Sonia Khan emphasized the historical behavior of Government in the face of signs that Boris Johnson might impose an alcohol ban in order to stem rising anger regarding Partygate
A former aide said that Downing Street might start drinking at lunch, and then wake up the next morning in the exact same outfit after having crashed on couches as part of an ongoing drinking culture.
Sonia Khan spoke out about the historical behavior of Government in the face of signs that Boris Johnson may impose an alcohol ban as a way to calm rising anger over Partygate.
After Boris Johnson took power, Ms Khan had worked at No10 in the Treasury and was then summarily fired. Later she settled a claim for unfair dismissal.
In an interview, she said drinking had long been ‘normalised’ in Downing Street.
She argued, however that her previous culture was “totally different” to those who were accused of having partyked while coronavirus was being dealt with by the government.
Last week, Mr Johnson had to apologize after Martin Reynolds, his principal private secretary invited more than 100 employees to the No. 10 garden’s “bring your own alcohol” party during the initial lockdown.
While the PM admitted that he went, he said that it was a work function and therefore could have been considered legal.
According to some reports, aides took a rolling suitcase with wheels and went out to buy booze from nearby shops.
Ms Khan stated that drinking has been “normalized” in Downing Street for many years.
Ms Khan stated that these drinks sessions are often sandwiched among pieces of work. It feels very repetitive.
‘Drinks could start at lunch time, they could start a little bit later in the day – different teams do things very differently – but the idea of mini fridges or having drinks underneath your table wasn’t uncommon.’
Ms Khan stated that senior people from No. 10 for two decades used alcohol to thank staff members for their hard work.
Asked if people had been so hungover they had slept on sofas in Downing Street, she said: ‘I did see a few instances of that – people waking up in the same clothes the next day.
“But, obviously, I wasn’t working during a pandemic. It didn’t happen very frequently back then,” I should add. It’s hard to say what the future looks like.
Ms Khan said: ‘Drinks in No 10 … feel like such a normalised thing so it doesn’t feel like anything out of the ordinary.
“Now that there’s a pandemic, it’s entirely different. You can certainly say that the people who are so intelligent and intelligent should have been supervised.
Ms Khan started her career as a civil servant under Mr Cameron at No 10. She was then promoted to special advisor in Treasury during Mrs May’s leadership.
While she was briefly in the Treasury when Mr Johnson took control, she was forced to leave Downing Street in force by armed officers after Dominic Cummings fired her in August 2019. Dominic Cummings had accused her of leakage.
Later she settled an unfair dismissal claim against Government.
Today, Mr Cummings retorted on Twitter by insisting that there is no alcohol culture at No10 in 2020. He also accused Ms Khan as being a useful idiot to help Mr Johnson.
Meanwhile, Tories have warned Boris Johnson his ‘Operation Red Meat’ policy blitz might not be enough to save his bacon as even ministers hesitated about saying he is ‘safe’.
The PM is now believed to have been grilled by top civil servant Sue Gray, who could deliver her report on the bewildering array of allegations about lockdown breaches in Whitehall within days.
Boris Johnson (pictured here running) was reportedly questioned by Sue Gray, top civil servant who is expected to deliver her report about the bewildering range of claims regarding lockdown violations in Whitehall in the next few days
Twitter: Mr Cummings responded today to Mr Johnson, insisting there wasn’t a drinking culture at No10 by May 2020. Ms Khan was accused of being a “useful idiot” in an attempt to support Mr Johnson.
With crowd pleasing announcements about bringing in the military and tackling the Channel migrant crisis, the government is gearing up to save Mr Johnson.
Rumours abound that he may be ready to fire some of his senior aides to ban alcohol from Downing Street to boost his premiership.
This morning Education Secretary Nadhim Zhawi said that Johnson feels the pain of the people because of apparent violations of restrictions.
His argument was that Johnson was “human” and he had apologized for making a’mistake’ in May 2020 by attending a May 2020 social event. However, Mr Zahawi was asked 3 times by BBC Radio 4’s Today program before he said that the Premier was safe in his position.
A number of MPs returned to their constituencies, reporting that voters had abused them on the doorsteps and in mailbags. MailOnline heard from one Northern MP who said that the response was terrible, even more so than in the Barnard Castle dispute involving Mr Cummings.
“It is worse because he was violating the rules that made him and told everyone else to comply. He is free to launch again, hide behind reports or do anything he likes. According to the Tory MP, “The people have decided,”
Another stated that they are getting grief from “a good many Tories and just average people who don’t say anything about their politics but feel compelled write to say that they want Boris’ resignation”. But they expressed optimism that things might be shifting to other stories.