Boris Johnson faces a day of reckoning over the Partygate scandal as Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray prepares to finally publish her report tomorrow.
The Prime Minister stands accused of lying to Parliament over his multiple claims that “no rules were broken” in No 10 during lockdown.
Downing Street staff revealed they watched in disbelief as Mr Johnson repeatedly told the Commons he had been unaware of the rules-busting gatherings.
One said: “We were watching it all live and we just sort of looked at each other in disbelief like - why?
“Why is he denying this when we’ve been with him this entire time, we knew that the rules had been broken, we knew these parties happened?”
The Government has been battered by the scandal since the Mirror first reported last year that social events took place in No 10 while the rest of the country stuck to strict Covid lockdown rules.
Tonight Mr Johnson faced fresh claims that he condoned illegal social gatherings by “grabbing a glass for himself” instead of breaking up regular events.
His own office organised get-togethers - such as the BYOB party in the garden - with his senior staff even sending out email invitations.
Insiders told the BBC ’s Panorama how the PM himself set the culture suggesting he “wanted to be liked” and for staff to be able to “let their hair down”.
One suggested they felt like they had the PM’s permission to socialise even though it meant breaking the rules because “he was there.”
They said: “He wasn’t there saying this shouldn’t be happening.
“He wasn’t saying, ‘Can everyone break up and go home? Can everyone socially distance? Can everyone put masks on?’
“No, he wasn’t telling anybody that. He was grabbing a glass for himself.”
They revealed how staff “sat on each others laps” at gatherings and even “stayed the night” after they went on into the early hours.
They suggested that regular drinks sessions - “nailed into the diary” at least every week - took place with the PM’s apparent blessing.
The Mirror was told in January that he had encouraged aides to “let off steam” at ‘Wine Time Fridays’ despite indoor socialising being banned.
One source said: “Boris used to stop by for a chat while they had a drink.
It was on the way up to his flat and the door was usually open. He knew about it and encouraged it.“
Another added: “He could see everyone sitting there drinking as he walked up.
“He would come in and say ‘Hello everyone had a hard week? Letting off some steam? Oh great’.
“The idea that he didn’t know there were drinks is total nonsense. If the PM tells you to ‘let off steam’, he’s basically saying this is fine.”
But drinking wasn’t limited to Fridays and staff described turning up at work in No 10 often to find what they described as “a mess!”
One added: “There were bottles, empties, rubbish - in the bin, but overflowing - or indeed sometimes left on the table.”
The Mirror has also been told that Downing Street security guards - known as custodians - were forced to warn staff against parties.
One source claimed they sent an email reminder round the building in the summer of 2020. Another suggested they came round to speak to people directly.
An insider told the BBC how one of the custodians was mocked when they tried to stop a party in full flow.
“I remember when a custodian tried to stop it all and he was just shaking his head in this party, being like, ‘This shouldn’t be happening’,” he said.
“People made fun of him because he was so worked up that this party was happening and it shouldn’t be happening.
“How did it happen then, when the rest of the country was living under strict lockdown?”
Mr Johnson, who is expected to make a statement to the Commons after Ms Gray publishes her report before pleading with Tory MPs to move on from the affair, faces a renewed threat from angry backbenchers.
Senior Tory Tom Tugendhat admitted: “Frankly it’s very difficult to have confidence in the Government right now”.
But Downing Street is facing yet more questions over the Partygate scandal after a new picture emerged of yet another boozy No 10 lockdown session.
The image shows a table littered with bottles of fizz and wine to mark the last press briefing held by senior aide James Slack on 17 November, 2020.
The event, which sources said was attended by 30 to 40 staff, is not thought to have been investigated by Ms Gray or Scotland Yard.
It was sent around aides at on a WhatsApp group in response to a message from a senior official who wrote: “Time to open the Covid secure bar”.
Earlier in the afternoon, No 10 officials exchanged messages which appeared to show that the event was planned in advance.
It follows bombshell photos of the PM raising a glass at a separate leaving do after he explicitly denied in the Commons the event ever happened Downing Street was today forced to deny the PM had urged Ms Gray to drop plans to publish her report.
He reportedly suggested at a meeting with her earlier this month that there was no longer any point in releasing her findings as the facts were “all out there”. However, No 10 has refused to publish any minutes of the ‘secret’ meeting insisting that it would remain private.
The Mirror can reveal that over the last 24 hours senior No 10 staff have sent several emails to Ms Gray and her team.
They appear to show what one insider described as “getting their story straight” on the meeting.
Downing Street sources claimed that it was standard practice to let her know what they planned to say - and then get her response.
But it risks undermining the PM’s claim that Ms Gray’s report is independent of Downing Street, despite him being her boss.
Ms Gray’s report is expected to be damning about the failures of leadership at the heart of government throughout the pandemic.
Sources told the Mirror “more incriminating” photographs showing the PM drinking at rules-busting lockdown gatherings in No 10 are expected to be included. Some close to the investigation said officials had to “push very hard internally” for the damning images to be included.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for the Met to explain why the PM only received a single penalty while others were fines for attending the same events.
Scotland Yard issued 126 fines to 83 people over the Partygate scandal and a handful of senior staff lost their jobs but the PM remains in post.
A No 10 spokesperson added tonight: “As part of their investigation the Cabinet Office team were able to speak to No 10 staff to establish the facts on what happened during this period. Both they and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs.
“The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report shortly, at which point the Prime Minister will address Parliament in full.”
