Boris Johnson has apologised “unreservedly” for the offence the footage has caused
(Picture: PA Wire)Prime minister Boris Johnson has apologised “unreservedly” for the offence the footage has caused “up and down the country” and the “impression it gave” following the alleged Christmas party at Downing Street during lockdown restrictions last year.
Johnson said he was “furious” after seeing the clip and insisted there was no party and no rules were broken.
He has, however, asked the Cabinet Secretary to investigate claims about the Christmas party in Downing Street last year adding that, if rules were broken, there will be disciplinary action.
The alleged staff party, reported to have included games and food and drink, is said to have taken place on 18 December when England was living under tier three restrictions – a time when some people were getting fined if caught hosting a gathering for over six people.
Johnson has repeatedly insisted that rules were followed but the official line has now shifted with the announcement of the inquiry.
As a result, Brits were furious and turned to Twitter to share how they spent Christmas in 2020, thanks to government rules. Many spent Christmas alone or were unable to visit loved ones, some of whom had days left to live.
“I spent last Christmas alone in my small apartment and it would have been my final Christmas with my grandfather before he passed away this year,” one wrote, adding: “Glad they had fun though.”
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Here are some of the other heartbreaking stories that people shared:
Last Christmas I spent the day at work on the covid unit desperately trying to save people who were alone & scared
— Dr Noodles (@noodles_nood) December 8, 2021
I didn’t see anyone at all as the rules changed to not allow gatherings after Christmas
I didn’t get a Christmas hug from my mum & they partied whilst people died.
I spent that Christmas alone in the flat, having Christmas lunch with the old dears on Zoom. No.10 can absolutely get to fuck.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) December 7, 2021
4 weeks after the Downing Street party we buried my dad. Many of the family stood outside the chapel on a freezing January day - barred from the service. I cried down my mask - the one I wore to protect myself and others. So it does matter. Or nothing really matters any more.
— Lost in the Shire (@hobbitoncentral) December 7, 2021
On the evening this video was filmed, I was handing Christmas presents to my teenage children in a lay-by (divorced from their Mum). My parents were in the next car along. We weren't the only family doing the same thing. This matters.
— Lee Toomey (@leetoomey) December 7, 2021
Not a family member, but my friend & neighbour spent her last Christmas alone. Her family couldn't visit. I took her food and gifts & told her I wished I could invite her into my home. I wish now that I had. She died in May of a stroke https://t.co/2IF2bEyF8u
— Ｓｕｅ Ｖｅｎｅｅｒ (@sueveneer) December 8, 2021
I spent last Christmas alone in my small apartment and it would have been my final Christmas with my grandfather before he passed away this year. Glad they had fun though. https://t.co/F9jrswzE3L
— Dan Drambles (@DanDrambles) December 8, 2021
Last Christmas was the last one my mother spent on this earth. I was allowed to see her in her care home from the other side of a perspex screen. She could not hear or see me properly. I could not hold her hand. Behaviour at 10 Downing St. is and was unforgiveable.
— Anne Bell (@Yorkshirebell) December 7, 2021
My mother-in-law died of Covid in June 2020 so last Christmas was the first one my father-in-law, aged 94, had been alone after 50 years of marriage. He rang us in mid December to say he'd better spend Christmas alone as it was against the rules for him to come to us.
— Hilary Marchant (@HilaryMarchant) December 7, 2021
I spent it mourning my husband who died in the October at the age of 42 from a heart condition that went undiagnosed because he couldn't get in to see a GP. I was allowed to see him for just one hour a day for 4 of the last weeks of his life. He should have been 44 tomorrow.
— Emma Waring (@emmajwaring) December 7, 2021
I spent my first ever Christmas not at home with my wee old parents (only child). Both had health issues & I just wanted to go home and hug them. But no. Stayed with my flatmate in London. Cooked dinner for us both. I haven't lost anyone to COVID so feel lucky. Still mad tho...
— Clare McMenemy (@highpoh) December 7, 2021
Despite ministers continuing to insist there was no party, a new leaked clip has prompted further questions about exactly what went on on December 18, 2020.
The video, obtained by ITV and reported to be from December 22 last year, shows Allegra Stratton laughing as she appears to rehearse answers to questions over a lockdown-busting Christmas party.
In the clip, No 10. Special adviser to the prime minister Ed Oldfield asks Stratton about reports of a party in Downing Street “on Friday night” – which would coincide with the alleged December 18 party date.
“I went home,” Stratton responded before pausing.
Oldfield then asks whether the prime minister would “condone” a Christmas party. Stratton responded: “What’s the answer?”
Another aide joked that “it wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine” before asking, “is cheese and wine all right?”
Ms Stratton then noted “this is recorded”, adding: “This fictional party was a business meeting … and it was not socially distanced.”
In response to ITV’s report, a Downing Street spokesman said: “There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times.”
