Nicola Sturgeon: 'Boris Johnson not being truthful about No10 Christmas parties'

The Prime Minister told MPs that he had asked the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, to “establish all the facts and to report back as soon as possible”. Johnson said that there would “be disciplinary action for all those involved”.

Johnson was reported to have given a speech at a “leaving do” party allegedly held on November 27. A staff party was said to have been held on December 18, while reports of a third gathering earlier in November were also raised at PMQs.

A source told The Mirror that “many social gatherings” had been held on Downing Street while the general public faced strict Covid restrictions.

READ MORE: WATCH: Boris Johnson told he should 'resign or be removed' at PMQs

Speaking to the BBC, the First Minister said the Tory leader did not appear to be “being straight and truthful” about the alleged parties.

She went on: “That really matters because he is likely to be asking people to do difficult things again over this Christmas and it’s really important that he’s straight and honest with people – if mistakes were made, to own them, to apologise for them.”

She added: “I think this is a really serious issue for the Prime Minister and I think he has to come clean.”

Speaking separately to STV, the SNP leader said there was an "inability to be straight and honest with people ... a very very serious charge lying at the door of the Prime Minister".

She went on: "I don't see how the Prime Minister's accounts can be squared with what is now in the public domain.

"I can't be judge and jury of that but I do think there is a very very seriousness question mark over the truthfulness of Boris Johnson's statements on this issue." 

The First Minister further hit out at the parties, saying they had taken place at a time that was for many people “the lowest, darkest point in the whole pandemic”.

She told the BBC: “This was last Christmas – 18 and 19 December are dates engraved on my mind as perhaps one of, if not the lowest, darkest point in the whole pandemic.

“We had told people they could have some very limited normality over Christmas then at the last minute we had to snatch that away and dash people’s hopes.

“That is what makes people so angry about what was allegedly happening in Downing Street.”

Johnson’s Tory government had fought to have a five-day grace period over Christmas to allow people to meet and socialise for the festivities.

However on December 19 - one day after the reported Downing Street Christmas bash and days before his staff were caught joking about it on video - the Prime Minister announced a screeching U-turn.

READ MORE: Outrage as Boris Johnson tries to duck responsibility over Christmas party

A third of England’s population was placed under Tier 4 lockdown, scuppering Christmas plans for around 16 million people just days after Johnson himself had said it would be “frankly inhuman” to do so.

Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has also launched an attack on the Tory government over the parties.

She tweeted: “None of this is remotely defensible. Not having busy, boozy not-parties while others were sticking to the rules, unable to visit ill or dying loved ones.

“Nor flat-out denying things that are easily provable. Not taking the public for fools.

“And today’s 'we’ll investigate what we’ve spent a week saying didn’t happen and discipline staff for rules we continue to say weren’t broken’ was pathetic.

"As a Tory, I was brought up to believe in playing with a straight bat. Believe me, colleagues are furious at this, too.”

And today's "we'll investigate what we've spent a week saying didn't happen and discipline staff for rules we continue to say weren't broken" was pathetic. As a Tory, I was brought up to believe in playing with a straight bat. Believe me, colleagues are furious at this, too. 2/2

— Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) December 8, 2021

Downing Street said it hopes the Cabinet Secretary’s investigation into the events of December 18 would be finalised “as soon as possible”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “You’ve seen what the Prime Minister said in light of the video yesterday, which appeared to make light of lockdown measures.

“He’s asked for the Cab Sec to look into the details of this and establish the facts.

“That will be an independent process carried out by Cabinet Office staff, under the leadership of the Cabinet Secretary.”

Asked about the remit of Case’s review, the spokesperson added: “He has been asked to establish the facts on any events on [December] the 18th, and that’s what he will start work on.”

Pressed on how long the probe is likely to take, he added: “It is obviously rightly for them to dictate the timescale. I don’t have a set period but obviously we want it to be as soon as possible.”