Downing Street party: Is 'pork pie plot' a serious threat to the PM? - BBC News

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As we talked about here on Monday night, Tory MPs can take steps to get rid of their leader without having to tell anyone about it other than Sir Graham Brady, the head honcho of the backbenches.

So it is always impossible to know how many of them at any one time really mean it when they say they are involved in trying to make a change.

But it most definitely is the case that conversations about doing so are on the rise.

A group of around 20 MPs that were first elected in 2019 are said to have met on Tuesday, after two other meetings recently, to talk about what to do.

And it's suggested there's a notion that they will as, a group, submit their letters to Sir Graham after Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday afternoon.

• Nobody warned me drinks event was against rules - PM
• How many No 10 lockdown parties do we know about?
• Downing Street party: What is Sue Gray investigating?

A couple that have spoken privately seem determined to do so.

But it is not clear at this stage how many of them will go through with it when the moment comes.

And we don't know that if they did, how close that tranche would take the number of letters to the threshold of 54, that could trigger a leadership contest.

It is clear though, worryingly for No 10, that their grouping has been in touch with other disaffected MPs.

Links across political generations, and across ideological groups, could form a dangerous circle for Mr Johnson.

Yet a member of the cabinet dismissed this potential move as being run by "idiots", who don't pose a serious threat to the PM, joking that their efforts were a "pork pie plot" because one of the group is Alicia Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Melton (home of the pork pie).

For her part, colleagues say Ms Kearns has been unfairly targeted and that she's not leading any rebellion.

And a member of the government also sounded a note of caution, saying: "Are we really going to get rid of a prime minister with a huge majority over a drinks party?"

Many Conservative MPs believe that it's better to wait at least to see what Sue Gray's official report into the No 10 shenanigans concludes.

Yet it seems tonight not all Tory members are willing to wait.

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2022-01-18 19:22:48Z
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Downing Street parties: Dominic Cummings will be interviewed as part of Cabinet Office investigation - Sky News

Dominic Cummings will be interviewed as part of an investigation into parties and gatherings at Downing Street during coronavirus restrictions.

Boris Johnson's former chief adviser confirmed to Sky News that he will be involved in the probe, which is looking at events in Number 10 and other government departments.

Tory MP predicts PM will be gone in 'one week' - partygate latest

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14:15

In full: PM denies lying over parties

And a Cabinet Office source told Sky News: "If we reach the end of the investigation and the inquiry hasn't spoken to Dominic Cummings, eyebrows would be raised."

PM maintains he wasn't told about drinks event

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The confirmation that Sue Gray will speak to Mr Cummings comes after he alleged that the prime minister knew in advance about a Downing Street drinks party in May 2020 and agreed that it could go ahead.

These claims have been confirmed to Sky News by a second source, but Number 10 continues to deny that Mr Johnson was told ahead of the event.

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The PM maintained this stance on Tuesday, saying in an interview that "nobody told me" the garden party was "against the rules".

Mr Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds emailed officials with an invite to the event, suggesting attendees "bring your own booze!".

At the time, the public were only allowed to meet one other person not from their household in a public space outside, with indoor mixing still banned.

Is the game up? Boris Johnson looks defeated as mood turns sour in Tory party

Was Tuesday's broadcast interview the moment the prime minister admitted - in his body language and demeanour rather than his words - that the game could be up?

Appearing for the first time in public after nearly a week, to face further accusations over Downing Street parties and exactly what he knew about when, he looked defeated.

The list of questions was difficult, and the pressure, dismay and distress were plain to see in Boris Johnson's expressions and his body language - even with a mask on - as he repeatedly dropped his head.

Read Beth's full analysis here

Cummings says PM 'lied to parliament'

In an updated post on his Substack page on Monday, Mr Cummings said he warned Mr Reynolds that his email "broke the rules" and also raised his concerns directly with the PM.

"I said to the PM something like: 'Martin's invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I'm talking about, you've got to grip this madhouse'," he wrote.

"The PM waved it aside."

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He added: "The events of 20 May alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to parliament about parties.

"Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened."

MP gives PM 'a week' before he's out

The 20 May event is the latest in a string of reported gatherings in Downing Street and other government departments during COVID restrictions in 2020 and 2021 that is being investigated.

