Insiders who attended events at Downing Street during lockdown have told the BBC how staff crowded together, sat on each other’s laps and how party debris was left out overnight.
For the first time, insiders who were at some of the events have told BBC Panorama in detail what they saw.
They describe arriving for work the morning after a get-together to find bottles lying around parts of the building, bins overflowing with rubbish and empties left on the table.
They also tell of events with dozens of staff crowded together, and parties going so late that, on occasion, some ended up staying in Downing Street all night.
And they say staff mocked others who tried to stop what was going on.
Boris Johnson has been accused of enabling the Partygate culture in Downing Street as he “grabbed a glass for himself” instead of breaking up events, No10 insiders have claimed.
Three Downing Street staff who attended lockdown-busting parties have revealed horrifying details of what went on as the rest of the public followed the Prime Minister’s Covid rules to BBC Panorama.
One source told The Mirror: “Boris used to stop by for a chat while they had a drink. It was on the way up to his flat and the door was usually open. He knew about it and encouraged it.“
Another added: “He could see everyone sitting there drinking as he walked up. He would come in and say, ‘Hello everyone had a hard week? Letting off some steam? Oh great’.
“The idea that he didn’t know there were drinks is total nonsense. If the PM tells you to ‘let off steam’, he’s basically saying this is fine.”
As others stated, it’s a yawn.
There are much bigger issues to be concerned about. Shaking a finger at something that’s been done and dwelling on it…no changing his actions, and apparently he’ll do something equally childlike and irresponsible again soon. So be it. That’s who the UK chose to lead, suck it up.
Last night, I saw a Tory MP demand to know: “Was the Met weak, gullible, incompetent or stupid?” Sir**,** I simply CANNOT play favourites with those words. Just tick all of them, and wonder how we ever imagined it would be anything different. When you think of the people who’ve died in police custody with no officer seeing anything, it suddenly seems blindingly obvious that the cops would fail to discern the prime minister in a picture of a party that they have already ruled criminal, and have consequently issued other fines for. Johnson could have been kicking himself to death while holding aloft a glass of lady petrol, and any number of specialist officers would have found a way of not noticing it. It’s usually something to do with the sightlines, I believe.
Starmer and Rayner aren’t the Prime Minister of our country and therefore aren’t the Prime Minister of our country who told a bare faced lie to Parliament
They aren’t the PM who will be “leading”
(or rather be a poor excuse for leading) our country through the next months of war, food shortages, cost of living country and disease.
How can we trust a corrupt bare faced liar to do that?
They aren’t the first PM to be convicted of a crime while in office
They weren’t the PM who imposed the laws
They weren’t the PM who accepted others resignations for breaking the laws
So I see any comparison between Johnson and Starmer and Rayner as just ridiculous whataboutery trying to cover the disgrace Johnson has brought on himself and our country
And those who indulge in that whataboutery as try to defend what they know is indefensible
As I understand it … a brief leaving get together with people who worked together side by side during the lockdown was allowed within the rules as long as it wasn’t prolonged … the reason the PM wasn’t fined was because he was there very briefly 10 minutes at most… if others were fined at the same event it was because they stayed for what was considered a prolonged time
No rules were broken by the PM.
It really is time all this nonsense stopped and politicians got on with running the country…
They are the leaders of the official opposition. Their virtuous holier than thou pretence was very short lived.
One minute they are taking the knee to the corrupt scandal of BLM the next they are out-crazying the government over lies about parties they were having while demanding more and more lockdowns
Then we have Rayners ginger growler charade and another lie made up by her.
Labour should have been. Setting an example but the only opposition we have now is GB News.
The only whatabouttery I can see is coming from Starmers sympathisers
Wot? Witch hunt against Dorris and mates? It’s no witch hunt, it’s a concentrated endeavour to cut through the lies and obfuscation (Bunters speciality) to get to the truth about what has been taking place. Witch hunt indeed. Pfft.
