Inside Politics: 100 invited to lockdown-busting party in Downing Street ‘attended by PM’

‘Make the most of the lovely weather…and bring your own booze!’ senior aide says in email invite sent to Downing Street staff, writes Matt Mathers

Tuesday 11 January 2022 08:39 GMT

(Getty Images)

Partygate reports have dogged Boris Johnson and his government over the past month or so and now, arguably, the most damaging piece of evidence yet has emerged. “Hi all, 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. Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!” There it is, in black and white. An email from the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, sent to up to 100 staff inviting them to a bash in the Downing Street garden, which several sources say Johnson attended. At the time the email was sent in May 2020 — at the height of the first Covid lockdown — people were banned from meeting more than one person socially outdoors. It is understood that up to 30 people eventually attended the bash to eat picnic food and drink. The government response? No 10 says it will not comment while Sue Gray, the official in charge of investigating party reports, carries out her work. But questions about whether or not the PM did in fact attend are unlikely to go away any time soon.

Inside the bubble

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for:

Cabinet meeting this morning followed by questions to Kwasi Kwarteng’s business department in the Commons. Then, after urgent questions and ministerial statements (if any), a Labour opposition debate on the cost of living. In select committees, Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, will give evidence about children in care, while Tim Davie, the BBC director general, will give evidence to a Lords committee about BBC impartiality.

Coming up:

– Health minister Ed Argar on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

– Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband on LBC at 8.20am

Daily Briefing

DOWNING IT STREET: Partygate just won’t go away. The PM wakes up with another hangover this morning as he faces yet more serious questions about lockdown-busting gatherings in Downing Street, after an email emerged showing that 100 staff were invited to a shindig in the garden during the first set of restrictions and told to “bring your own booze”. Multiple sources say Johnson attended the 20 May 2020 bash but yesterday he refused to answer questions on whether he was there or not. A bit of a pattern seems to be developing in this scandal: the PM refuses to be fully honest about what happened before more evidence emerges. Last night the Met Police said it was in “contact” with the Cabinet Office about the leaked email, which was sent by Martin Reynolds, Johnson’s principal private secretary, according to ITV, which got hold of it. Full contents of the message here.

GOING IN HARD: Labour, as you would expect, is going in hard. Johnson has “consistently shown that he has no regard for the rules he puts in place for the rest of us”, deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said. “He is trying to get officials to take the fall for his own mistakes, but he sets the tone for the way Downing Street and the rest of government operates.” The latest reports make the front of nearly every single newspaper and website this morning including the Daily Express, which pleads with the PM: “ENOUGH BORIS! YOU MUST END ‘PARTYGATE’ FARCE NOW. But can the paper, like the many Tories in marginal seats whose reelection prospects have been badly dented by the affair, rely on the PM to fess up? And does Johnson expect the public to believe that 100 people were invited to his garden but he knew nothing about it? Headline of the day goes to Metro, which goes with: “DOWNING IT STREET”. Live politics updates throughout the day here.

COST OF LIVING LATEST: Labour will today use an opposition debate in the Commons to urge Tory MPs to vote on a VAT cut to home energy bills as the party continues to hold the government’s feet to the fire on the looming cost of living crisis. It will put forward a motion which, if passed, would force MPs to vote on the proposals, although those on the government side are expected to abstain. Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing and levelling up secretary, are among a number of Tories who have in recent years vowed to get rid of taxes on energy costs. Writing in The Sun in 2016 during the referendum campaign, Gove and the PM promised fuel bills would “be lower for everyone” if the UK left the EU. “When we Vote Leave, we will be able to scrap this unfair and damaging tax,” they said.

NO 10 PLAN?: With just weeks to go until bills rise, Johnson yesterday admitted that he must do more on the issue, after rejecting a call by Labour to impose a windfall tax on energy firms to fund support. “We’ve got to help people, particularly people on low incomes,” he said. “We’ve got to help people with the cost of their fuel and that’s what we going to do.” Labour leader Keir Starmer attacked the government inaction on the issue, accusing ministers of being “asleep at the wheel.” After initially rejecting it on the grounds that it would benefit people who don’t need help, Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, are considering slashing VAT on energy bils following a “private dinner on Sunday evening”, according to a report in this morning’s Sun.

COVID LATEST: The government is considering reducing the self-isolation period for fully vaccinated people who test positive for Covid, Johnson has said. Under proposals being considered by the cabinet those who had been double jabbed would only have to self-isolate for five days. It comes amid highly elevated case levels thanks to the spread of the Omicron variant, and a shortage of lateral flow tests – which are required under the current rules to leave isolation early.The United States cut its isolation period to five days from 10 days last month, with people coming out of isolation asked to take extra precautions such as wearing a mask. A further 142,224 Covid cases were confirmed yesterday.

On the record

“The thing to do is to look at the science. We are looking at that and we will act according to the science.”

PM says he’ll follow science when deciding whether to slash isolation period from 10 days to seven.

From the Twitterati

“Boris Johnson, asked today about his attendance with wife Carrie, said: ‘All that, as you know, is the subject of a proper investigation by Sue Gray.’ Sources now believe Gray will have to interview PM who is believed to have been at four of the events she’s looking into.”