Boris Johnson

Images obtained by ITV News reveal table strewn with bottles at leaving do for a senior aide in November 2020.

“There is a paper trail including WhatsApps from the flat. No! The police simply ignored it.” Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said it was clear Johnson had lied about the event. A number of staff have received multiple fixed-penalty notices for attending events. Boris Johnson made the rules, and then broke them. But I’m sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.” The Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale said there was just “one answer” when a prime minister misleads parliament from the dispatch box. A No 10 spokesperson suggested police had access to the photos. The British people deserve better. At least nine people – including the photographer – appear to be in the same room. Eight days earlier, Johnson had implored the nation to stay at home again as Covid infections rates soared. “The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the prime minister will address parliament in full.”

The pictures, obtained by ITV News as Westminster awaits the imminent publication of Sue Gray's report into the Partygate scandal, throw doubt on the prime ...

But a No 10 spokesperson said: “The Cabinet Office and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs. At least seven other people are visible with Mr Johnson in the photos, though their features have been pixelated to avoid identification. “Some officials think that Case should go, that he should have refused to allow an internal investigation first and foremost. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Also visible are party cups, biscuits, crisps and other food. A week later, on 8 December, the PM told the Commons: “I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party, and that no Covid rules were broken.” And at a Downing Street press conference later that day, he said: “All the evidence I can see is that people in this building have stayed within the rules.” The MP said that a number of Tories had taken back the letters they had sent to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady, after last week’s conclusion of the police inquiry into Partygate appeared to “let the PM off the hook”. To most, these pictures seem unjustifiable and wrong.” It’s daggers drawn. Insiders told The Independent that tensions had reached a point on Monday where the mood in Downing Street was “daggers drawn”, amid fallout from a furious row between No 10 and the Gray team over a meeting between the senior civil servant and Mr Johnson. And Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson was forced to deny that the PM felt Ms Gray was “playing politics” with her inquiry, after reports that his allies had been briefing against her. The images emerged amid growing chaos and tension at the heart of government over the Partygate scandal, with insiders describing the atmosphere in No 10 and the Cabinet Office as “daggers drawn”.

Four images were said to picture the Prime Minister raising a glass at the leaving gathering, with bottles of alcohol and party food on the table in front ...

The Prime Minister refused to comment on the details of the meeting during a visit to a school in south-east London, but said “of course” Ms Gray remained independent. The Prime Minister replied: “No, but I am sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.” The images emerged after No 10 admitted it did instigate a meeting between Ms Gray and the Prime Minister during the run up to the much-anticipated publication of her partygate inquiry. Four images pictured the Prime Minister raising a glass at the leaving gathering, with bottles of alcohol and party food on the table in front of him. Labour said the images show there is “no doubt now” that Mr Johnson “lied” to Parliament when he repeatedly insisted all rules had been followed in Downing Street. “The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the Prime Minister will address Parliament in full.”

A Tory MP has called for Boris Johnson's resignation over images of the PM raising a glass during a Downing Street party during coronavirus…

And, honourably, there is one answer.” The former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Baroness Davidson, also said it was clear Boris Johnson had lied to Parliament and that his position was untenable. A Tory MP has called for the resignation of Boris Johnson following the emergence of more pictures relating to the ‘ partygate’ investigation.

Analysis: Images leaked to ITV News make PM's life difficult again and could further damage his reputation.

A prime minister mired in scandal is one thing, and arguably not entirely unexpected for Johnson. But his MPs may be less forgiving if they believe he is becoming an electoral liability. First published by the Guardian on 19 December, the photo of Johnson and more than a dozen No 10 staff sitting in the Downing Street garden on the evening of 15 May 2020 along with wine bottles and a cheese platter reimprinted events on the public consciousness. Time to move on.

Labour said photographs of the PM at a No 10 function show he misled Parliament.

“It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a glass to toast one of his colleagues. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. “There is now photographic evidence that when the Prime Minister stood up in Parliament and was asked directly ‘was there a party in No 10 on this date’ and he replied ‘no’, he lied to Parliament,” she told Channel 4 News. The Times has reported Mr Johnson suggested to Ms Gray that there was now no need for her to publish her report following the completion of the police investigation. Asked last December in the Commons whether there had been a party in No 10 on that date, the Prime Minister said “no” and added he was sure the rules were followed at all times. Labour said there was now “no doubt” that Mr Johnson had “lied” to MPs.

