Boris Johnson faces further pressure after two ministers lambasted him for lockdown-busting activities in Downing Street. This comes just hours after Dominic Cummings announced he would stand trial against Johnson, who had accused Johnson of misleading Parliament.
Last night, the PM’s ex-top adviser stated that Johnson had discussed May 2020 BYOB with him before it took place but his concerns were “waved aside”.
This claim is in contradiction to Mr Johnson’s statements made last Wednesday before the House of Commons. Ahead of PMQs he insisted that he believed that the knees-up organised by his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds – currently being probed by senior civil servant Sue Gray – was a work event that did not breach regulations.
After last week’s shocking slew, Operation Red Meat revelations, Downing Street created a massive rescue plan for the PM. Mr Cummings has vigorously refuted these claims.
Two ministers from Mr Johnson have publicly criticized No10’s Partygate scandal, warning that the scandals had caused “serious damage” to the public’s faith in the government.
George Freeman, the Science minister, said that he was shocked by the revelations. He also questioned how staff can enjoy these gatherings when his constituents cannot see their loved ones dying, according the Times.
Maria Caulfield from the Health Ministry also stated that no matter how technical the rules are, “the spirit” of them was.
She said that she would “consider what actions are needed” when Ms Gray’s report on the events is published.
It comes after Mr Cummings suggested in a post on his Substack blog on Monday, that worse might still be to come for No10.
“Amidst discussion about the future of Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, and PPS (Reynolds), which was going on for many days, I said something to the PM like this: “Martin’s invited building to a drinks party. This is what I am talking about. You’ve got get to grasp this madhouse ”,’,” he wrote.
“The PM ignored it.” I told him several times that the PPS must be replaced. He also had to tell other officials competent in the matter who understood the need for a major overhaul of management and personnel.
He continued, “Not just me but all eyewitnesses at that time discussed this would swear under oath that this is what occurred.”
Downing Street has denied the claims, as a No 10 spokesman said in response: ‘It is untrue that the Prime Minister was warned about the event in advance. This was an implicit belief, he stated this week.
“He has apologized to the House, and has committed to make a further statement after the investigation is over.”
A new poll showed that Labour was ahead by 13 points in the polls tonight, compared to the Tories during the crisis.
Tonight, the PM’s ex-top adviser stated that Johnson had discussed May 2020 BYOB with him before it took place but that Johnson’s concerns were “waved aside”.
Today, Cummings posted on the Substack Blog that worse could still lie ahead for Number10.
He said, “Not only me, but also other eyewitnesses that discussed it at the time would swear to this was what actually happened.”
Left, George Freeman, right Maria Caulfield are two of Johnson’s ministers who have publicly criticized No10’s Partygate scandal. They claim the scandals have done’serious harm’ to the public’s trust in government officials
On Monday’s Substack blog, Mr Cummings posted that the worst might yet be for No10.
Redfield Strategies and Wilton Strategies conducted a survey on January 17, which showed Labour at 43%, an increase of four. The Tories, however, were down to 30%, five more, within a span of one week.
Meanwhile, Mr Cummings was also fired after losing the Downing Street power struggle and sent an alarming warning to PM about possible scandals to come.
He said, “There are many more photos of parties that have not appeared since I left.” I’ll tell you more once the SG report is out.
Last week, Mr Johnson was forced into an apology 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 in May 2020.
While the PM admitted that he went, he said that it was a work function and therefore could have been considered legal.
Some claims were that aides carried a wheeled suitcase to pick up alcohol from the nearby shop.
Today, the Tories warned Johnson that his “Operation Red Meat” policy blitz may not have been enough to save him today. Ministers hesitated at saying Johnson 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.
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.
Today, Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, said in a series of interviews that Johnson “feels the pain” of the public over the flouting and alleged violations of country’s restrictions.
His argument was that Johnson was “human” and he had apologized for making a’mistake’ in May 2020 by attending a social function. Before Mr Zahawi could say that Premier Johnson was “safe” in his job, he had to be questioned three times on BBC Radio 4’s Today.
The MPs also reported a storm from the voters in their constituents. MailOnline heard from one Northern MP who said that the response was terrible, worse than in the Barnard Castle dispute involving Dominic Cummings.
