Markus Andrews

Dozens of people wearing Boris Johnson masks and wigs danced outside Downing Street after details emerged of more parties held amid strict Covid rules on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last year.The crowd were seen chanting “this is a work event” and “my name is Boris”, the former in reference to the prime minister’s excuse for having attended an earlier party on 20 May 2020.Footage shows the imitators of Mr Johnson holding several different types of alcohol with some of them wearing union jacks around their shoulders.Police said officers moved along a group of around 50 people outside Downing Street at around 1pm on Friday, adding that no arrests were made.An inquiry is looking into allegations of several parties held in Westminster during periods of strict Covid restrictions, including the 20 May event which the prime minster has apologised for attending.Pressure has been building on the prime minister as public opinion has soured since allegations of potential lockdown rule breaking emerged towards the end of last year.He has faced several calls to resign from members of his own party.His apology for attending what he said he thought was “a work event” has been widley mocked and has spawned dozens of internet memes.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister’s excuse was “so ridiculous that it’s actually offensive to the British public”. More

Boris Johnson is drawing up a list of officials to offer resignations over Partygate in a bid to salvage his premiership, The Independent has learned. Dubbed “Operation Save Big Dog” by the prime minister himself, the blueprint includes a drive to work out which heads should roll following the publication of senior official Sue Gray’s findings, as well as highlighting the prime minister’s achievements, according to sources. Officials have also started using the code name, The Independent understands.Dan Rosenfield, Boris Johnson’s chief of staff, and Martin Reynolds, his private secretary and author of the “BYOB” email, are thought to be possible candidates for departure. 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. The operation also includes sounding out support among backbenchers for possible leadership rivals including chancellor Rishi Sunak, foreign secretary Liz Truss and even former health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Mr Hunt is unlikely to command enough support to win the leadership, but No 10 aides believe could play an important role in any leadership contest.The plan reflects how precarious the position of Downing Street and the Cabinet Office has become following a slew of highly detailed reports on parties amid Covid-19 restrictions. On Friday, the former director general of the government’s Covid taskforce posted an apology on social media for holding leaving drinks in the Cabinet Office during coronavirus restrictions days before Christmas in 2020.Kate Josephs, chief executive of Sheffield City Council, said she was cooperating with a probe by senior civil servant Sue Gray and admitted to a “gathering … with drinks, in our office”.It followed an apology from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace after reports from The Daily Telegraph of two No 10 parties held on the eve of Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral. Officials have refused to confirm or deny if Boris Johnson was aware of these parties, after he admitted to attending at least one drinks party and was pictured at a second. On Friday the prime minister’s spokesman said: “It is deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning and No 10 has apologised to the palace.”It is not clear if Downing Street admitted, in its apology to the palace, to having breached Covid rules with a social gathering. One of the gatherings was a leaving party for Mr Johnson’s director of communications, James Slack, who said on Friday that the “event should not have happened at the time that it did”.Downing Street also refused to comment on the existence of a plan to save Mr Johnson, but when asked about the name “Operation Save Big Dog”, a spokesperson said: “We absolutely do not recognise this phrase.”Polling for The Independent revealed voters are deserting Mr Johnson over the party scandal, with 70 per cent calling for him to quit and almost as many dismissing his Commons apology as bogus. The survey, by Savanta, found that just 21 per cent backed the prime minister to stay in power.Just as worryingly for the embattled leader, 68 per cent did not consider his apology – in which he claimed he did not realise a “bring your own booze” gathering in his garden was a party – to be genuine. More

