Boris Johnson said a leaked photo showing Downing Street staff eating cheese and drinking wine in the No 10 garden during lockdown showed “people at work, talking about work”.
The photo, obtained by the Guardian, showed Mr Johnson, his then-fiancee Carrie, and 17 other staff members in the garden on May 15, 2020, with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard on a table in front of the Prime Minister.
Responding to a broadcast question, Boris Johnson acknowledged the photo and said “Those were people at work talking about work.”
He added: “Those were meetings of people at work talking about work.
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"This is where I live, it is where I work. Those were meetings of people at work, talking about work.
“I really think it is vital that we focus if we can on the message we are trying to get across today.
"We face a serious spike in Omicron and we are seeing the cases going up in London, particularly the cases of hospitalisations.
“The answer is to be cautious but also to get vaccinated.”
It echoes similar words said this morning from a Downing Street spokesperson who said: "Work meetings often take place in the Downing Street garden in the summer months. On this occasion there were staff meetings following a No 10 press conference.
"Downing Street is the Prime Minister’s home as well as his workplace. The Prime Minister’s wife lives in No 10 and therefore also legitimately uses the garden."
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the latest photo was “a slap in the face of the British public”.
She told the Guardian: “The Prime Minister consistently shows us he has no regard for the rules he puts in place for the rest of us.
"Alleged drinking and partying late into the evening when the rest of us were only recently getting one daily walk.
"Boris Johnson’s government is run with the attitude that it is one rule for them, and another for everyone else. He is totally unfit to lead our country.”
When Mr Johnson was pressed again about whether people could drink wine at work while sticking to the rules, he added: "I have said what I have said about that."
