Boris Johnson has apologized and a senior assistant has resigned over footage showing number 10 advisers haunting a Christmas party in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown.
The prime minister has ordered an inquiry into allegations that staff broke the shutdown rules by holding a Christmas party last year and told MPs he was “furious” at the footage, apparently showing helpers laughing at it.
Allegra Stratton, who was the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman, resigned after the leaked clip surfaced, offering “deep apologies” and saying she would “regret these remarks for the rest of my days”.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly insisted that the rules be followed in Downing Street since the allegations first surfaced about the party on December 18, 2020.
But to the Prime Minister’s question in the Commons, he said he based this position on assurances from younger employees.
Johnson said he had asked Cabinet Secretary Simon Case “to establish all the facts and report back as soon as possible – and it goes without saying that if these rules were broken, there will be disciplinary action for all involved”.
Asked by the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson said: “I understand and share the anger up and down the country over seeing No. 10 staff who seem to take lockdown measures lightly, and I can understand how annoying it must be to think that people who have been setting the rules have not followed the rules because I was also furious to see that clip.
“I apologize unreservedly for the violation it has caused up and down the country, and I apologize for the impression it gives.
“But I repeat that I have been repeatedly insured since these allegations surfaced, that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken, and that is what I have been repeatedly assured of.”
In a tearful statement outside his home, Stratton apologized for his appearance in footage recorded a few days after the alleged party.
She had attended a fake press conference in preparation for the planned White House briefings she would face – a project that was eventually abandoned.
In the footage from ITV News, Mrs Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, were filmed jokingly about a “fictional” Downing Street party.
A grinning Mrs. Stratton said, “This fictitious party was a business meeting … and it was not socially distant.”
Her appearance in the briefing room stood in stark contrast to her emotional statement on Wednesday, in which she told reporters: “My remarks seemed to shed light on the rules, rules that people did everything to obey.
“It has never been my intention. I will regret these remarks for the rest of my days, and I give all of you at home my deepest apologies for them.”
Mrs Stratton, who had worked as Mr Johnson’s spokeswoman for the Cop26 climate summit, said she understood people’s anger and frustration.
“To all of you who lost loved ones, who endured an unbearable loneliness, and who struggled with your business, I’m really sorry, and this afternoon I offer my departure to the Prime Minister.”
The Prime Minister’s decision to launch an investigation followed a week of official denials that the party took place on December 18, 2020, when London was under Tier 3 restrictions – despite reports, staff drank alcohol and exchanged secret Santa gifts.
Downing Street’s official line has now changed with the announcement of the inquiry, with the Prime Minister’s press secretary refusing to repeat the statement that “there was no party”.
She said, “it would not be right to comment further” while Mr Case was investigating.
Number 10 would not provide a timetable for Mr Case’s inquiry to end, but the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said “we want it to happen as soon as possible”.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister’s apology “raises more questions than answers” as he had been “caught red-handed”.
He added: “Millions of people now believe that the Prime Minister took them for fools, that they were lied to. They are not right?”
In response to inquiries from Sir Keir, the Prime Minister agreed that any evidence revealed by the Cabinet Secretary about parties in Downing Street would be handed over to the police.
The appearance of the footage of Mrs Stratton’s fake press conference gave rise to anger on the Tory benches over Mr Johnson’s number 10 operation.
“This fictitious party was a business meeting … and it was not socially distant”
Video obtained by @ITVNews shows No10 employees laughing at a Downing Street party last Christmas
See analysis from @PaulbrandITV and @Peston on News at
Full story: https://t.co/0ItROuHAv6 pic.twitter.com/ayBSl77oLS
– ITV News (@itvnews) December 7, 2021
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said Mr Johnson should resign if he was found to have misled Parliament.
He told Sky News: “If he knew there was a party, if he knew it was taking place, then he can not come to the House of Commons and say there was no party.”
As a sign of further potential difficulties for Mr Johnson, his former aide Dominic Cummings – who has become a prominent critic – suggested that Mr Case’s inquiry should look at parties in the Prime Minister’s apartment in Downing Street.
Will CABSEC also be asked to investigate the * flat * party on Friday 13th. nov, the other apartment parties and the apartment’s “bubble” policy …?
– Dominic Cummings (@ Dominic2306) December 8, 2021
Downing Street said Mr Case’s inquiry would only look at events related to the December 18 event, rather than a “flat party” on November 13, to which Mr Cummings referred.
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