No 10 has apologised to Buckingham Palace after parties were held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, but is refusing to say if Boris Johnson knew about them.It is understood the apology was made by a Downing Street official, in a telephone call – rather than in a conversation involving the prime minister.Asked if Mr Johnson knew about the parties on 16 April last year, his spokesman said: “We have set out that the prime minister was not in No 10 in 16 April.”He also refused to say if the apology to the Palace acknowledged that the gatherings were “social events” – which would have been in breach of Covid rules at the time.“The facts are for Sue Gray to establish as part of her report,” the spokesman said, referring to the senior civil servant whose report is expected to determine if Mr Johnson can keep his job.There are no plans for the prime minister to make a statement on the latest allegations of rule-breaking in his Downing Street home, despite Labour taunts that he is “in hiding”.The fresh crisis erupted after it was revealed that two leaving events were held on 16 April, for the prime minister’s official spokesman and for one of his personal photographers.About 30 people attended the events in total, witnesses told The Daily Telegraph, with the groups later joining each other in the No 10 garden.The party for the photographer reportedly involved loud music, a DJ and a staff member sent to the Co-op store on the Strand to fill a suitcase with bottles of wine.Drinking carried on into the early hours of the morning, witnesses said – and one person broke a swing belonging to Johnson’s infant son, Wilfred.James Slack, the former head of communications, has apologised for his leaving do, admitting: “This event should not have happened at the time that it did.”Keir Starmer seized on the No 10 apology, saying: “This shows just how seriously Boris Johnson has degraded the office of prime minister.“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.”Despite the apology, it is unclear exactly what No 10 has said it is sorry for – as it still refuses to discuss the nature of the events that took place during the lockdowns.The spokesman said: “It is deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning and No 10 has apologised to the Palace.”However, he then refused to say what he meant by “this”, telling journalists: “It is right that we don’t pre-empt the findings of the Sue Gray investigation.”Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the apology it had received.Downing Street has said that Mr Slack “gave a farewell speech to thank each team for the work they had done to support him” – but has refused to comment on the other leaving do.Mr Johnson’s spokesman said he was at his country residence Chequers on 16 April last year and had not been invited to the events. More

Foreign secretary Liz Truss has insisted there is a “deal to be done” with the European Union over the post-Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland, as both London and Brussels agreed to intensify talks.The apparent thaw in relations comes after Ms Truss’ first official face-to-face talks with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice president, over the Northern Ireland Protocol at her official residence at Chevening, in Kent.The pair have agreed to hold further talks on 24 January, with officials also due to meet again next week for “intensified talks”.But Ms Truss again refused to rule out the prospect of invoking Article 16, which would suspend part of the agreements in the protocol, if they could not agree a way forward. At the weekend she insisted she would be “willing” to do so if talks failed.“We have had constructive talks with the EU,” she told reporters. “We are now going into intensive negotiations to work towards a negotiated solution to sort out these very real issues for the people of Northern Ireland”.“I think there is a deal to be done. I want to make progress. Clearly if we don’t make sufficient progress we will have to look at the alternatives, but my absolute desire is to get a deal that works for the people of Northern Ireland”.In a joint statement, Ms Truss and Mr Sefcovic added: “The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. They agreed that officials would meet next week in intensified talks and that the principles would meet again on 24 January.“We share a desire for a positive relationship between the EU and the UK underpinned by our shared belief in freedom and democracy”.The foreign secretary was handed the responsibility for negotiations with Brussels after the surprise departure of the Brexit minister Lord Frost, who has been vocal in his criticism of Boris Johnson’s Covid measures in recent days.A source at the Foreign Office stressed that the UK government warned to get issues surrounding the Protocol — the post-Brexit agreement with Brussels — “sorted” so that the important UK-EU relationship can focus on tackling “big external threats like Russia” and wider defence of shared values.Going forward, talks would now be aimed “squarely” on “defending peace and stability in Northern Ireland” and protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, they said.Still, they added that the EU will need to be “more pragmatic”, but in their view there was now a deal “to be done” following further intensive discussions next week. More