Police and the PM both likely to face questions over pictures of him drinking at staff leaving do, just eight days after he imposed lockdown.

Mr Cummings, writing on his blog, said the images would show the PM had “obviously lied” to the House of Commons and to the police. Mr Cain and his mentor Dominic Cummings, the Downing Street chief of staff, had fallen out with Ms Symonds (now the third Mrs Boris Johnson). Mr Johnson had a plan to promote Mr Cain but that had been scuppered. And yet the PM has escaped any more fines, boosting his chances of surviving the partygate fallout. That the photographs emerged on Monday, shortly after Mr Cummings predicted they would, will also raise eyebrows about who leaked them. Police did not even send Mr Johnson a questionnaire, indicating that officers did not believe he had a case to answer. The interview, according to government sources, took place in another part of the four-bedroom official state apartment at No 11. “It is totally untrue to suggest Mrs Johnson held a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13 2020,” said a spokesman in rebuttal. The glass of fizz (possibly champagne) is gripped in his right hand, a smile on the Prime Minister’s face as he and at least seven members of his Downing Street press team say their farewells to Lee Cain, his departing official spokesman who had fallen out with Mr Johnson’s young fiancee Carrie Symonds (now his wife). Aides were drinking and Mr Johnson thought it impolite not to say his own goodbyes. Oh, and perched on a chair in the press office is the Prime Minister’s red box, containing the official documents of state he was taking home with him to the flat in 11 Downing Street that is “above the shop”. It is also alleged that upstairs in the Johnsons’ Downing Street flat, Ms Symonds hosted her own farewell party. There appears to be some baguettes on a plate (presumably to line the stomachs), biscuits, crisps and paper cups and what eagle-eyed watchers on social media said was a takeaway cardboard container from Dishoom, a fashionable Indian restaurant chain, on the right-hand corner of the table.

Whatever the photos may show, 'anyone can be ambushed by six bottles of wine, a bottle of gin and a bowlful of crisps'. A leaked image shows Boris Johnson ...

You tell lies to the country and parliament and get away with it time and again. Especially not the ones of me raising my glass and proposing a toast to Lee Cain. It was just my luck that my face was the only one in the photos that wasn’t blurred. So if you could finger Simon Case for me, that would be a big help. Johnson: OK, then can you just tone down some of your remarks in the introduction? And the only reason it kept happening was that I was so busy going to work events that I didn’t notice. Johnson: It’s so I can pretend that it was you who asked for the meeting. Make it sound like there was clear, sober leadership at No 10 and that it was just a few junior members of staff who were breaking the rules. Are you sure you don’t want to have a rethink? So I got away with just the one fine for the party that was hardly a party and the Old Bill just fined a whole lot of junior staff to make it look like they had done something. It turned out the police weren’t that interested in the investigation once they were told to bugger off and stop bothering me. And definitely not the one where I’m doing vodka shots and breaking Wilf’s swing. The timings of some of my appearances at the parties.

We'll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest UK politics & policy news every morning. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday came under ...

Boris Johnson shown raising a glass at event during a national Covid lockdown, in newly released photos.

“Pressure on Met over pictures of PM raising a toast in No 10,” its headline reads. The Sun makes only a fleeting mention of the No 10 allegations, with its front page dedicated to an off-duty policewoman celebrating on the football pitch. “Fresh danger for Johnson over No 10 drinks pictures”, the Guardian front page reads, alongside a photo of the prime minister raising his glass.

The Prime Minister is set to be grilled in the House of Commons after the report is published this week.

It is time for them to do the decent thing, for once, and get rid of him. It is important that those practical dimensions are resolved." What actually happened at the meeting, and why it was held in the first place, remain unexplained. Boris Johnson is facing calls to explain the purpose of a "secret" meeting with Sue Gray as the long-awaited partygate report is set to be published this week. "He has responsibility. He is a serial liar and cannot be allowed to get away with it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is believed to have met the senior civil servant in a "secret" meeting ahead of publication. My view is it shouldn't have happened" Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke has condemned briefed reports that senior civil servant Sue Gray is "playing politics" in the handling of the publication of her report into lockdown parties in Downing Street. "But the culture in Downing Street is set from the top, as it is with any organisation, and that culture has led to industrial-scale law-breaking." The vengeful former adviser to the Prime Minister suggested pictures of the lockdown parties in Downing Street could be emerge separately from the Sue Gray report into the events. "It is truly a disgrace that Tory MPs are keeping him in Downing Street – he demeans the office that he holds.