It was even worse, because he had broken the rules he set and ordered everyone to comply with. He is free to launch again, hide behind reports or do anything he likes. According to the Tory MP, “The people have decided,”
Sue Gray, senior civil servant Sue Gray has quizzed Boris Johnson (right) about Partygate allegations which have rocked Tory Party in recent weeks
Hitehall seems to be already bracing himself for the findings of Ms Gray, and the Prime Minister launched a pre-emptive “policy blitz” to counter the worst crisis that he’s faced since assuming office in 2019. Pictured is one of the ‘illicit Parties’ that were held at Downing Street gardens, May 17, 2020
Another stated that they are getting grief from ‘a fair number of Tories’ and ‘just ordinary people who don’t talk politics, but feel compelled write to demand Boris’ resignation’. But they expressed optimism that things might be shifting to other stories.
According to Partygate, Mr Johnson was at a party for Captain Steve Higham, a defence advisor, before Christmas 2020. He gave a speech.
The spokesperson of the PM has been forced to retract extraordinary claims by Mr Johnson’s staff that Johnson called him a ‘big dog.
Andrew Bowie backbencher has warned Mr Johnson that his half-hearted apology to the Commons last Wednesday ‘didn’t cut it’.
He said that there was a sense of disappointment and anger within the party, and that many MPs are having trouble making decisions for the coming weeks.
Chris Loder from the Conservative Party stated that he has received 400 emails recently with the “vast, vast majority” of them being critical about the PM. This week, he suggested, could prove decisive.
‘It’s very difficult… I think people will be comparing notes about that and I think we will see over the next week or so what those determinations are,’ he said.
Dominic Cummings summarily dismissed a former assistant who was part of Downing Street’s long-standing drinking culture. People would booze at lunchtime, then ‘wake up’ in their clothes after falling on the sofas.
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
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 highlighted historical behaviour in Government, amid indications that Boris Johnson might impose an alcohol ban to curb rising anger regarding Partygate.
Ms Khan served in No10, the Treasury and during Theresa May’s premierships. After Boris Johnson became president but before the pandemic, she was summarily dismissed in a dispute with Dominic Cummings. Later, she settled an unfair dismissal case.
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 was forced into an apology 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 in May 2020.
While the PM admitted that he went, he said that it was a work function and therefore could have been considered legal.
Some claims were that aides carried a wheeled suitcase to pick up alcohol from the nearby shop.
Ms Khan claimed that alcohol has long been accepted in Downing Street.
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, in a pandemic which’s completely different, you can definitely say that people ought to have had the oversight because they’re all so intelligent and smart.
Ms Khan started as a civil servant under Mr Cameron in No 10. She then worked in Treasury as an adviser special during Mrs May’s presidency.
While she was briefly in the Treasury when Mr Johnson took control, she was forced to leave Downing Street in force by the armed police following her dismissal by Dominic Cummings on August 19, 2019, for leaking allegations.
Later, she settled her claim against the Government regarding unfair dismissal.
Twitter: Mr Cummings responded today, insisting that No10 had no drink culture in May 2020. Ms Khan was accused of being a “useful idiot” to support 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.
The government was preparing for an enormous effort to rescue Johnson. They made crowd-pleasing announcements regarding bringing in military personnel to address the Channel Migrant Crisis and reforming BBC.
Rumours abound that he may be ready to fire some of his senior aides to ban alcohol from Downing Street to boost his premiership.
Today, Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, said in a series of interviews that Johnson “feels the pain” of the public over the flouting and alleged violations of country’s restrictions.
His argument was that Johnson was “human” and he had apologized for his mistake in May 2020 attending a social function. Before Mr Zahawi could say that Premier Johnson was “safe” in his job, he had to be questioned three times on BBC Radio 4’s Today.
Boris Johnson, pictured this morning running, is thought to have been interviewed by Sue Gray (top civil servant), who may deliver her report within days on the myriad of accusations about Whitehall lockdown breaches.
Twitter: Mr Cummings responded today to Mr Johnson, insisting that No10 had no drinking culture in May 2020. Ms Khan was accused of being a “useful idiot” and helping Mr Johnson strengthen his position
The MPs also reported a beastly response from the voters in their constituents. 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 was worse because he broke the rules he made himself and instructed everyone to follow. He is free to launch again, hide behind reports or do anything he likes. According to the Tory MP, “The people have decided,”
One person said that they had been getting upset from “a lot of Tories” and “just ordinary people who don’t speak up about politics, but feel the need to send a letter to tell Boris to quit.” But they expressed optimism that things might be shifting to other stories.