“This is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now,” Boris Johnson joked to No 10 staff at an alcohol-fuelled leaving do during a Covid lockdown, it has been reported.
The alleged remarks by the former prime minister, who was ousted by his own MPs in significant part because of the Partygate scandal, cast doubt on his claims he did not know gatherings broke Covid laws in place at the time.
The Commons privileges committee inquiry into whether Johnson misled MPs about law-breaking parties during the pandemic, a serious breach of parliamentary rules that could end his career as an MP, restarts on Wednesday before hearings expected within weeks.
Johnson was said to have made the remark as staff gathered round a table filled with alcohol and party snacks to hear him toast his outgoing director of communications, Lee Cain, in November 2020.
A source told ITV: “I was working late. Some music came on, the mumbling – sort of – rose, and there were loads of people stood around, but this time I came out because I heard the prime minister speaking and that’s when I heard the quote: ‘This is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now,’ and everyone was laughing about it.”
At the time, England was covered by a second national lockdown, with indoor gatherings banned except for in certain circumstances such as “work purposes”, and social distancing remained the rule in workplaces.
A spokesperson for Johnson did not deny the comment but said the then PM had “worked constantly” to ensure the government did all it could to save lives and protect livelihoods during the pandemic.
The claim is one of several new allegations in an ITV podcast series, Partygate: the Inside Story, including that some No 10 staff “corroborated their stories” before filling out Scotland Yard questionnaires about their potential role in rule-breaking parties.
The Guardian has also been told that one senior Tory figure close to the prime minister, who was present at several of the gatherings, instructed others in the room to “corroborate their stories” before completing their questionnaires.
Other claims in the ITV podcast include that No 10 staff deliberately destroyed evidence of partying before the Sue Gray and Metropolitan police investigations.
Downing Street sources have said only half of the parties that occurred were ever investigated by the Sue Gray report. Similar claims have been made by government insiders to the Guardian.
Johnson’s premiership was rocked last year by a series of explosive allegations of lockdown-breaking social gatherings in Downing Street and the heart of government, which multiple sources claimed he either “turned a blind eye” to, encouraged and in several cases joined.
He was fined as part of the police investigations into the events, making him the first prime minister to have been found to have broken the law while in office.
A spokesperson for Johnson said: “During the Covid-19 pandemic Boris Johnson led our country through its most dangerous peacetime crisis in living memory. As prime minister during a 24/7 national emergency he worked constantly to ensure the government did everything possible in its power to save lives and protect livelihoods.
“Mr Johnson pays heartfelt tribute to the heroic frontline workers who battled the pandemic, many of whom lost their lives. Their service to our country will always be remembered.
“He is also incredibly grateful for the efforts of hardworking staff who were working in central government – the vast majority of them civil servants – who helped coordinate the UK’s national response from 10 Downing Street, across Whitehall and throughout the wider UK government. Their work was crucial as they helped marshal the UK government’s response during a national emergency.”