Boris Johnson reportedly tried to convince Sue Gray her Partygate report was no longer necessary because of Scotland Yard's investigation.

‘It wasn’t framed in that way. ‘It was discussed that it might be useful to give an overview of what Sue Gray and her team were planning in regards to publication and timings – the publication following the conclusion of the report,’ they added. The official spokesperson added that the meeting had been called in response to reports the Met’s Hillman investigation might be coming to a conclusion. Asked whether officials told Ms Gray’s team that Mr Johnson would like to meet her, the spokesperson said: ‘No, this was not at the request of the prime minister. Number 10 initially claimed the senior civil servant had initiated the meeting to discuss her report ahead of the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police’s Hillman investigation. The prime minister allegedly told Sue Gray there was no need for her to publish her full report into Partygate.

An image leaked by ITV News allegedly shows the Prime Minister raising a glass at a Downing Street gathering.

The photos were leaked on the eve of Sue Gray's Partygate report and emerged five months after Mr Johnson denied such a party ever taking place on November 13, 2020. Labour Deputy leader Angela Rayner remarked: "“While the British public were making huge sacrifices, Boris Johnson was breaking the law. Sources told the ITV that the photos were taken at a leaving do for his communications chief Lee Cain on November 13, 2020.

The PM and police are under scrutiny over photographs apparently showing the PM at a party during lockdown.

You can also get in touch in the following ways: "There are things we say honestly and genuinely at the time that we believe to be true... Going and deliberately saying X is Y knowing that is the case is, of course, beyond the pale." But there's one thing knowing about a party, something else seeing pictures from it. Senior Conservative Tom Tugendhat was also critical telling the BBC that: "Seriousness in government matters. And I'm afraid this just doesn't look serious." He told BBC Newsnight: "Now I understand entirely the public anguish at a time when they were locked down and they were not supposed to be together, but there clearly was a distinction between the workplace - where people work together and are effectively in a bubble - and what was taking place outside." There was support for the PM from Conservative backbench MP Sir Desmond Swayne, who said he believed it was a "work do", adding "that's what people do at work". A No 10 spokeswoman said the prime minister would address Parliament "in full" after senior civil servant Sue Gray published her report into the gatherings "in the coming days". The police investigated two events in Downing Street on 13 November. Asked in Parliament by a Labour MP whether a party had taken place on that date, Mr Johnson said "no", adding that "I'm sure...all the rules were followed". Meanwhile, a government source has also told the BBC that civil servant Sue Gray may hand her report on parties to Downing Street on Wednesday, followed by a statement in Parliament and a press conference by the prime minister. A government source told BBC News the photos may have been taken by the official No 10 photographer and proved Mr Johnson was there in a work capacity.

Prime minister met Gray in run-up to long-awaited report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street.

And indeed the police have looked into this and spent a lot of time and resources.” “I don’t think the fact of the pictures, us seeing them for the first time, changes what the police and Sue Gray already know. He said: “I wasn’t in the room so I don’t know that’s the case.

Report suggests PM told civil servant "it's all out there" already.

“It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a glass to toast one of his colleagues. Really, the prime minister should just know the gig’s up.” “There is now photographic evidence that when the prime minister stood up in parliament and was asked directly ‘was there a party in No 10 on this date’ and he replied ‘no’, he lied to parliament,” she told Channel 4 News. The PM will respond to her conclusions at that point.” Asked last December in the Commons whether there had been a party in No 10 on that date, the prime minister said “no” and added he was sure the rules were followed at all times. Labour said there was now “no doubt” that Johnson had “lied” to MPs.

The PM is facing mounting pressure to explain whether he lied to Parliament after photos emerged of him raising a glass at the party held in Downing Street ...