Among the latest to make headlines were two parties held in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Phillip's funeral last year.

The disclosures have led to calls from opposition parties - and six Conservative MPs so far - for Mr Johnson to resign.

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2:06

Rayner: PM is 'lying to the British public'

And the pressure on the PM shows no sign of abating, with one Tory telling Sky News politics producer Mollie Malone that things are "nearly there" in terms of reaching the required 54 letters from MPs to trigger a leadership vote.

They described the past weekend as a "turning point" and said they give the PM "a week" before he is gone.

Another told political correspondent Joe Pike that the PM looked "absolutely beaten" in his latest interview, describing his performance as "awful" and like a "bad amateur dramatics performance".

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4:20

How to replace a Tory PM

Meanwhile, deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told that "lots of conversations" are happening between 2019 intake Tory MPs and there is a "resolve" among them that Mr Johnson should go.

"But there's a fear if the vote of no confidence comes before the Sue Gray report is out then Boris Johnson might win, and he could be safe for a year. They think things might not move before then," Coates added.

A government source hit out at these reported manoeuvres, telling Sky News: "Most of them [the 2019 intake] rode in on Boris Johnson's coattails and without him they'll be dumped pretty quickly.

"They don't know what they're doing, they don't realise how lucky they are. They're working against us, doing Labour's job for them".

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2022-01-18 18:15:41Z
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Texas synagogue siege: British man who took four hostage in Colleyville 'had been investigated by MI5' - Sky News

The British man who was shot dead after taking four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas had been investigated by MI5, Sky News understands.

The Security Service began looking into Malik Faisal Akram, 44, in the second half of 2020 to assess whether he posed a security threat, a Whitehall source said.

The suspicion that had been raised about him was related to Islamist terrorism.

Image: FBI vehicles are pictured surrounding the synagogue complex in Colleyville, Texas

Three prison sentences for violent disorder and harassment

He had also been in prison three times, between 1996 and 2012, for a range of offences including violent disorder, harassment and theft, Sky News understands.

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Akram, who was from Blackburn in Lancashire, took four people, including a rabbi, hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday.

He is said to have demanded the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted of trying to kill US army officers in Afghanistan, and is in prison in Texas.

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Read more: Aafia Siddiqui - who is the Pakistani prisoner at the centre of the incident?

Akram was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team 10 hours into the stand-off and all four hostages were released unharmed.

Sky News understands he arrived in the US via New York's JFK International Airport shortly before the new year before buying the handgun he used in the siege.

MI5 concluded 'no credible threat to national security'

Questions have now been raised into how he was able to enter the US with a criminal record and being known to MI5.

Its so-called "short-lead investigation" into Akram concluded that there was no "credible threat to national security at that time", the source said.

It meant that no longer term investigation or further monitoring of Akram was carried out.

"He never reached the threshold" to justify further investigation, the source said.

Image: An armed law enforcement vehicle stands by outside the Texas synagogue

The source declined to say how long Akram had been looked into other than to say that the investigation had lasted more than four weeks and either ended in the back half of 2020 or by early 2021.

After the investigation concluded that Akram did not pose a threat at that time, he would have joined the ranks of some 40,000 individuals who have at some point been a subject of interest of MI5.

A "short lead investigation" is a term given for a form of investigative process by MI5 into an individual that comes before a longer term, covert investigation.

Reported by prison imam for 'disruptive behaviour' at prayers

Sky News understands that Akram was jailed for six months for violent disorder in 1996 and spent time at a young offender institute before being moved to an adult prison.

He was back in prison a year later for destroying property, before another sentence in 1999 for harassment and breaching the terms of his release.

Akram was last remanded into custody in 2012, but the case against him was dropped.

However while on remand at HMP Liverpool he was reported by the prison imam for "concerning and disruptive behaviour" at Friday prayers.

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2022-01-18 15:11:15Z
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Boris Johnson was warned about lockdown drinks - Cummings - BBC News

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Boris Johnson was warned about No 10 holding a drinks party in the garden during lockdown, the prime minister's former top aide Dominic Cummings says.

