UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended some as work meetings (File)
London:
Was Prime Minister Boris Johnson breaking the law at a time when millions of Britons were abiding by COVID restrictions, many forced to stay away from relatives who died?
An official investigation is looking into at least seven occasions in 2020 when Johnson and his Downing Street staff have been accused of partying in violation of lockdown rules.
Johnson has repeatedly defended some of the House of Commons as work gatherings, including statements that opposition lawmakers say have now been exposed as lies that make him ineligible for office.
It is proving difficult for the government to justify an incident in May 2020 when a top aide invited employees to “bring their own wine” for social drinks in the garden.
Until Britain’s first lockdown was eased a month later, such gatherings violated the then law that no more than two people from different households could meet for outside work.
Here is a selective rundown of “partygate” incidents under investigation by senior civil servant Sue Grey, along with other lockdown violations by government figures:
– May 15, 2020: According to a leaked photo reported by the Guardian last month, Johnson is pictured with his now-wife Carrie and around 20 employees in Downing Street Garden with wine and cheese.
– May 20, 2020: Johnson’s colleague Martin Reynolds invites employees to “make the most of the beautiful weather and have a few socially-distancing drinks at No10 Gardens this evening”.
ITV News, which received the invitation by email this week, said 40 workers were having a picnic and drinking in the garden that evening.
Both Johnson and Carey attended, according to multiple reports, despite some employees expressing merit that the gathering violated lockdown rules.
– May 22, 2020: The Daily Mirror and the Guardian newspapers published a joint investigation alleging that Johnson’s then-chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had driven across the country a month earlier.
In an extraordinary news conference from Downing Street Garden, Cummings argues that he and his wife had come down with Covid and needed their parents in northeastern England to provide childcare.
He says that a side-trip was necessary to test his eyesight before going back to London, raising public anger and distrust of his actions. But Johnson stood by Cummings for months.
– November 13, 2020: Cummings is fired, and most recently he is alleged to have had a raucous party that night at Boris and Carrie Johnson’s Downing Street apartment.
England was then in a second lockdown, and such indoor gatherings were forbidden.
– November 27, 2020: Johnson delivers a speech at a Downing Street drinks event to mark the departure of another aide. The Daily Mirror has reported that 50 people were locked in a room.
– December 14, 2020: A photo surfaced by The Times newspaper showing Conservative employees in a festive mood at party headquarters offered a buffet meal and plenty of drinks.
The party says the gathering was “unauthorised” and disciplined some of those present.
Its losing candidate for the 2021 London mayoral election, Sean Bailey, was in the group and has since given up a role in the city’s assembly.
At the time, London was in a regional “tier” of restrictions, which replaced November’s lockdown, which banned indoor socializing.
– December 15, 2020: Johnson is photographed sitting between two employees in the number 10 Christmas quiz. He insisted that it was a business meeting.
– December 18, 2020: According to the Daily Mirror, another party was held in Downing Street, which the government was denying.
But then a video obtained by ITV News showed Johnson’s then-press secretary Allegra Stratton mocking the incident at a fake news conference. He later resigned in a tearful public statement.
– June 26, 2021: Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigns after The Sun newspaper revealed video footage of him breaking coronavirus restrictions a month earlier during an affair with a close female aide.
Johnson initially defended Hancock, who has repeatedly urged the public to abide by restrictions since England entered its third lockdown in January 2021.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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