UK PM Boris Johnson under fire after 'bring your own booze' email surfaces

By Team Newsable | First Published Jan 11, 2022, 4:45 PM IST

Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the 2019 election, had come under criticism in recent weeks after a video surfaced showing his workers laughing and joking about a Downing Street party during a 2020 Christmas lockdown.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was chastised after it was revealed that his private secretary had invited over 100 guests to a "bring your own booze" party in Downing Street's garden during the first coronavirus lockdown. Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the 2019 election, had come under criticism in recent weeks after a video surfaced showing his workers laughing and joking about a Downing Street party during a 2020 Christmas lockdown.

The revelations of a series of parties at Downing Street have sparked mockery from comedians and criticism from opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who said Johnson lacked the moral authority to govern the country. Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie were among those who met with approximately 40 colleagues in Downing Street's garden on May 20, 2020, after the PM's Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds extended an email invitation, according to ITV.

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According to sources, Reynold mentioned in an email that it had been a very stressful month, and that they thought it would be fantastic to take advantage of the lovely weather and have some socially disconnected beverages in the No10 garden this evening. "Please join us beginning at 6 p.m. and bring your booze!"

Schools were closed to most students during the gathering, while pubs and restaurants were shuttered, with severe limits on social mingling. The laws were so severe at the time that police fined individuals for throwing parties, set up random checkpoints in specific locations, and employed drones to monitor beauty spots in Derbyshire, central England. Johnson's office did not respond to a request for comment on the ITV story. A top government official, Sue Grey, is presently examining the reports of at least five parties hosted in government agencies amid lockdown restrictions last year.

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Johnson, 57, has been under fire in recent months for his management of a sleaze scandal, the granting of lucrative COVID contracts, the restoration of his Downing Street residence, and a report that he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western evacuation in August.

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