The British public should “move on” from the scandal over parties held at No 10 during the pandemic, foreign secretary Liz Truss has said.Pressure is mounting on Boris Johnson amid fresh allegations that two further drinks gatherings were held at Downing Street last April while strict Covid restrictions were in place – the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.However, Ms Truss suggested the prime minister’s apology for attending a “bring your own booze” event in the No 10 garden in May 2020 was good enough to draw a line under the matter for now.Asked about questions over the PM’s “moral authority”, the senior minister told reporters: “The prime minister apologised on Wednesday. He was very clear that mistakes have been made.”Defending the PM, Ms Struss said: “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.”She added: “He has apologised, I think we now need to move on and talk about how we are going to sort out issues,” adding that people should “wait for the results of the Sue Gray inquiry”.Ms Truss, one of the favourites to succeed Mr Johnson, said: “I completely understand people’s anger and dismay about what has happened. The prime minister apologised to the House on Wednesday – I 100 per cent support him to continue getting on with the job.”The new allegations that two Downing Street parties took place the week after Prince Philip’s death, and on the eve of his funeral, emerged on Thursday evening.The Telegraph reported that staff gathered after work for two separate events on 16 April 2021 to mark the departure of James Slack, Mr Johnson’s former director of communications, and one of the PM’s personal photographers.Mr Slack apologised on Friday for the “anger and hurt” caused by his leaving gathering and said it “should not have happened”.The revelation came as Andrew Bridgen, a leading Conservative backbencher, was the latest to publicly announce he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson.He was the fifth Tory MP to say he had written to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, calling for a vote on the PM’s future as head of the party.As many as 30 letters have been submitted so far, according to reports. A total of 54 are needed to trigger a vote.Tory MP Sir Roger Gale, who has called on Mr Johnson to go, said: “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.”Senior Tory MP Julian Knight said he was “open-minded” about the future direction of the Tories. Mr Knight, who is chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, told Times Radio he had many people write to him to complain about Mr Johnson.“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,” he said.It was reported that an inquiry into alleged lockdown-busting events by senior Cabinet Office official Sue Gray was expected to find no evidence of criminality. However, The Times reported that the investigation could censure Mr Johnson for a lack of judgment.Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle warned the government it would be “entirely inappropriate” for any details of the inquiry into alleged Whitehall and Downing Street parties to be leaked.Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has called on Mr Johnson to publicly address the latest party allegations.Security minister Damian Hinds denied Mr Johnson was hiding from scrutiny by saying the PM had to reduce his social contacts after a close family member tested positive for Covid. Downing Street said Mr Johnson would be taking precautions until Tuesday. More

Rishi Sunak’s failure to offer timely support to scandal-hit Boris Johnson this week was nothing to do with political machinations, a cabinet secretary has assured voters.It was all to do with a pesky lack of mobile and wi-fi coverage.Nadine Dorries appeared to decide credulity was overrated on Thursday night when she declared the reason the chancellor didn’t back the PM for almost 24 hours after new party-gate revelations was simply because he didn’t have signal while visiting Ilfracombe in Devon.“The Chancellor was on a long-planned visit down to Devon on the coast where, as we all know, the signals and the wifi – the wifi and broadband – which is something that the MP for that area that he was with, Selaine Saxby, is constantly lobbying for,” the culture secretary said. “We know it doesn’t have great signal down there.”But, while the region has indeed long-called for better services, the suggestion that the actual Chancellor of the Exchequer was in an actual communications blackout while visiting a town of 11,000 people have – safe to say – not necessarily been taken seriously.“I am writing this on parchment,” one south-west Twitter user posted. “I hope that you will receive my reply to your tweet before the end of the year.”Indeed, The Independent can now exclusively confirm that Peel Illfracombe – the advanced manufacturing plant Mr Sunak was visiting – is, indeed, blessed with working mobile signal, wifi and broadband. For the avoidance of doubt, there is electricity and running water too.“Yes, we have working phone lines,” a puzzled receptionist said down the, er, phone. “Yes, we have broadband.”Even the area’s Tory councillor seemed a touch surprised by Dorries’ suggestion.At 9am on Friday morning, Paul Crabb’s mobile was working as clear as a bell. “It can depend what network you’re with and where in town you are,” he said. “I suppose there’s a remote chance he didn’t have a singnal.”What? All day? A pause. “I can’t speak for [Nadine],” the councillor decided.Since we had him, however, what did he and other Ilfracombe Conservatives make of the stream of revelations about illegal parties held at Downing Street during various coronavirus lockdowns?“These are all self-inflicted wounds,” he said. “They’re disappointing and they’re unnecessary.”As it happens, he met Mr Sunak during his visit. His verdict? “Very impressive,” he said. “I like him a lot.” More

