin till ten past three
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I'm trying to remember the specific regulations at the time but I'm sure by May 2020 it was still:-
None which covers having even a socially-distanced glass of wine in the garden with 17 work colleagues.to visit a public open space for the purposes of open-air recreation to promote their physical or mental health or emotional wellbeing—
(i)alone,
(ii)with one or more members of their household, or
(iii)with one member of another household;”;
This place is not a place of honor, no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here, nothing valued is here.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us.
This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us.
This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Indeed.El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:20 amI'm public sector (not civil service), but it's literally illegal for me or anyone else at my company to drink at work, or to have more than about a third of the drink-drive limit in our systems, even for working at home. Drinking after work is fine if you are in a pub, but in the office? Nah. You'd get told to pack your stuff up there and then.
When you don't have a drinking culture at work, suddenly everyone else's seems weird and unprofessional.
In the 1980s it might have been unremarkable. In the 1990s, a bit of a relic and dubious.
But now? Not if it's the sort of meeting where you want to get decisions taken. As opposed to a diplomatic dinner.
And certainly not when the country is forbidden from meeting up even outside.
And where there is a history of lying about such events to the public
Have you considered stupidity as an explanation
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Certainly that was what was on the desk of one colleague in my last work.
In my current work it's technically ok to have booze in the office (and we do at the Christmas party or when students graduate). But that's only because it's a leased building. If we owned the building, it'd be illegal under Federal law.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Does anyone know if keeping minutes of all Downing Street meetings is mandatory?
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- Woodchopper
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
I think a lot depends upon how you define a meeting. Formal meetings that have an agenda and are marked on the official calendar would be minuted. But its a grey area for more informal conversations.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
And that is clearly not a meeting.Woodchopper wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:12 pmI think a lot depends upon how you define a meeting. Formal meetings that have an agenda and are marked on the official calendar would be minuted. But its a grey area for more informal conversations.
It looks a lot like after work drinks, which, if it weren't for lockdown for the rest of the country, should be entirely unremarkable.
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
If a suit is required for it, I only ever do work at weddings, funerals and job interviews.
Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
They need a better spin doctor.shpalman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:07 pmthey were allowed to meet because it was work and allowed to drink because it wasn't work
I understand the perfect candidate, who already has a few years experience in pushing propaganda for the tories, will shortly be available
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Re: 2020 No. 10 Christmas Party!
Impeccable timing wont it.tom p wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:41 pmThey need a better spin doctor.shpalman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:07 pmthey were allowed to meet because it was work and allowed to drink because it wasn't work
I understand the perfect candidate, who already has a few years experience in pushing propaganda for the tories, will shortly be available
To defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave.