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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Tom Ambrose, Matthew Weaver and Lucy Campbell

Former Covid taskforce head ‘sorry’ for holding Cabinet Office leaving party ‘with drinks’ in December 2020 – as it happened

Kate Josephs has apologised for holding a lockdown farewell party.
Kate Josephs has apologised for holding a lockdown farewell party. Photograph: Richard Saker/The Observer

This live blog is now closing - than you for reading. For more on Friday’s events, see the stories below.

For more on the global coronavirus situation, please follow the Covid live blog.

Updated

It’s come to something when there’s more accountability in a hereditary monarchy than in our elected government. Even in Buckingham Palace there are consequences for one’s actions, as Prince Andrew learned on Thursday, when he was stripped of his sort-of jobs. In the Palace of Westminster, not so much.

The contrast could hardly be sharper. On one side, a Queen so determined to show that she was not above the rules that she grieved alone as she buried the man she had loved for 73 years. On the other, a prime minister running Downing Street like a frat house, where bottles were reportedly brought in by the suitcase and they danced in the basement even on the eve of that austere royal funeral, even in the midst of a lockdown.

And yet, Johnson remains in his post, his titles still his to use. There’s confident chatter, briefed to the papers, that he’ll get away with it. His team is already spinning in advance the report of the civil service inquisitor Sue Gray, suggesting that she will find no criminal wrongdoing – deliberately misunderstanding the role of her inquiry – thereby setting the bar sufficiently low for Johnson to say he has cleared it and we should all move on.

Updated

When is a party not a party? That has been the question on most of the country’s lips for the past week and now even Sky Sports football pundits have got in on the act.

Gary Neville, now a paid-up member of the Labour party, and Jamie Carragher mocked Boris Johnson’s feeble excuse that he thought he was at a work meeting ahead of tonight’s Premier League fixture between Brighton and Crystal Palace.

Here is the full clip.

Updated

After 70 years on the throne, every aspect of the relationship between the monarch and her prime ministers must surely have become deeply, even sometimes wearyingly, familiar to Elizabeth II. Fourteen very different men and women have held the country’s highest political office since 1952 – 10 Conservatives and four Labour. Ideologically, they cover a wide spectrum of views.

Yet they have all been united by one thing – the intense care they have taken never to embarrass the Queen in the slightest way.

Until Boris Johnson.

The thought of having to make a public apology to the monarch like the one that Johnson made on Friday would likely have sent shivers of shame down the spines of every one of his Downing Street predecessors.

A former senior civil servant who led the government’s Covid taskforce has apologised for having leaving drinks during lockdown before Christmas 2020.

Kate Josephs, who is now chief executive of Sheffield city council, said she was “truly sorry” for the event on 17 December – one day before No 10 held its Christmas party.

The gathering, first revealed by the Telegraph, saw “dozens” of officials from the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce attending the event, while the country was in lockdown.

On that same day, the government’s official Twitter feed replied to a query asking if employers could hold Christmas parties at the end of the working day.

ITV News’ Paul Brand has the latest on whether the Metropolitan Police will be investigating any of the several parties held at Downing Street during lockdown.

He has just tweeted:

Despite a flurry of fresh accusations, admissions and confessions of parties in the last 24 hours, the Met Police say tonight that they will only review their decision not to investigate at this stage if “significant evidence” becomes available.

He then goes on to reel off the mounting pile of significant evidence which the Met seem pretty ambivalent about:

- PM admitting he went to a party on 20th May

- Email leaked to ITV inviting staff to that party

- A video leaked to ITV of staff joking about Xmas party

- Apology from former Head of Comms for party on 17th Apr

In Westminster, the focus is usually on the corridors of power. This week, the spotlight fell on some rather different aisles: the wine shelves of three local shops that appear to have done a roaring trade during lockdown as a party culture gripped Whitehall.

So much so, a suitcase was needed to carry all the booze for one late-night Downing Street “gathering”.

On Friday, when the Guardian visited the three supermarkets closest to No 10 – two branches of Tesco Metro and one Co-op – staff couldn’t recall that particular occasion.

But they said they were accustomed to the sight of well-heeled men and women in suits buying large amounts of wine, often on Friday afternoons or in the evenings.

Good evening. Tom Ambrose here, taking over the UK live blog for the evening, and I will be bringing you the continuing fallout from another busy day in Westminster.

The Independent’s Anna Isaac has a quite remarkable, if unsurprising, story this evening about Boris Johnson drawing up a list of officials to offer resignations in a bid to save his prime ministership. The prime minister himself has reportedly dubbed the plan – and this isn’t a joke – “Operation Save Big Dog”.

The plan is being devised to limit the damage caused by the much-anticipated Sue Gray report, which is expected to be published next week.

It is understood that Dan Rosenfield, Boris Johnson’s chief of staff, and Martin Reynolds, his private secretary and author of the 20 May party invite email, are being considered as possible sacrificial lambs, so to speak.

The Independent reports:

While putting names to the plan is a matter of hot debate, a more broadly accepted idea is that at least one senior political appointee and a senior official must be seen to leave Downing Street over the affair, as both groups share blame, two Whitehall sources said.

A former Tory cabinet minister told the Independent that, although they backed Mr Johnson, they believed a “root and branch” overhaul of No 10 and parts of the Cabinet Office would prove essential to move on from partygate. It would be a “bare minimum to translate contrition into action”, they said.

The “save big dog” plan includes a communications “grid” in the lead up to the investigation’s conclusion and beyond. This comprises lines for supportive ministers to take in press interviews, emphasising a contrite prime minister and listing his achievements amid the difficult choices posed by the pandemic.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street.
Boris Johnson leaving Downing Street. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

It has also been reported that ‘Operation Save Big Dog’ includes sounding out support among Tory backbenchers for possible leadership rivals.

Updated

Don’t expect too much from Sue Gray’s report, cautions the legal commentator David Allen Green.

Writing on his blog, he says:

We know the following: (a) Gray cannot make a determination as to whether there is criminal liability, as she is not a court; (b) Gray cannot make an independent assessment of the application of non-legal guidance to her colleagues as she is not independent; and (c) she cannot determine whether the prime minister or another minister is in breach of the ministerial code, as she is not the prime minister).

None of this is criticism: it just follows from the nature of the investigation.

He adds:

We could end up with something that ‘clears’ everyone – not because of any deliberate whitewashing, but because the investigation was not required to do anything else ...

It is almost as if this investigation was structured in such a way so as to give scope to ministers to leak to the press that they have been ‘cleared’.

ITV’s Harry Horton now has video of Lord Scriven, the former Lib Dem leader of Sheffield city council, calling for the current chief executive of the council, Kate Josephs, to resign.

Updated

Summary

Here’s a roundup of what’s happened today:

  • The former director of the Covid taskforce has apologised for having leaving drinks in her office during lockdown.
    Kate Josephs said she is “truly sorry” for gathering with colleagues for alcoholic drinks in her office in the Cabinet Office to mark her leaving the Civil Service, on 17 December 2020. On the same evening the cabinet secretary Simon Case was holding drinks in office.
  • No 10 has apologised to Buckingham Palace for two parties that took place in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last year, Boris Johnson’s spokesman has revealed. The Daily Telegraph reported that two separate leaving parties, for former director of communications James Slack and a government photographer, were held on 16 April, with drinking continuing into the early hours.
  • Slack apologised for the “anger and hurt” created over the party. He said: “This event should not have happened at the time that it did. I am deeply sorry, and take full responsibility.”
  • Sue Gray, the official investigating gatherings in Whitehall during lockdown, is expected to also investigate the two parties on the 16 April. Parties on at least eight dates are now thought to be part of Gray’s probe.
  • Josephs is facing calls for her resign from her current job as chief executive of Sheffield city council, following the admission. She said she is cooperating with Sue Gray’s investigation into parties in Whitehall during lockdown.
  • The Metropolitan police have been accused of “double standards” after saying they would await the outcome Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged breaches of Covid laws at Downing Street parties. Raj Chada, the head of the criminal defence department at Hodge Jones and Allen, said: “The Met does seem to be saying there is one rule for politicians and one rule for others.”
  • The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said she was “very, very concerned” to hear fresh reports that a party took place in Downing Street. But Truss, who is one of the favourites to succeed Boris Johnson, urged people to “move on” from the scandal.

Long-time Cummings watcher Harry Lambert of the New Statesman thinks the prime minister’s former chief aide is behind the 20 May party leak.

This time last week Cummings virtually promised it was about to come out.

In his Substack blog he wrote:

On Wednesday 20 May, the week after this photo, a senior No10 official invited people to ‘socially distanced drinks’ in the garden.

I and at least one other spad (in writing so Sue Gray can dig up the original email and the warning) said that this seemed to be against the rules and should not happen.

We were ignored. I was ill and went home to bed early that afternoon but am told this event definitely happened.

Updated

The i’s Paul Waugh doesn’t give the prime minister long:

The PM’s literal and political disappearing act will be broken when he re-emerges from isolation for PMQs next week. Yet once the verdict is in on the No 10 parties, his party may want him to take an indefinite leave of absence.

Johnson’s allies are hoping he can survive until the next Queen’s speech legislative programme expected in late May. Disastrous results in the local elections earlier that month (one Tory tells me flagship borough Wandsworth in London is “a goner” and even Westminster may fall) may mean he never gets that far.

Her Majesty may by then have accepted not just an apology from Johnson, but his resignation.

Updated

Kate Josephs is facing calls to resign as chief executive of Sheffield city council after she admitted attending a party in the Cabinet Office during lockdown to mark her departure as head of the Covid task force.

Updated

The barrister Adam Wagner, who has represented some of the people charged with breaking lockdown rules, has some thoughts.

This from Lucy Ashton of the Sheffield Star:

The Metropolitan police have been accused of “double standards” after saying they would await the outcome Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged breaches of Covid laws at Downing Street parties.

Scotland Yard indicated any police investigation would depend on evidence unearthed in the Cabinet Office inquiry carried out by Gray, adding: “If the inquiry identifies evidence of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence it will be passed to the Met for further consideration.”

Some lawyers and policing commentators described the approach as suggesting there was one rule for those in power and another for everyone else.

Raj Chada, the head of the criminal defence department at Hodge Jones and Allen, told the PA news agency:

The Met does seem to be saying there is one rule for politicians and one rule for others.

The idea that ‘we’re just going to wait and see what happens’ is unheard of in criminal investigations because it means that evidence can disappear.

The Met has double standards on this. They broke up the Sarah Everard vigil in pretty heavy-handed terms and the justification was Covid regulations.

The Met is meant to be completely independent and there to safeguard and ensure the law is applied to all, irrespective of status. And it just doesn’t feel like that, does it?


The human rights barrister Kirsty Brimelow, who has defended cases of Covid breaches and is vice-chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said the police “obviously” did not need to wait for an internal inquiry “when they already have evidence and can easily gain more evidence”.

While the force’s policy to not investigate breaches of Covid laws retrospectively might be “best practice”, she said there was a “heightened sense of responsibility and accountability” because this involved a government which imposed the laws on the public.


She added: “If there is an unequal application of law depending on status, this is bad for a functioning rule of law. It is bad for democracy.”

The Good Law Project, which said it had put the Met on notice that it would take legal action if the force failed to investigate parties at Downing Street, warned the approach could damage public trust in the justice system.

A spokesperson for the project said:

We think very clearly that it looks like there is one rule for those in power and one rule for everyone else. And we think it’s intolerable – the operation of a separate criminal justice system, which is a softer one for people in power or those who have influence and a harsher one for those without.

We are very concerned about the level of damage this is doing to public trust in the rule of law.

Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, described the situation as a “gross injustice” and said the Met had issued “thousands” of fines for “minor Covid breaches”, adding that it was “incredible” that the “most heavily policed building in the country” hosted parties and yet the Met was “waiting for people in that same building to produce a report before they decide whether to investigate”.

Jun Pang, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said the Met had “serious questions to answer” over its approach while Norman L Reimer, the chief executive of organisation Fair Trials, said: “We cannot have a justice system where people in power can break lockdown with impunity while others are prosecuted and fined.”

But Nick Aldworth, a former Metropolitan police chief superintendent and counter-terrorism national co-ordinator, told PA a fundamental principle of policing was that forces were “operationally independent from government” and warned that if the force did investigate the allegations of breaches retrospectively then it would be “absolutely right and proper” that it then also looked into any others reported.

Updated

Some better news on the Covid front: The number of new cases has dropped below 100,000 for the first time since Christmas.

The Evening Standard has tracked down a woman who was fined £12,000 for hosting her own birthday party on the day of Prince Philip’s funeral.

Vianna McKenzie-Bramble, 28, was hit with the punishment for the outdoor celebration on April 17 last year, when around 40 people enjoyed food, drink, a DJ set, and a bouncy castle on the Hackney estate where she lives.

So far the Metropolitan police have suggested they plan to take no action against any of the parties in Whitehall, including the two parties in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.

The Economists’ Alex Selby-Boothroyd has a handy chart of the lockdown days when parties were held in Whitehall. We now know that on two of these days, 17 December 2020 and 16 April 2021, at least two parties were held.

Angela Eagle’s joke about it being easier to investigate when parties didn’t happen now seems closer to reality.

Updated

The leaving drinks for Josephs in the Cabinet Office, took place on the same evening on 17 December, the same evening that the cabinet secretary Simon Case, held a gathering in his private office.

When news of that gathering emerged Case had to recuse himself as head of the inquiry into the Christmas party allegations and hand it over to Sue Gray.

Updated

The Telegraph’s Harry Yorke has more on the party on 17 December. He says Josephs’ apology released on Twitter after she was approached by the paper.

Former Covid taskforce head 'sorry' for Cabinet office party

The chief executive of Sheffield City Council, Kate Josephs, has admitted she attended a drinks gathering at the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2020 when she was head of the Covid taskforce.

“I am truly sorry that I did this,” she said in a statement.

She said the drinks were held to mark her leaving the civil service, and that she has been cooperating with Sue Gray’s investigation.

Josephs said:

I have been cooperating fully with the Cabinet Office investigations and I do not want to preempt the findings of the investigation.

The specific facts of this event will be considered in the context of the Cabinet Office investigation. And I did not attend any events at number 10 Downing Street.

Updated

Enjoy...

The former England and Manchester United right back Gary Neville has said “everybody should be raging at the government,” as he revealed he has joined the Labour party.

Neville told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast: “I have joined the Labour Party in the last few days. I want to support Labour. I do believe that we need a progressive Labour Party, but one that actually not just looks after the left side; it has to come towards the centre.”

He also used the podcast to attack Boris Johnson, who he is said was “doing great damage to the country”.

Neville added: “This government is rancid and it’s impacting them terribly,” he tweeted. Neville who has more 5m Twitter followers said: “Boris Johnson is finished. We are going to see the long road to his tenure ending in the few months.”

Boris Johnson approval rating has dropped to minus 52, according to YouGov.

It comes after a YouGov poll, conducted just before Johnson’s Common’s apology ,found Labour had opened a 10 point lead on the Conservatives.

Mo Hussein, a former Conservative special adviser, has said Boris Johnson’s apology over Downing Street lockdown parties “was quite late in the day”.

He told Sky News:

It was a good thing that he made it, but it was also heavily caveated.

And if you are apologising, there’s no real accountability in your apologising for the perception that what somebody might think or feel.

And then you’re also saying it was a work event... there’s a lot in there for people to try and unpack.

I think a lot of people, including lots of backbench MPs, are still quite jittery and quite nervous and with the risk of more and more revelations coming out, it does add to the sense that there isn’t very much transparency and there isn’t very much honesty around. And that is really, really sorely needed to build up confidence in the government.

The prime minister is belatedly learning that a few jokes cannot distract from a catalogue of ego-driven mendacity, writes Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins.

Here is an extract:

Johnson’s problem has not been his lying but his inability to manage it, notably when found out. He has no spin doctor, and on Wednesday had to admit himself to spin A&E. His belief that a winsome and “authentic” personality could make up for a rotten command structure and third-class aides exploded on him.

His critics might accept that governing a pandemic would be a titanic test for even the most experienced of leaders, requiring superhuman skills of authority and persuasion, an ability to call on an unprecedented degree of public trust. But that is all the more reason not to imperil that trust. The prime minister has delivered some successes, including vaccination and the current holdout against lockdown.

But these successes have been swamped by one fiasco after another, leading to a widespread judgment that he is “not fit for purpose”, not up to the job, a charge never made against Blair. A BBC vox pop on Wednesday night was brutal: “I may like him, but enough is enough.”

You can read the full column here: No wonder deceit is dragging Boris Johnson under – he’s not even a good liar

David Cameron’s former communications chief in Downing Street Sir Craig Oliver has said he imagines Boris Johnson will be “deeply worried” about his position.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme:

It’s an incredibly volatile situation, [an] incredibly difficult situation. I imagine he will be deeply worried about his position.

Having said that, I think that what’s going on at the moment is that the Cabinet and MPs are probably weighing up ‘are we better with him or better without him’? At the moment there are a few unknowns and I think most of them are prepared to see what happens with Sue Gray.

He added:

The other thing, I think, that will be coming into their calculations is there’s actually quite a long time to run on this parliament and replacing Boris Johnson with somebody new - they’re going to be facing the cost of living crisis, any number of other big problems that are on the horizon.

Is replacing somebody at this time and putting them in that difficult circumstance actually going to be the best thing for them long term? So, I think that there’s quite a sophisticated calculation that’s going on at the moment.

Updated

This is from Liz Bates, political correspondent at Channel 4 News

The prime minister’s lies have caught up with him and Covid still lurks waiting to deliver two red lines, writes John Crace in the latest Digested Week column.

Here is the extract we all deserve on the parties that weren’t parties:

After lying low for a couple of days, Boris Johnson was forced out in to the open to appear at prime minister’s questions and was finally obliged to provide an explanation for why he attended the Downing Street party on 20 May 2020.

First he gave a half-hearted, insincere apology for any wrongdoing people may have perceived him to make. Not for the breaches of the law and the lying to both parliament and the country.

Then he got to the details of the party. Or rather the party that was not a party. What we were asked to believe was that Johnson was one of the stupidest men alive, and had failed to notice he had been at a party until alerted to it by a leak to the press more than 18 months later.

Here was the chronology. He definitely hadn’t authorised or read the email inviting everyone at No 10 to the party – why would he bother with anything sent by his principal private secretary? – and the “we” in the invitation in no way suggested it might have come from the prime minister.

Then, completely coincidentally, he had wandered downstairs to where the party was being held. Once there he had done a double-take and just assumed it was a “work event”. After all it was completely normal to find trestle tables in the garden stacked with sausage rolls and booze and people getting pissed at work events.

That his wife had also been there with two friends had only reinforced his impression it was a work event. As had the complaints from some admin staff the next day at having to clear up the empties from the flowerbeds.

Alarmingly, his cabinet – with the exception of Rishi Sunak – are just as dim as they appeared quite comfortable with such obvious bollocks. No 10 was a special case, they said, because it was both a home and an office. Well, so is my mum’s care home and no one had a party there.

Read the full column here: Digested week: Boris Johnson stumbles across a much-needed work event

Updated

Buckingham Palace declines to comment after Downing Street issues apology to Queen

The quickest of snaps from PA Media here.

Asked to respond to the announcement of Downing Street’s apology, Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Updated

PM must 'do decent thing and resign', says Starmer

Keir Starmer has again called on Boris Johnson to resign following the disclosure that No 10 apologised to Buckingham Palace for parties held during national mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh.

“This shows just how seriously Boris Johnson has degraded the office of prime minister,” the Labour leader said.

“The Conservatives have let Britain down. An apology isn’t the only thing the prime minister should be offering the palace today.

“Boris Johnson should do the decent thing and resign.”

Updated

Earlier today, the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, warned the government that it would “entirely inappropriate” for any details of the inquiry into alleged Whitehall parties to be leaked.

He told the Commons that he would treat any leaking of the official report of the investigation as “a gross discourtesy to the house”.

He said:

It will be entirely inappropriate and discourteous to the house for any findings of the inquiry to be released to the media before being announced to this house.

I cannot be clearer on this matter and expect the government to announce the findings of the inquiry to this house first, and I will treat any failure to do so as a gross discourtesy to this house.

He was responding to a point of order from Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain after she raised concerns over the reports in the Telegraph of the two parties in Downing Street in April 2021.

Chamberlain also referred to a Times report which detailed the likely conclusion of the inquiry, and questioned what guidance the Speaker could offer to government ministers and officials to ensure “they do not leak the outcomes” of the investigation as part of attempts to exonerate the prime minister before it has been presented to MPs.

Updated

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has called on the prime minister to make a public statement on the latest party allegations and to resign.

She said:

Boris Johnson is yet again insulting the intelligence of the British people rather than just doing the decent thing and coming clean.

So many people lost loved ones in unimaginably lonely circumstances. The denials and excuses from Downing Street are causing them further hurt.

We have a prime minister up to his neck in scandals of his own making. He can no longer do his job but is so desperate to save his own skin he is looking for anyone else to blame. He can’t keep hiding.

Updated

The UK government and the Conservative party have been rocked by a series of claims about staff parties held in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall. Some have argued the “partygate” scandal could ultimately topple the prime minister.

With more than 175,000 Covid deaths to date, the Guardian has plotted the UK death toll against dates on which the staff parties are alleged to have occurred, as well as previous controversies involving alleged breaches of lockdown rules and Johnson’s recent comments on the 2020 gatherings.

Here is the interactive timeline my colleagues have put together of all the alleged Downing Street lockdown parties and UK deaths, what Covid rules were in place at the time and what Boris Johnson said.

It is well worth your time: How No 10’s alleged parties took place as UK Covid death toll rose – interactive

Downing Street apologises to Buckingham Palace over parties on eve of Philip's funeral

No 10 has apologised to Buckingham Palace for two parties that took place in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last year, Boris Johnson’s spokesman has revealed.

The Daily Telegraph reported that two separate leaving parties, for former director of communications James Slack and a government photographer, were held on 16 April, with drinking continuing into the early hours.

The prime minister’s spokesman said:

It’s deeply regrettable that this took place at a national mourning, and Number 10 has apologised to the Palace for that.

He declined to say whether Johnson would personally apologise to the Queen at his next private audience with her, but said the prime minister recognised the public’s “significant anger,” about lockdown-busting social events.

The monarch mourned alone at her husband’s funeral, because Covid rules at the time prohibited indoor mixing.

More to follow: No 10 apologises to palace over parties on eve of Prince Philip funeral

Updated

Large crowds are being allowed to return to outdoor events in Wales and nightclubs are set to re-open as the government in Cardiff said the Omicron “storm” had been weathered.

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, also said it would no longer be a legal requirement for people to work from home, though it would still be important for them to do so if possible.

Drakeford thanked citizens for obeying the rules, which have been in place in Wales since Boxing Day, and for everyone who has been involved in the vaccination programme.

He said:

The actions we have taken together have helped us to weather the omicron storm. The latest data suggests some positive signs that the peak may have passed.

We can now look more confidently to the future and plan to start gradually removing the alert level two restrictions, starting with the outdoors measures.

But the pandemic is not over. We will closely monitor the public health situation – this is a fast-moving and volatile variant, which could change suddenly. I urge everyone to continue to follow the rules and have your vaccines to keep Wales safe.

The latest public health data in Wales suggests cases of Coronavirus have started to fall back from their very high levels. More than two-thirds of people aged 12 and over have received a booster or third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Drakeford said that from tomorrow (Saturday) the number of people who can be present at outdoor events will rise from 50 to 500.

Then from Friday 21 January, Wales will move to alert level zero for all outdoor activities, meaning there will be no limits on the number of people who can take part in outdoor activities.

The government said this meant:

  • Crowds will be able to return to outdoor sporting events
  • Outdoor hospitality will be able to operate without additional measures.
  • But a Covid pass will be required for entry to larger outdoor events.
  • If the downward trend continues, from Friday 28 January Wales will move to alert level zero for all indoor activities.
  • Nightclubs will be able to re-open.
  • Working from home would remain important but it would no longer be a legal requirement.
  • Businesses, employers and other organisations must undertake a specific Coronavirus risk assessment and take reasonable measures to minimise the spread of Covid.
  • The Covid pass will be required for entry to nightclubs, events, cinemas, concert halls and theatres.
  • The rule of six, table service and 2m physical distancing will no longer required in hospitality.

A quick snap from PA reporting that fresh allegations of rule-breaking in Downing Street on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral will be covered by the Sue Gray inquiry.

The PA news agency understands that the senior official will consider the reports as part of her investigation into gatherings across Whitehall.

It comes after security minister Damian Hinds earlier said the new revelations would form part of Gray’s probe.

The Mirror’s Pippa Crerar hears the same

Updated

The leaving-do claims surrounding James Slack, the deputy editor of the Sun, have prompted scrutiny of the tabloid’s coverage of alleged lockdown-breaking events that took place in Downing Street. Our media editor, Jim Waterson, has this analysis:

Boris Johnson goes into the weekend with his fate in the hands of Tory MPs, writes the Spectator’s Katy Balls.

An extract reads:

While few believe there will be enough letters to trigger a confidence vote in the next few weeks, Johnson could find himself under more pressure next week after MPs return from a weekend in their constituencies where they will get a sense of how much this is – or isn’t – cutting through. A sign of trouble ahead comes from the Sutton Coldfield Conservative Association which has unanimously passed a motion calling on Johnson to stand down. The constituency is represented by Andrew Mitchell and has a Conservative majority of nearly 20,000. It’s for the reasons above that numerous ministers, MPs and government aides believe a leadership election this year is more likely than not.

You can read the full column here (paywall): Tory MPs have Boris Johnson’s fate in their hands

More from the veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale who described parties in Downing Street during periods when coronavirus restrictions were in place as “wholly unacceptable”, adding that he does not hold the prime minister responsible for the events but for overseeing “a culture” of bending the rules.

He told Sky News:

I think the events that took place on that evening [in April 2021] were wholly unacceptable and completely insensitive, and should never have happened.

That said, I don’t hold the prime minister personally responsible, because he was not there, but it does reveal, I think, a culture within Downing Street that obviously stems from the top and should not be permitted.

He added:

It is just another event in a chapter of incidents which should not have happened.

I do think that minds are now, over this weekend, being focused upon the need to take the necessary action.

I clearly don’t know, and I shouldn’t know, how many of my colleagues have put in letters - I’m not canvassing them or seeking support for what I have done myself - but I believe that there is some momentum which is growing.

