Weirdly enough, it might be the Xmas parties etc which resonate more (& subsequently annoy more) a large part of the electorate.Sometimes you surprise me FG.
Essentially you are saying that government policy is not formed by government, but by others at a 'higher' political/economic level, something that I have been going on about for some time. Good.
Our government has sold out, in almost every respect of policy be it political, economic or social, this is pretty obvious, though it is the scale of the treachery that is so breathtaking. The silly little rows and arguments about who did or did not go to a Christmas party, who paid for a bit of painting and decorating are just distractions for the children.
The stuff about being arrested for protesting which the govt have pushed through under the radar are the sorts of things which those very same people won’t think will affect them (after all, isn’t it mainly lefties protesting about lefty stuff?), until it’s too late.