Boris Johnson made the rules, and then broke them.” Honorably there is one answer.” There are more pictures of other events.” He said: “It’s absolutely clear there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a toast to glass one of his colleagues. ITV News has published four photos showing the Prime Minister raising a glass and appearing to give a toast to a room of people. Boris Johnson instigated the farewell drinks where he was pictured raising a toast next to a table laden with empty bottles of alcohol, a source present has claimed to i.

Labour said photographs of the PM at a No 10 function show he misled Parliament.

“It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a glass to toast one of his colleagues. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. “There is now photographic evidence that when the Prime Minister stood up in Parliament and was asked directly ‘was there a party in No 10 on this date’ and he replied ‘no’, he lied to Parliament,” she told Channel 4 News. The Times has reported Mr Johnson suggested to Ms Gray that there was now no need for her to publish her report following the completion of the police investigation. Asked last December in the Commons whether there had been a party in No 10 on that date, the Prime Minister said “no” and added he was sure the rules were followed at all times. Labour said there was now “no doubt” that Mr Johnson had “lied” to MPs.

The Prime Minister's former chief advisor said photos of the Prime Minister would be leaked prior to it happening.

“It looks to me he was asked to go and thank a member of staff who was leaving, raises a glass to them and I imagine comes in and out pretty quick, which is presumably why the police have not issued a fixed-penalty notice to the Prime Minister for that event,” he said. Mr Shapps pointed to Mr Johnson’s red ministerial box being present in the images as he claimed to Sky News the Prime Minister was “clearly not” partying. Grant Shapps said he was “angry” to see the photographs but suggested the Prime Minister may not have been fined over the event because he left the leaving do “pretty quick”.

Grant Shapps says he is unaware 'exactly what was discussed' between PM and senior civil servant.

And indeed the police have looked into this and spent a lot of time and resources.” Now we learn he apparently put pressure on Sue Gray to scrap her report. Another added: “They were exploring this idea of not having any report.

Latest updates: prime minister's spokesperson says Boris Johnson is looking forward to publication of report.

Accordingly, harassment based on anti-Zionist beliefs equates to harassment based on ethnicity, and it is therefore submitted that the party has subjected our client to harassment on the basis of ethnicity. He is looking forward to the conclusion of the report and it being put in the public domain. It says that the real value of benefits is set to fall by 5% this year, or by £12bn, because they are being uprated by September’s inflation rate, which is much lower than the current inflation rate. There is an independent process ongoing, and the first stage of that is for [the pay review bodies] to make recommendations to government. Our forecast assumes that benefits will rise by 7.5% in April 2023 (our March forecast for the CPI inflation rate in September this year), whereas CPI inflation is expected to average 2.4% in 2023-24 as a whole. But the public are asking questions of the police. That said, it would be entirely wrong for me to jump ahead of the process. He is looking forward to the conclusion of the report and it being put in the public domain. The government has already pledged to increase public sector sector spending and is awaiting decisions by public sector review bodies. There is an independent process ongoing, and the first stage of that is for [the pay review bodies] to make recommendations to government. That said, it would be entirely wrong for me to jump ahead of the process. The government has already pledged to increase public sector sector spending and is awaiting decisions by public sector review bodies.

Mr Johnson has faced calls to resign from senior Tories and Labour after photographs emerged of him raising a glass at an event in Downing Street.

We need to have the right leader to take us through all of that.” Ruth Davidson, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said Mr Johnson’s position was untenable, But that also shouldn’t take away the ability of the public to hold a Prime Minister to account about his own actions, and statements, during a national pandemic. Ms West said: “Will the Prime Minister tell the house whether there was a party in Downing Street on the 13th of November?” The Prime Minister was pictured with a glass in his hand and appearing to toast a group of people next to a table piled with bottles of alcohol. The four pictures published b y ITV News show the Prime Minister raising a glass, and appearing to give a toast to a room full of people.

Photos of PM at leaving event raise fresh questions about what he knew, and the subsequent investigations.

But even for this, what is shown in the images appears to fall well outside this stipulation. The Metropolitan police investigation into parties in and around No 10 fined Johnson (as well as his wife, Carrie, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak) for attending a birthday celebration for the PM in the cabinet room in June 2020. In response, the prime minister said “the rules were followed at all times”. But some of those present say the entire event was instigated by Johnson, who poured drinks, made a speech, and stayed for up to 25 minutes. Shapps’ argument was seemingly that even if it was a party, Johnson was not himself partying. The pictures have also raised a series of questions, both about what Johnson knew, and the conduct of subsequent investigations.

