Last checked at 
* BYOB party ups pressure on Johnson
* Johnson has said all rules were followed
* Government apologises for hurt of the claims
* Johnson attended party in May 2020 - ITV
* This shows Johnson's disdain for rules - Labour
(Adds government response, paras 10-11)
By Alistair Smout and William James
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.
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 spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on the
reports of the party.
Paymaster General Michael Ellis, answering an urgent
question to the prime minister in parliament about the party,
said he apologised again unreservedly for the upset that the
allegations had caused.
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.
LOCKDOWN PARTIES
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.
The opposition Labour Party's deputy leader, Angela Rayner,
said it was disappointing that Johnson had not answered her
urgent question in person and said the government should not
hide behind the official investigation.
"Did the prime minister attend the event in the Downing
Street garden on May 20, 2020?," Rayner told parliament. "If the
prime minister was there, surely he knew?"
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.
"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.
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; Writing by Guy
Faulconbridge; Editing by Angus MacSwan, William Maclean and
Catherine Evans)
