What happened behind the gates of Downing Street, the most famous street in the UK, between May 2020 and April 2021? How much “ booze parties » (“alcoholic evenings”), Christmas parties and farewell drinks took place there when the British had to comply with the health constraints imposed by the Johnson government, give up their family reunions, without being able to attend the last moments of their loved ones or even at their funeral? The revelations that follow one another, without being, for the most part, denied by Boris Johnson and his entourage, paint the picture of a “bubble” which dictated the rules for the rest of the country, but only respected them in dotted lines. .
The tabloid, close to Labor, DailyMirror, at the origin of a large part of the revelations, counted “at least fifteen parties” since the start of the pandemic, especially in Downing Street but also in Whitehall (the adjoining ministerial buildings, in the heart of the Westminster district). Boris Johnson, of whom at least two dozen Tory MPs are calling for the departure – “ In the name of God, go! », launched a party baron, David Davies, on Wednesday January 19 –, is accused of assisting “at least four events”. The only one to which he admitted his presence is that of May 20, 2020. It was a “BYOB” (“ Bring your own bottle », “bring your own bottle”). The invitations had been sent by his chief of staff, Martin Reynolds.
In his email, published by the ITV channel on January 10, Mr. Reynolds offered the guests to “enjoy the good weather and share a drink in a socially distanced way in Downing Street Gardens”. According to unnamed sources, cited by British media, around 40 people attended the party, including Mr Johnson and his fiancée Carrie – who became his wife in 2021.
“No one told me it was against the rules”
One hour before this “ BYOB party », the Minister of Culture, Oliver Dowden, explained, from 9 Downing Street (the building where the press room is located), that the British were not allowed to meet more than two outside. Boris Johnson apologized on January 12 in the House of Commons: “When I went into the garden, just after 6 p.m., to thank the teams before returning to work at my office twenty-five minutes later, I implicitly thought it was a work event. »
“No one told me it was against the rules,” he added on Sky News on January 18. In a blog post published the day before, Dominic Cummings, his ex-special adviser who has become his worst enemy, assures us that the leader “lied to Parliament” (which would constitute a violation of the ministerial code and would force him to resign). Mr Johnson would have been made aware, in advance, that the party violated the rules of confinement, claims Mr Cummings.
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