The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, accused Boris Johnson of overseeing a “culture” that enabled boozy parties to be held at No 10 while the country was in lockdown and called on him to resign and apologise to the Queen.

Speaking to Sky News, she said:

We are waiting for the prime minister to look into his heart and soul and decide whether or not he has a scrap of human decency in him.

Because if he does he will resign. How the hell can he possibly expect to go before Her Majesty again at a weekly audience and be able to look her in the eye and pretend everything is alright?

The one thing she should be saying to Her Majesty is: ‘I’m profoundly sorry and I resign’.

She said similar appearing on Good Morning Britain, which you can view here:

The senior Conservative MP Julian Knight has said he was “open-minded” about the future direction of the Tories, but stopped short of calling for Boris Johnson to resign immediately.

He told Times Radio he would consider his options following Sue Gray’s report, adding:

What I would say is that it will be charitable to say that partygate, if you like, is due to acts of extreme stupidity on behalf of those at No 10.

Asked if that meant he thought the PM had been stupid, he said it applied to “anyone involved”.

The Solihull MP said he was “very open-minded about the future direction” of the party.

When asked if that meant there was a possibility Johnson would not survive the allegations, he said:

I think everyone would think that, wouldn’t they?

Knight, who chairs the digital, culture, media and sport committee, went on:

I’ve had many people who aren’t normal correspondents, so they aren’t people who regularly write to me in order to say the government is terrible, Boris is this whatever, you know, we do get quite a few correspondents of that nature.

These are, I’d say about half of those - because I do monitor it very closely - are new correspondents and that is always a red sign on the dashboard.

'We need to move on': Liz Truss backs PM after fresh reports of No 10 parties

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said she was “very, very concerned” to hear fresh reports that a party took place in Downing Street the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, PA Media reports.

Speaking to reporters at Chevening, her official residence in Kent, Truss was asked how she felt when she heard the details of the parties at Downing Street revealed on Thursday night, including the suitcase full of wine, dancing in the basement and a broken children’s swing.

She said:

When I heard about this I was, of course, very, very concerned. And I understand that people across the country are angry about what has happened.

Earlier this week the prime minister did apologise for mistakes that have been made. We have the inquiry taking place by Sue Gray and we are very clear that there were real mistakes made.

She went on to say that people should “move on” after Boris Johnson apologised for attending a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.

Asked about questions from fellow Tory MPs over the PM’s “moral authority”, she told reporters:

The prime minister apologised on Wednesday. He was very clear that mistakes have been made.

I do think we need to look at the overall position we’re in as a country: the fact that he has delivered Brexit, that we are recovering from Covid - we’ve got one of the fastest-growing economies now in the G7 and we’re delivering the booster programme.

He has apologised, I think we now need to move on and talk about how we are going to sort out issues. I’ve spent the last 24 hours with the EU, talking about sorting out the situation for the people of Northern Ireland. And we now need to get on with that and, of course, wait for the results of the Sue Gray inquiry.

She added:

I completely understand people’s anger and dismay about what has happened. The prime minister apologised to the House on Wednesday, I 100% support him to continue getting on with the job.

Meanwhile, a councillor from the Sutton Coldfield Conservatives, an association in a safe Tory seat which withdrew its support for Boris Johnson on Thursday, said the move reflected “local views at the very grassroots levels”.

Councillor Simon Ward told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

The conversation we had last night ... was really about what I think we have the right to expect from our leaders and the standards of leadership we expect from them, and the trust that we put in them.

He went on:

This is about what the right thing is for politics, what the right thing is for our leaders, how this reflects on our country as well, and it’s just massively disappointing and it reflects very, very poorly on us as a nation as well.

These are from Jonathan Walker, the political editor of the Birmingham Post and Mail

The Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale, a longtime critic of the prime minister, said the gatherings were “wholly unacceptable”, and confirmed he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson to the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.

On Thursday evening his Tory colleague Andrew Bridgen became the fifth MP to have publicly said they had written to committee chairman Sir Graham Brady.

Bridgen, a leading Brexiteer who supported Johnson when he successfully ran as Tory leader and campaigned alongside him during the referendum in 2016, announced he handed in a letter of no confidence in the prime minister and called for him to leave within three months, telling the Telegraph (paywall) there was a “moral vacuum at the heart of our government”.

But the paper reported that as many as 30 letters have been submitted so far, with a total of 54 needed to trigger a vote.

Sir Roger told Sky News:

I have been described as a serial critic of the prime minister and, in a sense, that is true.

