03 March 2023 , 22:33
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Partygate rulebreaking would have been “obvious” to Boris Johnson, a damning report said today.
MPs probing whether the ex-PM lied to Parliament confirmed he did attend bashes, as new snaps of him at lockdown drinks emerged. He faces a Commons quiz.
Mr Johnson faces a Commons grilling after MPs ruled he may have misled Parliament four times over lockdown parties.
The showdown could shatter his dream of a No10 comeback if a committee finds that he lied.
A bombshell report said the former PM must have known that the events were in breach of the rules he had ordered the rest of the nation to follow, despite his repeated denials.
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Jan 14, 2021 - previously unseen picture of Mr Johnson at champagne bash (PA)Damning evidence also shows Mr Johnson’s aides swapped messages in a frantic bid to see if they could justify his actions within the rules.
Listing a series of parties the PM was at, the committee added: “The evidence strongly suggests that breaches of guidance would have been obvious to Mr Johnson at the time he was at the gatherings.”
And the dossier shows on April 28, 2021 at 4.47pm, a No10 official admitted a colleague was “worried about leaks of PM having a p*ss up and … I don’t think it’s unwarranted”.
That was seven months before the Mirror first revealed the scandal on November 30.
June 19, 2020 - former PM spotted at another event in a Downing St room (PA)The report included previously unpublished pictures of rule-breaking parties, including one in January 2021.
It also reveals aides swapped messages about events the PM attended, including his June 2020 birthday party for which he was fined by police.
On January 25, 2022, his spin chief sent a 6.54am message asking: “Have we had any legal advice on the birthday one?”
A minute later, he admitted: “Haven’t heard any explanation of how it’s in the rules.” In a separate message the aide said: “I’m struggling to come up with a way this one is in the rules.”
Mr Johnson at the partygate gathering in November 2020It was suggested he describe the event as “reasonably necessary for work purposes”.
But the spin chief replied: “Not sure that one works, does it. Also blows another great gaping hole in the PM’s account doesn’t it?”
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At a leaving do in November 2020, Mr Johnson boasted it was “probably the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK”.
One official told another: “Can you pull together our best possible defence. I don’t know what we say about the [Downing St] flat.”
Mr Johnson defending himself after the Commons Standard Committee released its initial findingHours later, we reported how a source even suggested there were “always parties” in the flat Mr Johnson shares with his wife, adding: “Carrie’s addicted to them.”
The committee’s report said: “On 19 June 2020, when the rules in force for the prevention of the spread of Covid included restrictions on indoor gatherings, Mr Johnson attended a gathering in the Cabinet Room to celebrate his birthday.
“The attendees included individuals who were not work colleagues of Mr Johnson. The event was neither ‘reasonably necessary for work purposes’ nor socially distanced.
“There is evidence that those who were advising Mr Johnson about what to say to the press and in the House were struggling to contend that some gatherings were within the rules.”
Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson faces 'pretty damning' evidence of wrongdoing (Getty Images)The MPs last month visited No10 and discovered that Mr Johnson could have had a view of bashes in the Downing Street press office as he went upstairs to his apartment.
They said he “occasionally joined these gatherings when his attendance had not been planned”.
Mr Johnson, who will be quizzed by a cross-party committee from March 20, has insisted rules were always followed. And today he claimed the report proved him right.
He said: “It is clear from this that I have not committed any contempt of Parliament. It is also clear that what I have been saying about this matter has been vindicated.
Boris tries to rubbish Sue Gray’s findings (PRU/AFP via Getty Images)There is no evidence in the report that I knowingly or recklessly misled Parliament, or that I failed to update Parliament in a timely manner. Nor is there any evidence that I was aware that any events taking place were in breach of the rules or the guidance.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson faces “pretty damning” evidence of wrongdoing.
He added: “I think of the families, not just those who lost loved ones, but also those who were obeying the rules, changing their lives while those in government were not following their own rules.”
WhatsApp messages leaked to the Telegraph show Mr Johnson decided to cancel Christmas in 2020 while a lockdown party was taking place in No10.
How Mirror broke story
We broke the story of lockdown-flouting Downing Street parties on our front page on December 1, 2021.
The Mirror told how Boris Johnson gave a speech at a packed leaving do in November 2020 and No10 staff held a Christmas bash in December, just before the PM axed Christmas for millions of Britons.
Sources said there had been many parties in the pandemic.
How the partygate scandal was broken two years ago
The PM was supported by his wife Carrie Johnson throughout (Chris Jackson/Pool/REX/Shutterstock)Downing Street said: “Covid rules have been followed at all times.”
But this has proved not to be the case.
MPs ‘misled four times’
1. December 8, 2021: Johnson said no rules or guidance broken in No10. Today's report said Sue Gray and the Met Police concluded that was not correct, including specific gatherings for which Mr Johnson asserted this was the case.
2. When Mr Johnson failed to tell the Commons “about his own knowledge of the gatherings where the rules or guidance had been broken”. The committee said that may have been misleading “because there is evidence that he attended them”.
3. December 8, 2021: Johnson said “he relied upon repeated assurances the rules had not been broken” at the gathering of December 18, 2020. But they said “Mr Johnson had personal knowledge which he could have disclosed, although he did not personally attend”.
4. The report said Parliament “may have been misled” when Johnson repeatedly stated he could not answer questions to the House until after Sue Gray’s probe. It said he “appears to have had personal knowledge he did not reveal”.
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Matt Hancock's messages have been leaked (Getty Images)Matt Hancock’s threat to “get heavy” with police on Covid in an August 2020 exchange with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has been blasted.
Ex-Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy told the BBC: “Lots of people in the police won’t be surprised at the tone of these remarks.
“Often it seemed ministers themselves didn’t understand the impact of legislation.”
Second lockdown - ‘I blinked too soon’
The Prime Minister had lockdown regrets (WalesOnline/Rob Browne)Boris Johnson feared he “blinked too soon” in ordering a second national lockdown in November 2020.
The then-PM announced the move based on predictions that 4,000 people a day could die unless curbs were imposed.
But the next day he shared a link suggesting the forecast was wrong, telling aides: “The attack is going to be that we blinked too soon.”
Nigel Farage - can we lock him up?
Aides wanted Nigel Farage 'locked up' (AFP/Getty Images)A Matt Hancock aide suggested locking up Nigel Farage after the ex-UKIP leader posted a video of himself at a pub a fortnight after a trip to the US.
At the time people returning from abroad had to quarantine for 14 days. Leaked WhatsApps show Hancock alerted aides to the story.
One of them, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, replied: “Does he count as a pub hooligan? Can we lock him up?”
Matt vs Rishi - Stop your ‘allies’
Hancock claimed Rishi Sunak's Treasury was briefing against him (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Matt Hancock clashed with Rishi Sunak in a media briefing war at the height of the pandemic, leaked messages show.
In October 2020, the then Health Secretary complained that the Treasury, where Mr Sunak was Chancellor, was briefing against him.
Texts leaked to the Telegraph show he messaged Mr Sunak to say: “Stop your ‘allies’ from briefing against me.”