boris johnson He has been accused of attending another lockdown-ending party – this time just a month after his battle with Covid during the country’s first lockdown,
The Prime Minister reportedly joined 20 members of Downing Street’s staff inside and at Number 10’s gardens during the late spring festival, which featured beer, wine and pizza, on May 15, 2020.
A few hours earlier, then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock hosted a press conference in which he revealed that 384 people had died from Covid – before later heading to Downing Street’s gardens for a ‘debrief’ with the prime minister.
At the gathering, Mr Johnson reportedly told a civil servant who had been drinking Liquor, that he deserved his drink for his work helping to ‘defeat the virus’, reports Independent,
Sources alleged that the attendees had planned celebratory drinks before the event, with alcohol being poured at the desks and the staff staying up late into the night. There is no suggestion that Mr Johnson or Mr Hancock may have drank or stayed up late.
At the time of the latest alleged breach, mixing of multiple homes inside the home was banned and groups could only meet one-on-one in outdoor settings.
Thursday marked the latest twist in Downing Street’s long-running saga, in which he himself was accused of hosting a string of lockdown-ending parties despite the strict restrictions he had set.
The Prime Minister reportedly joins 20 members of Downing Street’s staff inside and in the number 10 gardens during a late spring festival showcasing beer, wine and pizza on May 15, 2020.
At the gathering, Mr Johnson reportedly told a civil servant, who had been drinking, that he deserved his drink for his job to help ‘repel the virus’.
Speaking last April, Mr Johnson admitted ‘things could have gone either way’ while in the intensive care ward at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
The PM was taken to hospital on Sunday, 5 April, moved to intensive care and provided oxygen as his symptoms worsened on Monday, 6 April and left St Thomas on Sunday, 12 April.
But Mr Johnson is alleged to have attended a celebratory event that was classified as a party by attendees, breaking his own government’s restrictions on May 15, just a month later.
He stayed for 15 minutes at the ‘party’ held at 10 Downing Street, where he told his drinking colleagues at his desk that they deserved his congratulatory drink, The Independent reports.
Civil servants were seen carrying wine to the gardens of 10 Downing Street, where they drank and enjoyed the warm weather.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: ‘The prime minister went to his residence after 7 pm. For some time in the afternoon and evening there remained a small number of staff required to work in the gardens of Downing Street.’
A few days earlier, on 10 May, Mr Johnson warned that fines for those violating social distancing restrictions would be increased.
At the time, indoor mixing of multiple homes was banned, and only two separate homes were eligible to mix outdoors.
A spokesman for Mr Hancock said the former minister did nothing wrong and claimed he did not attend a lockdown-violating party.
He added: ‘There is no suggestion that Mr Hancock did anything wrong. He was in Downing Street to deliver a press conference that day. Matt arrived at Downing St at 4:43 pm and held a press conference from 5:03 to about 5:53 on the lifting of the lockdown measures.
After the press conference, Matt briefed his team, then went to Downing St. Gardens to talk to the Prime Minister. He left Downing Street at 6:32 pm and went back to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The PM has faced public fury and the public rebellion of Tory backbenchers over a series of alleged parties held in November and December 2020, which are currently being investigated by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Downing Street employees are accused of organizing four gatherings that may have broken lockdown rules last year – including at the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat on 13 November by his wife, Carrie.
In addition to the quiz held on 15 December, Downing Street employees are accused of organizing a Christmas party on 18 December and allegedly giving a short speech on 27 November.
Quiz Night is one of at least six parties in Whitehall from November to December last year, when the government was ordering the public to stay at home and protect the NHS.