Mr Cummings - who has been strongly critical of Mr Johnson since he left No 10 - says the PM "waved aside" concerns about the gathering.

Mr Johnson has admitted he attended the event on 20 May 2020, but says he believed it was work-related.

No 10 said it was "untrue" to say Mr Johnson was "warned about the event".

A Downing Street spokesman added: "As he said earlier this week, he believed implicitly that this was a work event. He has apologised to the House and is committed to making a further statement once the investigation concludes."

Last week, Mr Johnson told the Commons he went to the gathering in the Downing Street garden and stayed at the drinks for 25 minutes to thank staff for their hard work.

However, Mr Cummings, who worked in No 10 at the time of the party, has insisted Mr Johnson "knew he was at a drinks party cos he was told it was a drinks party and it was actually a drinks party".

Writing in his blog, Mr Cummings added further detail about his account of the discussions leading up to the party on 20 May and said it showed "the PM lied to Parliament about parties".

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The former adviser wrote that the day in 2020 was a "particularly intense shambles" of a day.

He alleged that Mr Johnson's principal private secretary (PPS), Martin Reynolds, had sent out the email inviting 100 staff to "socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden", but "a very senior official replied by email saying the invite broke the rules".

"The PPS went to the official's office where they discussed it. The PPS declined to withdraw the invite. I told the PPS the invite broke the rules."

After discussing it, Mr Cummings claimed the PPS said he would "check with the PM if he's happy for it to go ahead", adding: "I am sure he did check with the PM."

Mr Cummings said he then challenged Mr Johnson himself. "I said to the PM something like, 'Martin's invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I'm talking about, you've got to grip this madhouse.'"

But he added: "The PM waved it aside."

"Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened," he wrote.

Two other former Downing Street officials told the BBC they remember Mr Cummings telling them that day he had warned the prime minister not to go ahead, before the drinks gathering took place in the garden.

But Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast the PM had been clear Mr Cummings' account was "not true", adding that he had acted in "good faith" and previously expressed "contrition and has apologised in front of the House of Commons for some of the practices that went on at Downing Street".

Mr Raab conceded that the accounts from Mr Cummings and the PM "cannot be reconciled" but refused to speculate further while Sue Gray's investigation was still ongoing.

When questioned on Mr Johnson's stability as leader, Mr Raab said he was confident the PM would "carry on for many years and into the next election".

However, Labour's shadow policing minister Sarah Jones said the claims were "extraordinary", and accused the government of being in chaos.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Mr Cummings was "a key witness" and should be interviewed by Ms Gray, the senior civil servant investigating gatherings on government premises during Covid restrictions.

Downing Street party row

• ANALYSIS: What was really going on in No 10 during lockdown?
• LAURA KUENSSBERG: No 10 can't control what happens next in party row
• REALITY CHECK: The Covid rules when Downing Street parties were held
• PROFILE: What is Sue Gray investigating?
• TIMELINE: Alleged government lockdown gatherings

Mr Cummings' intervention comes after Conservative MPs spent the weekend canvassing public opinion on the prime minister.

On Monday, Conservative MP Steve Baker told reporters: "My constituents at the moment are about 60 to one against the prime minister.

"I've listened very carefully to members of my [Conservative Party] association, too. There are some very strident voices in my constituency demanding that I support the prime minister.

"What I would say is I made my view very clear at the beginning of December: that there must be one rule for all."

He later added "it was impossible to say" if Mr Johnson would lead his party into the next general election.

The former minister is an influential voice among Conservative MPs, having previously led a powerful pro-Brexit group within the parliamentary party.

He supported Mr Johnson to become leader of the party in 2019, but has recently been critical over some of his decisions on coronavirus.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen - who has publicly said he has no confidence in the PM - told BBC Newsnight he had received more than 1,000 emails in one day from voters, and "the overwhelming majority said that the prime minister should consider his position".

He said Ms Gray must question all witnesses including Mr Cummings and "get to the truth". "If it does transpire that she judges that the prime minister has misled parliament then clearly that's a very, very serious matter and I think it's probably career ending," he said.

Another Conservative MP, Damian Collins, said he had received hundreds of letters from constituents, adding: "A lot of people are very angry."

