Boris Johnson's wife threw him a birthday party at 10 Downing Street while the rest of the UK was on COVID-19 lockdown: report
Peter Nicholls - WPA Pool/Getty Images
- Boris Johnson is the subject of yet another report about a lockdown party.
- ITV News reports that Carrie Johnson, his wife, threw him a large surprise party in June.
- Johnson is facing an open rebellion among Tory MPs that could lead to his ouster.
Carrie Johnson, the wife of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reportedly held a large surprise party for the prime minister amid the United Kingdom's lockdown, ITV News reports.
"ITV News also understands that on the evening of 19 June 2020, family friends were hosted upstairs in the prime minister's residence in an apparent further breach of the rules," the report says. Johnsons' office, per ITV, has denied such a claim.
The June 2020 surprise party reportedly included up to 30 people. ITV News further reports that one of the attendees was Lulu Lytle, who is not a member of Johnson's staff. Lytle is connected to a separate scandal about the renovation of Johnson's luxury flat.
Just before the reported surprise party, Johnson made a public plea for the country to follow the lockdown policies.
"I urge everyone to continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe," Johnson said in a June 10, 2020 press conference.
The prime minister previously praised a woman on Twitter for postponing her birthday party during the lockdown, which has resurfaced after the ITV report.
"Josephine sets a great example for us all ...," Johnson wrote on Twitter in March 2020.
—Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 21, 2020
Johnson has become increasingly embattled over a series of reports that he and top staffers flouted pandemic restrictions that the public was asked to comply to. Johnson, visibly emotional, told SkyNews last week that "nobody told" him that a separate May 2020 party violated lockdown rules.
"As I said in the House of Commons, when I went out into that garden I thought that I was attending a work event," Johnson said.
Dominic Cummings, a former top Johnson advisor who has become a critic since leaving Downing Street, accused Johnson of lying about the "bring your own booze" May 2020 party. Cummings' claim that Johnson may have lied to Parliament has only deepened the scandal surrounding the prime minister.
"You've got to get a grip of this madhouse," Cummings wrote in a blog post last week that he told Johnson at the time.
Conservative backbenchers previously told Insider that Johnson's "political death" was near. If 54 of the 360 Tory MPs send no-confidence letters to the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, it will trigger a formal leadership contest.
Johnson's attempt to quell the brewing scandal hasn't taken. One former Cabinet told Insider that the prime minister's SkyNews interview was "shockingly awful" and "a sure sign of lying".
Insider has reached out to 10 Downing Street for comment.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3KEvFmd
No comments