Boris Johnson is again fighting for his political life after photos of lockdown breaches in Downing Street started to emerge - with more expected in Sue ...

A No 10 spokesman said: 'The Cabinet Office and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs. Clearly it does raise a new question that we were all told very clearly that there definitely had not been a party on the day in question and these photographs have emerged which suggest that that's not the case. Mr Johnson was not punished over the bash. Sue Gray's interim report said a gathering in the 70 Whitehall building was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary. Police also investigated a second gathering that evening, but again Mr Johnson was not fined. Mr Johnson was not punished over the bash, but it is thought that Mr Cain and fellow spin doctor James Slack could have been at risk of a penalty. - September 14: Rising cases led to the re-introduction of 'rule of six' indoors and outdoors. We had a vote which the Conservative Party was neutral on in Parliament that there would be an investigation about what was said. A photograph emerged of a number of groups gathered in the No 10 garden, including Mr Johnson, Carrie Johnson, and aides Dom Cummings and Martin Reynolds sitting together on the terrace. Mr Johnson has admitted he was there for 25 minutes, but said he thought it was a 'work event'. The Prime Minister appeared on contestants' screens at the quiz but insisted he broke no rules. A leaked email shows No 10 staff were invited to an event in the Downing Street garden.

Newly released photos of Boris Johnson raising a glass of wine at a lockdown-breaching event in Downing Street have sparked more calls for him to resign.

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Britain's beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing accusations he misled lawmakers and is staring down fresh calls to resign, after new images ...

But Downing Street told CNN the police had access to photographs and other evidence during their investigation. In a brief update on her inquiry in January, Gray condemned "failures of leadership" Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday it was important "police explain why they've reached the conclusions they have." In some of the photographs, Johnson seems to be giving a speech, the ITV News report says. The British people deserve better." "The Prime Minister has demeaned his office.

NHS doctors were grateful to the public who followed Covid rules. The PM's glass of wine has been thrown in all our faces, says palliative care doctor ...

And that glass of wine in the prime minister’s hand? Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? Rules, in short, have been the necessary curse of this pandemic. Boris Johnson and his hangers-on are desperate to convince you the rules never mattered – and that anyway, you’re down there in the cesspit with him. And so I sat, masked and gowned, in a tiny room with pastel wall art and obligatory NHS tissues, trying to prepare a boy the same age as my son for how very different his dad would look now to the man who’d been whisked away from his home by ambulance. Not a mask to be seen, not a hint of social distancing.

The Cabinet ally said the Prime Minister "lost his mum during the period", despite the fact Charlotte Johnson Wahl died “suddenly” 10 months after the party ...

Asked last December in the Commons whether there had been a party in No 10 on that date, the prime minister said "no" and added he was sure the rules were followed at all times. The PM faces a probe by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether he lied when he explicitly denied there was a party in No10 on 13 November 2020. Mr Shapps said: “I don’t think these things should have happened, but I think it’s probably worth recalling in context that throughout this period the Prime Minister himself had been extremely ill, had a close brush with coronavirus, he lost his mum during the period, he was dealing with the pandemic. “He’d gone by to say thanks and raise a glass to a colleague who was leaving.” He added Boris Johnson had his ministerial red box on the chair next to him - so was "probably" on his way to do some work. After police did not even investigate Mr Johnson over the event, but did fine other No10 staff on the same date, Mr Shapps said: “The police have spent a lot of time with a lot of people and a lot of resources crawling over it and they’ve come to their conclusion, as we know he wasn’t fined for that.” The Cabinet ally said the Prime Minister "lost his mum during the period", despite the fact Charlotte Johnson Wahl died “suddenly” 10 months after the party happened.

'The whole thing is rotten. He's got to go': Tory MPs consider letters of no confidence in prime minister.

“It was the prime minister who commissioned the report and he wants the report to be published.” The PM’s spokesperson confirmed that notes were taken of their discussion, but insisted that in line with standard practice they will not be published. He’s got to go”.