The Metropolitan Police says it will not change its position on investigating Downing Street parties after allegations over two new gatherings.A spokesperson for the force told The Independent that two reported leaving events for Boris Johnson’s then-director of communications and a personal photographer on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral would not be investigated before a Cabinet Office inquiry ends.They pointed to a statement released on Thursday, which police “do not normally investigate breaches of coronavirus regulations when they are reported long after they are said to have taken place”.“However, if significant evidence suggesting a breach of the regulations becomes available, officers may review and consider it,” it added.“The Met has ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office in relation to its inquiry. If the inquiry identifies evidence of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence it will be passed to the Met for further consideration.”Campaign group the Good Law Project has issued formal legal proceedings against the force over its failure to investigate the parties, accusing police of “deferring to the powerful”.Scotland Yard has not commented on mounting questions over whether officers guarding Downing Street had witnessed or reported any of the alleged parties at the time.A letter sent by the Green Party to commissioner Dame Cressida Dick on Thursday called for a formal criminal investigation.Baroness Jones said there were “big questions” for the Met Police, adding: “Their officers must surely have monitored the gatherings via their security cameras and been aware of the rules in place at the time?”The force insisted that it had taken the same approach to breaches of coronavirus laws throughout the pandemic, where enforcement was a last resort.Fines were mainly given out by police officers who were present at incidents where the laws were broken, and witnessed them at the time.Following the scandal over Dominic Cummings’ trips to Durham and Barnard Castle during the first lockdown, when he was the prime minister’s chief adviser, national policy was clarified.Security Minister asked ‘what public should think’ about No 10 party held as Queen mournedCommanders in charge of the policing response to Covid issued a direction to all forces saying that retrospective investigations could be carried out for egregious breaches, if they were merited, proportionate and in the public interest.Ms Gray’s report is expected to give a factual account of the gatherings and individual conduct, but may stop short of attributing responsibility or alleging breaches of coronavirus law and guidance.Whitehall insiders view her task as “impossible” under the weight of public expectation, given her lack of legal powers and government push for a “swift result”.Addressing MPs on Wednesday, the prime minister said he would make a statement to parliament after Ms Gray has completed her inquiry and “the full facts have been established”Boris Johnson said he attended the 20 May 2020 “bring your own booze” gathering for 25 minutes, in the belief it was a “work event”, adding: “Though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things that we simply did not get right, and I must take responsibility.”Minister Michael Ellis previously said the government would publish the findings of the investigation as soon as possible, adding: “It will establish the facts, and if wrongdoing is established requisite disciplinary action will be taken.“As with all internal investigations, if evidence emerges of what was potentially a criminal offence the matter will be referred to the Metropolitan Police.” More

Boris Johnson’s former director of communications James Slack has said he wants to “apologise unreservedly for the anger and hurt caused” by a party held to mark his leaving Downing Street in April 2021.It follows reports that two events were held on the evening of Friday 16 April 2021 — when England was under step 2 coronavirus restrictions which banned indoor mixing and placed limits on attendance at funerals and weddings.The gatherings also occurred on the evening before Prince Philip’s funeral at St George’s Chapel that saw the Queen sit alone, wearing a face mask, at a socially-distanced ceremony to bade farewell to her husband of 73 years.The Daily Telegraph said both events were leaving parties for staff working in the prime minister’s inner team. One was said to be held for Mr Slack, who is now deputy editor-in-chef of The Sun newspaper, and the other for Mr Johnson’s personal photographer.In a statement released on Friday morning by The Sun’s publisher, News UK, Mr Slack said: “I wish to apologise unreservedly for the anger and hurt caused. This event should not have happened at the time that it did. “I am deeply sorry, and take full responsibility,” he added.However, Mr Slack said he could not comment further on as the matter had been referred to an investigation being carried out by Sue Gray, who has been tasked by the prime minister to produce a report on allegations of rule breaking events held in government buildings.According to the report of the No 10 gatherings, which lasted beyond midnight, witnesses said that “excessive alcohol” was drunk, attendees danced to music DJ’d by a special adviser and at one point a staffer was allegedly sent to a local Co-op supermarket with a suitcase which they filed with bottles of wine before returning to the party. More