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* BYOB party ups pressure on Johnson
* Johnson has said all rules were followed
* Government faces urgent question in parliament
* Johnson attended party in May 2020 - ITV
* This shows Johnson's disdain for rules - Labour
(Adds debate in parliament.)
By Alistair Smout and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson was under fire on Tuesday after it emerged his private
secretary had invited over 100 people to a "bring your own
booze" party in the garden of Downing Street during the first
coronavirus lockdown.
Johnson, who won a landslide victory in a 2019 election, has
faced intense scrutiny over the past month after a video emerged
showing his staff laughing and joking about a Downing Street
party during a 2020 Christmas lockdown.
The government will face an urgent question in parliament on
the latest reports at 1230 GMT, although Johnson himself will
not be there to respond.
Revelations about a series of parties in Downing Street have
garnered popular derision and drawn criticism from opposition
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who said Johnson lacked the
moral authority to lead the country.
Johnson and his partner Carrie were among those who gathered
with about 40 staff in the garden of Downing Street on May 20,
2020, after the PM's Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds
sent an invite by email, ITV reported.
"After what has been an incredibly busy period we thought it
would be nice to make the most of the lovely weather and have
some socially distanced drinks in the No10 garden this evening,"
Reynolds said in the email.
"Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!"
At the time of the gathering, schools were shut to most
pupils, and pubs and restaurants were closed, with strict
controls on social mixing. People were prevented from bidding
farewell in person to dying relatives.
Police prosecuted people for having parties, erected random
checkpoints in some areas and in Derbyshire, central England,
used drones to monitor beauty spots.
The United Kingdom's death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic
stands at 150,154, the world's seventh worst official COVID toll
after the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, Mexico and Peru.
Johnson's office declined to comment on the ITV report. A
senior government official, Sue Gray, is currently investigating
the allegations of at least five parties held in government
departments last year during lockdown restrictions.
URGENT QUESTION
The opposition Labour Party's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner
will ask Johnson to make a statement in parliament on the events
of May 20, 2020. Michael Ellis, a government minister will
respond on his behalf. Lawmakers will then debate the matter.
"I really hope Boris Johnson takes this opportunity to
answer questions. We all sacrificed so much. We have a right to
know," Rayner said.
Asked about the claims of Downing Street parties, Johnson
told parliament last month that all COVID guidance had been
followed, no rules had been broken and that there had been no
party in Downing Street.
Political opponents said that if Johnson had attended a
party during a lockdown, his position would be danger as such
revelry would show a pattern of disdain for the rules by
Johnson.
"This feels like it is part of the prime minister's
character, which is: he thinks he can get away with things and
he is sending the message out all around his government that the
rules don't apply to us, they only apply to everybody else,"
said Ed Miliband, a former Labour Party leader.
Former Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson
questioned what people in Downing Street were thinking and said
voters would be angry.
"People are (rightly) furious," Davidson said on Twitter.
"They sacrificed so much - visiting sick or grieving relatives,
funerals."
Over recent months, Johnson, 57, has faced criticism over
his handling of a sleaze scandal, the awarding of lucrative
COVID contracts, the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat
and a claim he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from
Kabul during the Western withdrawal in August.
Edward Argar, a junior health minister, said he understood
the hurt that the reports about the parties would cause,
particularly for people who had lost family and friends.
But he told Sky News it would be inappropriate for him to
comment while the investigation was underway.
London police, who previously declined to investigate the
claims of government officials' lockdown gatherings, said on
Monday it was in contact with the Cabinet Office over the
alleged breaches of health protection laws in Downing Street.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and William James; Editing by Guy
Faulconbridge, Angus MacSwan, William Maclean and Catherine
Evans)
