Skip to main content

Tories try to dodge partygate blame as fresh photos emerge

MINISTERS dodged questions over Boris Johnson’s alleged partying during lockdown today after an image of the PM raising a toast fuelled more fury over “partygate.”

Cabinet ministers arriving for their weekly briefing refused to answer questions about whether the Prime Minister had let them down.

It comes after the offending photograph of Mr Johnson at a leaving do for one of his former senior aides during the strict lockdown in November 2020 was widely publicised.

Mr Johnson did not receive a fixed-penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police for the date in question, with the picture, published by ITV, showing that there was at least eight other people in the room at a time when people were banned from social mixing.

Opening the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister avoided mentioning the photo and instead discussed the government’s plan for pushing down inflation, which has soared to 9 per cent in April — its highest level for 40 years and is predicted to go beyond 10 per cent later this year.

Mr Johnson also joked that unemployment had never been lower in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s lifetime.

But while the Prime Minister joked to his Cabinet colleagues, the boss of energy regulator Ofgem Jonathan Brearley warned that the energy price cap is expected to rise to a staggering £2,800 in October.

British businesses also reported a dramatic slowdown this month as the closely followed S&P Global/CIPS Flash United Kingdom Purchasing Managers Index hit 51.8 in May, a 15-month low and down from 58.2 in April.

The survey indicates the economy is “grinding to a halt as inflationary pressure rises to unprecedented levels,” chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence Chris Williamson said.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said that the government was “paralysed by inaction” and as a result “250,000 households have been pushed into destitution.”

Three anonymous Downing Street insiders have told BBC Panorama some of the things that they witnessed as regular rule-breaking parties.

They said that debris was left overnight for people arriving at work the next day to discover after staff crowded together and sat on each other’s laps at parties.

They also say that they felt that the PM condoned the parties as he was “grabbing a glass for himself.” 

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today