My letter calling for a leadership election goes back to the Barnard Castle event when the prime minister failed to take what I regarded as appropriate decisions and actions to remove [former chief aide Dominic] Cummings from office, because what happened then was quite wrong.

I decided then that if the prime minister was not capable of exercising the right kind of judgment, then we had to have another prime minister.

As he often does, Sir Roger praised Johnson’s delivery of the vaccine rollout and Brexit, but added:

The problem is that the man’s judgment is flawed.

He added:

I don’t think that the image of the Downing Street branch of the Majestic Wine Warehouse is doing us any good at all.

Another four Tory MPs, including the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, have openly called for Johnson to resign.

According to Tory party rules, if more than 15% of the party’s MPs, currently 54, submit letters to Brady, there has to be a vote on the leadership. Should Johnson lose such a vote, a leadership challenge would ensue in which he could not take part.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, the security minister, Damian Hinds, admitted to being “shocked to read” the reports of leaving dos held at Downing Street in April last year.

Hinds said he did not know many details of the alleged events as the story has only just broken, but added:

If the details that are in this story turn out to be true, clearly people are going to form their judgement.

He said “action can be taken” against any individuals found to have committed wrongdoing by senior civil servant Sue Gray, who is carrying out an investigation into parties held in Downing Street and elsewhere across Whitehall.

He added that he had confidence in Boris Johnson as prime minister.

I am entirely behind the prime minister and the government, and I think the leadership that the prime minister has shown, particularly through the coronavirus, has been very strong.

These are from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice

The revelations in The Telegraph (paywall) last night are set to heap yet more pressure on the prime minister, who is facing calls to resign, including from some of his own MPs, after admitting earlier this week that he took part in an event in the No 10 garden in May 2020, during the first Covid lockdown.

The reports were met with fury across the political spectrum as more Tory MPs called for Boris Johnson to be deposed as leader.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner wrote on Twitter:

I have no words for the culture & behaviours at number 10 and the buck stops with the PM.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, tweeted:

Whilst she [the Queen] mourned, Number 10 partied. Johnson must go.

The Queen, in mourning black, wearing a face mask and sitting apart from the rest of her family, at her husband’s funeral, became one of the defining images of England’s national lockdown.
The Queen, in mourning black, wearing a face mask and sitting apart from the rest of her family, at her husband’s funeral, became one of the defining images of England’s national lockdown. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/AP

Updated

In case you missed it (!), last night The Telegraph (paywall) published reports that staff inside No 10 held two staff leaving dos featuring alcohol, and one with loud music, on the evening before Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral in April last year.

Eyewitnesses told the paper a combined total of about 30 people took part in what appeared to be social events in different parts of Downing Street, before both gatherings combined in the garden.

According to one attender, a staff member was sent with a suitcase to the Co-op on the Strand, a short walk away, returning with the case filled with bottles of wine.

Boris Johnson was not at Downing Street that evening, having gone to Chequers, the prime ministerial country retreat, on the Thursday evening and remaining into the weekend.

At the time, England was in stage two of the government’s gradual relaxation from lockdown. Up to six people or two families could meet outside, while indoors, people could only socialise with their household or support bubble.

One of the events at No 10 marked the departure from government of James Slack, who was the prime minister’s official spokesperson under both Theresa May and Johnson, before becoming Johnson’s director of communications, according to the Telegraph. He is now deputy editor of the Sun.

The other was for one of Johnson’s personal photographers, the paper reported. Witnesses told the Telegraph that the event to mark the photographer’s departure mainly took place in the basement area of No 10, with loud music playing.

Both groups reportedly moved outside around midnight, with drinking carrying on into the early hours of the morning. While in the garden one attender broke a swing belonging to Johnson’s infant son, Wilfred, a witness told the paper.

More on that story here: Two Downing Street parties held evening before Prince Philip’s funeral – reports

PM's former aide apologises for 'anger and hurt' caused by Downing Street party

Good morning. The row over parties at Downing Street continues to rumble on, with further allegations of events taking place including two the night before Prince Philip’s funeral.

On Friday morning, James Slack, the PM’s former head of communications, has apologised for the ‘anger and hurt’ caused by one of those parties, held as his leaving party. Slack has said he cannot comment further as the matter has been referred to the Sue Gray inquiry, as my colleague Peter Walker reports:

I’ll be bringing you fresh updates on the saga for the next six hours. Please feel free to contact me if you have any tips or insight to share:

Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com

Twitter: @lucy_campbell_

You can follow the latest Covid developments in our global liveblog here:

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