Boris Johnson’s letter to a little girl who cancelled her seventh birthday party as the UK entered the first Covid lockdown has resurfaced as it emerges the Prime Minister celebrated his 56th birthday in Downing Street while such gatherings were banned under Covid rules.
The embattled Tory leader is facing a crisis of leadership as he fights allegations of multiple breaches of lockdown rules throughout the pandemic.
Last night No10 revealed that Johnson was a guest at an event in the Cabinet Room with 30 other guests on June 19, 2020. Participants enjoyed Union Jack cake and Marks and Spencer food picnic.
A few months before, Johnson had made a praising of Josephine who cancelled her birthday party just days before the initial national shutdown. On Twitter, the PM said that the child had ‘set a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing’.
In a letter sent to Josephine on March 21, 2020, Mr Johnson wrote: ‘Happy birthday! While I am happy to see you staying home, it is a shame to hear of your party.
‘We have all got to do our bit to protect the NHS and save lives, and that is exactly what you are doing, so well done! Your example is inspiring. You are setting a great example. We work around the clock in order to ensure safety. If we cooperate, we can even send coronavirus packing. Once we are done, you will be able to have fun with your friends.
‘In answer to your question – I’m regularly washing my hands with soap and water for 20 seconds: the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice!’.
Mr Johnson then tweeted: ‘Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing.
‘Together we can beat this. In the meantime let’s all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands. #BeLikeJosephine #StayHomeSaveLives’.
In another huge blow to Mr Johnson’s authority, ITV News claimed that the PM attended a gathering organised by his wife Carrie in the Cabinet Room in No10 on June 19, 2020, to celebrate turning 56.
Boris Johnson’s letter to a little girl who cancelled her seventh birthday party as the UK entered the first Covid lockdown has resurfaced as it emerges the Prime Minister celebrated his 56th birthday in Downing Street while such gatherings were banned under Covid rules
Josephine was praised by Johnson for cancelling a birthday celebration just days before the initial shutdown.
On June 19, 2020, Mr Johnson joined a lesson for socially distant students at Bovingdon Primary School.
According to legend, they celebrated their birthdays after he returned from visiting a Hertfordshire school where he had held his arms up with children in order to demonstrate the importance of social distance.
The broadcaster claims guests included the interior designer Lulu Lytle, who was responsible for a six-figure revamp of the PM’s official flat, who joined in with a chorus of happy birthday as the PM was presented with a Union Jack cake.
Although Chancellor Rishi Sonak was believed to be present for only a brief time, sources claim that he “had not been invited”, according to The Times.
ITV News said that picnic food from M&S was eaten during the afternoon gathering lasting for up to 30 minutes, Martin Reynolds, Mr Johnson’s under-fire principal private secretary, was also said to have attended.
Jack Doyle (director of Communications) and Shelley Williams Walker (head of Operations), are two other guests.
ITV was told by a spokesman that the event in the afternoon was unexpected and that he only stayed there for 10 minutes. The broadcaster also claimed that there was a separate event later on in the PM’s personal quarters – something denied by No10.
Human rights barrister Adam Wagner, an expert on Covid rules, said Downing Street’s statement ‘appears a clear admission of an illegal gathering’ and indicated it would have to be probed by the police because it ‘ties the Met’s hands’.
He also noted that it is the first time that No10 ‘has admitted that the PM was at an, to me, obviously illegal gathering with no real prospect of a reasonable excuse’.
ITV News has claimed that the Prime Minster hosted a party partly organized by Carrie (pictured), on June 19, 2020 in order to celebrate his 56th birthday.
After he returned from visiting Bovingdon Primary Academy, Hemel Hempstead (pictured), they are believed to have celebrated their birthday.
Pictured outside of his London residence, Mr Cummings has made a number of accusations against the PM regarding Partygate
As Mr Johnson waits for the findings of an investigation by Cabinet Office official Sue Gray, the bombshell is delivered. This could be the turning point in Johnson’s premiership.
As it is known, she knew about the accusations of the birthday bash and so their appearance will not delay her investigation which continues to be expected later this week.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson should resign ‘for the good of the country’, adding: ‘This is yet more evidence that we have got a Prime Minister who believes that the rules that he made don’t apply to him.
‘And so we have got a Prime Minister and a government who spend their whole time mopping up sleaze and deceit. Many people find themselves struggling to cover their monthly bills. We cannot afford to go on with this chaotic, rudderless government.’
Tory MP Tobias Ellwood also condemned the ‘latest twist in which has been quite a horrible series of events’, telling GB News’s Nigel Farage: ‘Very sad to read these latest headlines. The nation is rightly very angry by what’s happened. We’re almost in a holding pattern as we wait for Sue Gray’s report.
‘I’m curious as to whether this was allowed to leak out in the build up to that report or whether she’s going to have to require an extension indeed to include the study of this latest event. It is a huge distraction from the main point.
‘There are both domestic issues, huge challenges nationally, but also internationally that require attention. So it’s very sad to see this latest twist in which has been quite horrible series of events rolling out for the last three or four months.’