Downing Street Parties

 

How many Covid lockdown parties were held in Downing Street?

Timeline: The alleged government gatherings

The government is facing mounting pressure over several events that are alleged to have been held during lockdowns. Here is what we know about them and the restrictions in place at the time:

10 May 2020

Boris Johnson announced a plan to take the “first careful steps" out of the lockdown that began in March 2020. But he said people should continue to "obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them”.

Legal restrictions at the time said you could not leave your house without a reasonable excuse and government guidance was that you could meet one person outside of your household in an outdoor setting while exercising many business listings.

15 May 2020

A photo from May 2020 showed the prime minister and his staff with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard in the Downing Street garden. When asked about it, Boris Johnson said, “Those people were at work talking about work”.

20 May 2020

About 100 people were invited by email to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden” on behalf of the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds.

Witnesses told the BBC the PM and his wife was among about 30 people who attended.

Boris Johnson has confirmed he attended the event, saying he was there for 25 minutes and “believed implicitly that this was a work event”.

17 July 2020

Boris Johnson announced plans for a “significant return to normality" in England by Christmas "through targeted, local action” instead of national lockdowns.

But he added that the timetable relied on “every one of us staying alert and acting responsibly”.

5 November 2020

With cases of coronavirus rising again, the prime minister told people in England that “we are once again asking you to stay at home” as a new national lockdown began.

He said people should only leave their homes “for work if you can’t work from home, for education, and for essential activities and emergencies”. Indoor gatherings with other households were banned unless they were for work purposes business listings.

13 November 2020

Sources told the BBC that Downing Street staff members attended a gathering with Carrie Johnson in the flat where she and the prime minister live. A spokesman for Mrs. Johnson denies the party took place.

27 November 2020

A leaving event was held for No 10 aide, Cleo Watson, where people were drinking, and Mr Johnson made a speech, according to sources.

2 December 2020

The second national lockdown ended after four weeks but Boris Johnson replaced those restrictions with “tough tiers to keep this virus down”.

London was placed in tier two, which banned two or more people from different households from meeting indoors, unless “reasonably necessary” for work purposes.

10 December 2020

The Department for Education has confirmed it had an office gathering to thank staff for their work during the pandemic. It says drinks and snacks were brought by those who attended and no outside guests or support staff was invited.

14 December 2020

The Conservative Party has admitted that an “unauthorized gathering” took place at its HQ in Westminster. It was held by the team of the party's London-mayoral candidate, Shaun Bailey, who has since stepped down as chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee. The Metropolitan Police is to speak to two people who attended the party.

Image caption

The gathering at the Conservative Party headquarters was described as ‘raucous’

IMAGE COPYRIGHT BYLY MIRROR

15 December 2020

Multiple sources have told the BBC there was a Christmas quiz for No 10 staff last year. A photo - published by the Sunday Mirror - showed Boris Johnson taking part and sitting between two colleagues in No 10. Mr Johnson has denied any wrongdoing free business listings.

Image caption

Mr Johnson was pictured in the No 10 library under a portrait of Margaret ThatcherUNDAY MIRROR

16 December 2020

London moved into the highest tier of restrictions and Matt Hancock, who was health secretary at the time, said it was important “everyone is cautious” ahead of the festive period.

The Department for Transport apologized after confirming reports of a party in its offices that day, calling it “inappropriate" and an "error of judgment” by staff.

17 December 2020

A leaving party was held at the Cabinet Office for the outgoing head of the civil service Covid taskforce - the team responsible for drawing up coronavirus restrictions.

Kate Josephs, now chief executive of Sheffield City Council, apologized for the event, saying she was “truly sorry that I did this and for the anger that people will feel as a result”.

18 December 2020

Downing Street originally denied a report by the Daily Mirror that a party took place in Downing Street.

However, a video obtained by ITV News showed the prime minister's then-press secretary Allegra Stratton, joking about reports of an event, saying: “This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.”

12 April 2021

Lockdown restrictions were eased in England, with pubs and restaurants allowed to reopen with outdoor service only.

However, working from home continued to be recommended, and socializing indoors with people from other households was not allowed. Meeting others outdoors was limited to groups of six people or two households.

16 April 2021

Two parties were held by Downing Street staff at No 10, the night before Prince Philip's funeral.

One of the events was a leaving party for the PM's then director of communications James Slack, who has apologized for the event and acknowledged it “should not have happened at the time that it did”.

Boris Johnson was not at either party.

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The Covid rules when Downing Street parties were held

Related Topics

Conservative Party

Coronavirus lockdown measures

UK government

Carrie Symonds

Boris Johnson

What Covid rules were broken?

Two staff parties were held at Downing Street the night before the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in April 2021, it has emerged.

The gatherings, which took place during Covid restrictions, are the latest of a number of parties involving people linked to the government to be revealed. An investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray is underway.

What are the latest revelations?

Two leaving parties at 10 Downing Street took place on 16 April 2021 and went on until the early hours.

One was for the prime minister's outgoing director of communications, James Slack.

He has apologized for the "anger and hurt" caused by the event.

Another event - elsewhere in the building - was for one of the prime minister's photographers, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Later in the evening, the two events merged and continued in the Downing Street garden until after midnight.

Boris Johnson did not attend and was at his official country residence, Chequers, at the time.

What were the Covid rules on 16 April 2021?

Throughout the pandemic, there has been a mixture of legal restrictions and guidance about how people should behave.

Legal restrictions are underpinned by sanctions such as fines, or prosecution.

Guidance is strong advice set out by the government. But unless it's also backed up in law, there are no fines or prosecution for breaking guidelines.

On 16 April 2021, legal restrictions banned gatherings indoors between different households (unless in a support bubble).

There was an exemption for "work purposes" but this did not mention socializing at work. The law only allowed up to six people to meet in private gardens.

The guidance said: "You can gather in larger groups or meet indoors where it is necessary for your work. This does not include social gatherings with work colleagues."

What was the drinks party attended by the PM?

These latest revelations come days after the prime minister apologized for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden, during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020.

Details of the event - to which up to 100 people had been invited to "bring your own booze" - were revealed by ITV News earlier this week.

Mr Johnson and his girlfriend (now wife) Carrie were among 30 people understood to have attended the event on 20 May that year.

The list of alleged government lockdown gatherings

What were the Covid rules on 20 May 2020?

Legal restrictions said that people could not leave their homes - or be outside the place they live - without a reasonable excuse, which included work (where you couldn't work from home), exercise, and getting things like food and medicine.

For people who broke these rules, the police in England could find them £100 for the first offense which could then double for each further offense up to a maximum of £3,200.