THE Prime Minister’s official spokesman tied himself into a knot while trying to explain the photograph of staffers sitting with wine in the Downing Street garden during the first coronavirus lockdown.
The Guardian obtained the image from May 15, 2020, showing Boris Johnson, his then-fiance Carrie and around 20 staff in the garden after a Downing Street Covid briefing.
At the conference, then-Health Secretary matt Hancock had told the public to stay at home as much as possible, and stressed that people could meet one other person from “outside your household in an outdoor, public place” as long as social distancing rules were followed.
On Monday morning Justice Secretary Dominic Raab defended the PM against criticism over the image, telling Times Radio: “Downing Street used that garden as a place of work. They used it for work meetings. The photo is from a day when, I think, the Prime Minister had just done a press conference.
“And sometimes they’ll have a drink after a long day or a long week. And that’s not against the regulations.”
Johnson’s spokesperson also argued the photograph shows a work meeting – before telling journalists that the picture was taken “after normal working hours”.
“These were individuals in Downing Street – officials, staff – who were meeting after the most recent press conference that day, so meeting out of hours,” he said.
“There were meetings taking place both inside and outside No 10.
“This shows colleagues who were required to be in work, meeting following a press conference to discuss work.”
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Asked why the Prime Minister’s wife was there, the spokesman said: “Downing Street is also a private residence for both the Prime Minister and Chancellor.
“The Prime Minister’s wife has use of her garden. It is effectively her garden.”
Asked why there was wine present, the spokesman said he didn’t know if Johnson had been drinking.
On whether the public can be certain that decisions are made by sober people, the spokesman added: “I think the public understand this was people discussing work after normal working hours”.
Westminster journalists were stunned by the claims from Downing Street.
“Of all the thin defences of the Downing Street party stories, trying to claim that a photo we can all see with our own eyes of the PM, his wife and staff all drinking together in a clear breach of the rules, was actually an important work meeting, has to be the thinnest,” wrote Byline Times’s Adam Bienkov.
The Guardian’s Peter Walker noted: “During one slightly awkward passage of questions, the PM's spokesman seemed unable to completely assure the nation that No 10 officials, as normal practice, make key decisions when sober.”
An SNP spokesperson told The National: "It has become clear over recent days that we can't trust a word Downing St says about these parties and gatherings.
"At the time of this gathering, social mixing between households was limited to two people, outdoors, at a distance of 2 metres, and in-person work meetings should only take place if 'absolutely necessary'. This doesn't look necessary - nor does the wine and cheese.
"The public are rightly outraged that while they had to miss weddings and funerals, with many unable to see family, the UK Tory government was following a different set of rules than the ones they told the public to abide by. We deserve answers and we can only get them through a judge-led inquiry."
Labour leader Keir Starmer also said “serious questions” need to be answered.
He told Sky News: “Everybody will have looked at that photograph and to suggest that that is a work meeting is a bit of a stretch by anybody’s analysis. I think there are very serious questions to be answered, but just look at the photo and ask yourself: is that a work meeting going on or is that a social event? I think the answer is pretty obvious.”
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