Dominic Raab was forced to backtrack after he accidentally admitted a Downing Street "party" .
The deputy Prime Minister was interviewed by Kay Burley on Sky News this morning over Dominic Cummings' allegations that Boris Johnson was warned about holding a drinks party during lockdown.
Mr Raab branded the claims from the Prime Minister's former top aide as "nonsense" - as Mirror Online reports.
READ MORE: Downing Street issues update on end of Plan B restrictions
The Justice Secretary was probed about whether there was a drinking culture problem in No.10 when he committed the gaffe.
He said: “People were working extremely long hours, so it doesn’t surprise me if people, as you see in other walks of life, had a glass of wine or beer at the end of a very long week.
“There was speculation that the May 20 party was held in my honour to thank me, it’s just ridiculous.”
This prompted Kay Burley to scrutinise the comments as she said: "So it was a party!”
Mr Raab scrambled to deny the remarks after the blunder.
He said: "No, exactly, er, no, er, the, no no no no.
“This is the claim that was made, it was nonsense, I wasn’t invited and I didn’t attend.”
Mr Cummings claims he told Boris Johnson “you’ve got to grip this madhouse” after the invite was sent out asking around 100 staff to attend the BYOB party at No10.
He says at least two senior officials told Boris Johnson’s Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds to cancel the garden party on May 20, 2020, but the Prime Minister "waved it aside".
In response to Mr Cummings’ claims, a No10 spokesman said last night: “It is untrue the Prime Minister was warned about the event in advance. As he said earlier this week, he believed implicitly that this was a work event.
“He has apologised to the House and is committed to making a further statement once the investigation concludes.”
An investigation into the alleged lockdown parties is currently being conducted by Sue Gray.
The report is expected later this week and it is understood that the Second Permanent Secretary has interviewed Mr Johnson, and No10 sources claim he has “shared what he knows”.
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