Led By Donkeys have torn into the prime minister, Boris Johnson with a scathing edit of him being interrogated by AC-12 officers from the hit BBC police drama Line of Duty, amid the ongoing fallout from 'Partygate'.
In the four-minute clip, Johnson's face has been cleverly edited to appear in the infamous interview room with everyone's favourite coppers, Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dubar), DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), and DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) who were determined to get to the bottom of things as they grilled the PM like a criminal.
The first piece of evidence they showed the PM was the email from Johnson's private secretary Martin Reynolds had sent to Downing Street staff inviting them to a "bring your own booze party" back in May 2020 while the country was under Covid lockdown restrictions at this time.
When faced with this evidence, Johnson replied with his go-to response: "All that is subject for an interview..err...investigation by Sue Gray."
But Hastings wasn't having any of it and commented: "We've investigated it, and the facts are plain for everyone to see."
Throughout the video, the officers duly reminded Johnson of the sacrifices people made at the height of the pandemic such as not being able to see family members, cancelling weddings, and limiting the number of funeral attendees in order to keep everyone safe from the virus.
\u201cIf you've got one shred of compassion for all those families who sacrificed so much, who lost so much, you\u2019ll go\u201dpic.twitter.com/AOl2D4f0Bc— Led By Donkeys (@Led By Donkeys) 1642509505
When the Prime Minister responded with his apology from PMQs, DI Arnott rebuked: "The only thing you're sorry about is that you got caught."
After Johnson used the excuse that he "believed implicitly that this [party] was a work event," an unamused DI Fleming sarcastically hit back: "A work event? Do you often have work meetings where everyone's told to bring their own booze?"
And of course, it wouldn't be an AC-12 interrogation without a zinger from Superintendent Hastings who cut through Johnson's work event excuses to deliver his iconic catchphrase: "Mother of God," before he told Johnson: "...you must think we were born yesterday, fella!"
At the end of the clip, Hastings piled the pressure on Johnson, saying: "If you've got one shred of compassion for all those families who sacrificed so much, who lost so much, you'll go."
Since the clip was posted by the political campaign group, Led by Donkeys, it has received 5m views, nearly 120,000 likes and over 46,000 retweets.
Even Line of Duty writer Jed Mecurio appears to be a fan of the video as he shared the clip on Twitter.
pic.twitter.com/0m2zjzZXL2— Jed Mercurio (@Jed Mercurio) 1642509764
It's clear that people are loving this political scandal-meets-TV police drama mash-up where Johnson was put through the wringer.
Get a cuppa and take this all in... \n\nIt's really really goodhttps://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Dawn Butler MP\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udc99 (@Dawn Butler MP\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udc99) 1642517003
I can't stop watching this.https://twitter.com/i/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Dr Dominic Pimenta (@Dr Dominic Pimenta) 1642580919
The best yet @jed_mercurio @ByDonkeys \u2018it\u2019s you who should be inside!\u2019 Brilliant. And could well happen.https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@ALASTAIR CAMPBELL) 1642511981
This is worth 5 minutes of your time @BorisJohnsonhttps://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Lee Westwood (@Lee Westwood) 1642560205
While this latest @ByDonkeys montage is probably their best yet, the true hero of the hour is the video editor. \n\nThis is an absolutely remarkable job considering the dearth of available footage.https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Owen Williams \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f (@Owen Williams \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f) 1642548481
Wow. Incredibly done. https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Beverley Knight\ud83d\udc99 (@Beverley Knight\ud83d\udc99) 1642539777
This is well worth a watch this xxxhttps://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Lorraine (@Lorraine) 1642530507
Oh, this is good...https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@Julia Hartley-Brewer) 1642529209
This is brilliant.https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Gary Younge (@Gary Younge) 1642526581
Brilliantly brutal but so close to the knuckle @ledbydonkeys...on point as ever...and ,of course, the brilliant cast at AC-12https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Deborah Meaden \ud83d\udc99 (@Deborah Meaden \ud83d\udc99) 1642523450
Liking this new line of duty episodehttps://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— John Lush (@John Lush) 1642535080
The party is over. AC12 are on the case. Inspired\u2026https://twitter.com/bydonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Danny Shaw (@Danny Shaw) 1642517436
The series finale we all needed. Time for the PM to make an urgent exit.https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1483418498944671746\u00a0\u2026— Innes M. Keighren (@Innes M. Keighren) 1642521849
Looks like an urgent exit may be required by the prime minister, only time will tell us if he takes it...