He told BBC Hardtalk that "by far the clear view" from party members in his constituency of Folkestone and Hythe was that "we should give the PM the benefit of the doubt until we see what's in Sue Gray's report".

But Tory MP Peter Bone said he had encountered a different reaction when canvassing constituents. "They were wholly supportive of the prime minister," he said. "Many of them were saying, 'well hang on a minute, look he's delivered Brexit, he's got us the vaccination, he's got us through Covid... Why on earth would we want to change the prime minister?'"

'Untenable'

For a Conservative Party leadership contest to be triggered, 54 Conservative MPs must write to the chairman of the 1922 committee - a group made up of all backbench Tory MPs - to say they no longer have confidence in the prime minister.

On Sunday, former minister Tim Loughton became the sixth Tory MP to call on Mr Johnson to resign, saying his position was "untenable".

It is reported that those around Mr Johnson have started "Operation Save Big Dog", which could include an overhaul of his top team, following criticisms of the culture within Downing Street.

But Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast: "Honestly, I don't recognise that at all."

Mr Johnson's official spokesman also dismissed reports of "Operation Red Meat" - rushing out policies popular within the party to bolster the PM - saying: "None of these issues are things that we have not been seeking to address for some time."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told LBC radio Mr Johnson was "too weak to lead... he has lost all authority and that matters, whatever party you are in," he added.

Sir Keir has said a picture of him drinking beer in an office last spring did not show a breach of Covid rules in place at the time.

The Labour leader said the photograph, which first emerged last year, was of him in a constituency office in the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election.

"There is simply no comparison" to the culture within Downing Street, Sir Keir said, adding that Conservatives bringing it up were trying "to take everyone into the gutter with them".

But Mr Zahawi said he hoped Sir Keir "finds [it] within himself to apologise" over the image.

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.

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 were 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.

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 were invited.

14 December 2020

The Conservative Party has admitted that an “unauthorised 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.

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.

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 apologised 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, apologised 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 socialising 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 apologised for the event and acknowledged it “should not have happened at the time that it did”.

Boris Johnson was not at either party.

• A DIAGNOSIS THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING: How do we cope when our bodies and minds no longer behave how we want them to?
• 'STRENGTH THAT LIES WITHIN': Charlene's letter of inspiration for her daughter

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2022-01-18 08:01:19Z
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Boris Johnson 'lied to parliament' about Downing Street party, Dominic Cummings says - Sky News

Boris Johnson's former chief adviser has said the prime minister knew in advance about a Downing Street drinks party during the first coronavirus lockdown and agreed that it could go ahead.

In an updated post on his Substack page, Dominic Cummings said he raised his concerns about the event in the Number 10 garden in May 2020 directly with the PM and would "swear under oath this is what happened".

"PM was told about the invite, he knew it was a drinks party, he lied to parliament," he wrote on Twitter, posting a link to the latest entry.

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0:27

Tory constituents furious over 'partygate' - MP

Mr Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds emailed officials with an invite to the event on 20 May, suggesting attendees "BYOB" (bring your own bottle, or booze).

A second Downing Street source has told Sky News they believe the PM was warned about the gathering before it took place.

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They have told Sky's political editor Beth Rigby that, per Mr Cummings' blog post, Mr Reynolds was warned about the event after sending out the email invitation, and believes Mr Johnson was informed.

But Downing Street said earlier on Monday it was not true that Mr Johnson was warned about the gathering in advance and repeated the PM's assertion to MPs last week that he "implicitly" believed it was a work event.

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Number 10 has repeated this denial in the wake of Mr Cummings' latest post.

Mr Cummings left Number 10 in November 2020 and has since been a persistent critic of Mr Johnson.

"MPs should focus on the basics," he wrote on his Substack.

"The PM's PPS [principal private secretary] invited people to a drinks party. The PPS was told to cancel the invite by at least two people.

"He checked with the PM whether the party should go ahead. The PM agreed it should.

"They both went to the party. It was actually a drinks party.

"The PM told MPs repeatedly that he had no idea about any parties.

"The events of 20 May alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to parliament about parties.

"Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened."

