I THOUGHT I understood the full appalling extent of Partygate but until I saw the Channel 4 programme Partygate: The Inside Story I really didn’t. It leaves serious questions unanswered.
Like, why was Margaret Ferrier punished so harshly when 50 people in the heart of government merely had their wrists slapped? Ferrier lost her livelihood, £84,000 a year and was given 270 hours of humiliation on community service. She was also constantly vilified in the press.
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We don’t even know the names of the Partygate 50 apart from half a dozen prominent figures. What Ferrier did on one occasion was illegal and stupid. What the ordinary people who were fined £10,000 did was illegal and stupid. What the Partygate 50 did on 14 occasions in 10 Downing Street was a massive affront to the rule of law, public decency and public health. Why did they all get off so light with £50 fines? Where are they now? On community service, or doing speaking tours in America at £500,000 a pop? We should be told.
Alan Marsden
Milnthorpe, Cumbria
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