Boris Johnson attended a lockdown-breaking pizza party in May of last year, according to allegations made by sources speaking to the media.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is alleged to have attended a pizza party in No 10 last year, which supposedly broke Covid restrictions in place at the time.
The new allegations come as the PM is already facing probes regarding other controversial gatherings alleged to have occurred in No 10 in 2020.
According to The Guardian, sources report that the prime minister himself attended the allegedly rule-breaking event in No 10, which supposedly occurred after a press conference held in May 2020.
Sources say that around 20 people attended the party, eating pizza and drinking alcoholic beverages. This is despite restrictions only allowing a maximum of two people to meet outdoors.
The prime minister is alleged to have spent around 15 minutes at the party, and to have told one aide that they deserved a drink for “beating back” COVID-19.
Matt Hancock, the then-health secretary, is also said to have attended the event, despite the fact that he had asked the public earlier that day to “stay at home as much as is possible”.
Neither Hancock nor the prime minister has been accused of either drinking at the party, or of staying late.
A spokesman for Hancock has also denied the claims made by the sources.
“After the press conference, which finished at approximately 5.53pm, Matt debriefed his own team, then went to the Downing Street garden to debrief the prime minister,” the spokesman said. “He left Downing Street at 6.32pm and went back to the Department for Health and Social Care.”
Meanwhile, the official spokesman for Boris Johnson has said that the prime minister “held a series of meetings throughout the afternoon, including briefly with the then health and care secretary and his team in the garden following a press conference”, and that “the prime minister went to his residence shortly after 7pm.”
“A small number of staff required to be in work remained in the Downing Street garden for part of the afternoon and evening,” the spokesman continued.
As Johnson faces down further accusations of rule-breaking in No 10, UK police have announced that they are looking to contact two people regarding a gathering held at Conservative Party HQ last year.
The event in question was organised by the campaign team of former Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey.
Occurring in December of last year, the party is thought to have likely broken lockdown rules in place in London at the time.
Bailey has resigned his position as chairman of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee over the incident, though as of writing, he remains a sitting member of the assembly.
The police have not named the two people it is seeking to contact.
“Officers will be making contact with two people who attended in relation to alleged breaches of the health protection (coronavirus restrictions) regulations,” a statement from the police seen by The Guardian reads.
The police have also said that, while they are looking into accusations surrounding last year’s alleged Christmas gatherings in No 10, no formal investigation has yet been opened.
“The Met has received a significant amount of material in relation to the allegations reported in the media,” the statement read. “All the material has been considered by detectives in detail and it does not provide evidence of a breach of the health protection regulations, but restates allegations made in the media.”
“In line with our policy where we do not normally investigate breaches of these regulations when they are reported long after they are said to have taken place,” the statement continued. “Unless there is evidence from the Cabinet Office or other evidence comes to light, the Met will not at this time commence an investigation.”