Reports indicate that up to 30 people attended the festivities in the Cabinet Room, 10 Downing Street on June 19, 2019.
UK media have discovered another party attended by Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister. This was in contravention of the Covid-19 curbs for 2020. Downing Street confirmed that it did indeed take place.
Johnson’s wife, Carrie, had organized a surprise party for him in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street on June 19, 2020, broadcaster ITV reported on Monday.
It was attended by around 30 people. This was despite indoor gatherings being prohibited in the UK during anti-coronavirus precautions. Carrie led the group in singing Happy Birthday to the PM.
Some officials who were present at the gathering have denied ITV’s claim of 30 people being in attendance. Grant Shapps from Transport said that the group was significantly smaller, and that they had been working together throughout the day. George Eustice (Environment Secretary) said there were only a few people in the room. “closer to ten,” adding that the whole event “was literally just a birthday cake brought in at the end of the day.”
Johnson had just visited Hertfordshire school, and had taken a photo with students. This was to emphasize the importance of social distance to the British public.
And it wasn’t the PM’s only party that day, according to ITV, with a separate birthday celebration for family and friends being held at Johnson’s residence in the evening.
Downing Street confirms that the prime minister was present at an event held at work. A government spokesperson also confirmed this. “he was there for less than ten minutes.”
“A group of staff working in No. 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room, after a meeting, to wish the prime minister a happy birthday.”
However, the spokesperson denied claims of a second gathering at Johnson’s apartment, saying: “This is totally untrue. In line with the rules at the time, the prime minister hosted a small number of family members outside that evening.”
Recent revelations that he took part in several parties in the UK’s first lockdown have led to increasing calls for the resignation of the British Prime Minister. The so-called ‘Partygate’ scandal has seen the 57-year-old’s ratings plummeting, with a poll earlier this month suggesting that two-thirds of voters want him out of office.
MPs from within Johnson’s own Conservative Party also seem to be losing faith in the prime minister, with one telling the Guardian that the gathering on June 19 was “clearly social”And “changes things – a lot.”
A Tory lawmaker unidentified also said the same thing “presumably there is more being stored up for release after the Gray report, just in case that hadn’t dealt the killer blow.”
This was in reference to the crucial report of Sue Gray (senior civil servant), who is currently investigating the allegations that the prime minister broke lockdown regulations. The report is due out this week.
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