• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Johnson insists No 10 leaving do ‘was not a party’

“It was not a social event. If anybody thinks I was partying during lockdown, they are completely wrong."

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2023-03-22 16:45
in Politics
ITV

ITV

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Boris Johnson has insisted that a leaving do for a senior aide in No 10 “was not a party”, despite police fines being handed out for the pandemic-era event.

The former prime minister said it would be “completely wrong” to suggest he had been partying during lockdown, as he was being grilled by MPs over whether he misled the Commons with his denials about partygate.

He was challenged over widely circulated images from Sue Gray’s report showing Mr Johnson giving a toast for departing communications chief Lee Cain.

The pictures showed the then-prime minister raising a glass while surrounded by colleagues and bottles of wine on November 13 2020, days after ordering England’s second national lockdown.

Sir Bernard Jenkin, a member of the Privileges Committee, asked Mr Johnson whether his advice to other organisations during the coronavirus pandemic would have been that leaving dos were acceptable.

Mr Johnson, referencing the image of Mr Cain’s leaving event, replied: “I understand that people looking at that photograph will think it looks like a social event.

“It was not a social event. If anybody thinks I was partying during lockdown, they are completely wrong. That was not a party.”

Questioned on whether he would have told other organisations, if asked at a Government pandemic press conference, that they could hold “unsocially distanced farewell gatherings”, Mr Johnson said: “I would have said it is up to organisations, as the guidance says, to decide how they are going to implement the guidance amongst them.

“Where they can’t do social distancing perfectly, they can’t maintain two metres or one metre, they are entitled to have mitigations.

RelatedPosts

Reform policies would ‘create a fiscal calamity to rival Liz Truss’ – The Economist

Jacob Rees-Mogg faces ‘dilemma’ – after reportedly failing to rule-out a defection to Reform

Scottish Lib Dem leader sold his Tesla after Musk’s salute

MAGA fury after realising Pope Leo XIV is anti-Trump and ‘woke’

“And we did indeed have plenty of mitigations.”

At the time of the November 2020 event, indoor gatherings were banned except for in certain circumstances such as for “work purposes”, and social distancing remained the rule in workplaces.

Related: Steve Baker warns Johnson he risks looking like ‘pound shop Farage’ with Brexit opposition

Tags: Boris JohnsonPartygate

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← US Interest Rates Set to Remain High. What Could This Mean for the Dollar? ← Ad van displaying messages from Covid bereaved driven around Westminster during Johnson inquiry
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->