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2022-01-17 18:34:26Z
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UK's Prince Harry seeks right to pay for UK police protection - Reuters UK

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry is challenging a government decision that he should not receive police protection when on British soil even if he covers the cost himself, his legal representatives said.

Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, and his American wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020 to forge new careers in Los Angeles. Subsequently the couple have relied upon a private security team.

However, his legal representatives said that these arrangements did not give the prince the level of protection he needed while visiting Britain.

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"In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home," the statement said. It cited an incident in July 2021 where they said his security had been compromised whilst leaving a charity event due to the lack of police protection.

Harry's mother Princess Diana died in a 1997 car crash while trying to escape paparazzi photographers.

The government has previously dismissed two offers to pay for police protection, the prince's lawyers said. A spokesperson said the process behind those decisions had been opaque and inconsistent and failed to consider the full risks.

Asked about the statement a government spokesperson said that the UK government's protective security system was "rigorous and proportionate", and that it was its long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on any arrangements as this could compromise individuals' security.

The spokesperson also said it would be "inappropriate" to comment in detail on any legal proceedings.

Harry sought a judicial review - a legal challenge to the lawfulness of decisions taken by a public body - in September 2021, the statement said. His lawyers said they had decided to make that information public due to a leak in the British press.

"The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in," the statement said.

"With the lack of police protection comes too great a personal risk. Prince Harry hopes that his petition – after close to two years of pleas for security in the UK – will resolve this situation."

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Reporting by William James Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-01-16 11:31:00Z
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Tory party chair signals Whitehall shake-up as anger towards Boris Johnson builds - Financial Times

The chair of the UK Conservative party, Oliver Dowden, admitted on Sunday that he was “angered” by allegations of parties being held within Downing Street during the pandemic, but argued that Boris Johnson should remain in office, as he hinted at a shake-up of Whitehall culture.

The past week has seen a flurry of bruising headlines for the government, including reports that two alcohol-fuelled parties were held at No 10 the night before Prince Philip’s funeral and allegations that the prime minister encouraged his staff to partake in after work “wine time Fridays” for staff to “let off steam”.

Speaking to Sky News, Dowden said that he understood the public’s disgust over the reports. “I don’t diminish for a second that the kind of events that we’ve seen were totally wrong — I was angered by them, my constituents were angered about them, the whole country was angered by them,” he said.

The former culture secretary said that “in order to move on” it would be vital for Sue Gray’s inquiry into the alleged parties to establish the “full facts of what happened”.

Gray, a senior civil servant, is currently investigating the alleged lockdown parties, which took place between May 2020 and April 2021, with her inquiry likely to focus on the drinking culture within Whitehall as well as the leadership.

Dowden said: “I can tell you that the prime minister is genuinely committed, both in demonstrating his remorse and apology for what happened, but also in taking steps to ensure that we address the kind of culture in Downing Street that enabled something like that to happen.”

His comments follow growing alarm among senior Tories regarding Johnson’s handling of the crisis and his viability as party leader, as the public backlash against the Conservatives grows.

A total of six conservative MPs have publicly called for Johnson to resign, including the MP for North West Leicestershire, Andrew Bridgen, who over the weekend argued that Johnson had lost the “moral authority” to lead, adding that he had begun to receive hundreds of emails from his constituents over the issue.

This sentiment was echoed by former children’s minister Tim Loughton, who on Saturday said that he had “regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson’s position is now untenable”.

“Frankly the issue for me is not how many sausage rolls or glasses of prosecco the prime minister actually consumed,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “The reason for my conclusion in calling for him to stand down is the way that he has handled the mounting revelations in the last few weeks.”

While he refrained from calling for the prime minister to go, former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith on Sunday described the reports of coronavirus parties in Whitehall as “unforgivable”, adding that it pointed to a working culture that has become “lazy and slack”.

“You know, most businesses wouldn’t allow what was going on in the offices, even though people have been under pressure,” he told Sky News.

The opposition Labour party have also in recent days ramped up their calls for Tory MPs to oust the prime minister.

“I think the prime minister broke the law. I think he then lied about what had happened,” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC. “We’re now a country paralysed by the weakness of the prime minister. That’s why in the national interest he has to go.”

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2022-01-16 12:12:16Z
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