THE Tory government has been accused of “yet another cover up” after previously unreported messages suggested the Prime Minister’s wife held a second law-breaking party in breach of Covid laws.
The event, which allegedly saw multiple people invited up to the Downing Street flat hours after the birthday event which saw Boris Johnson fined for breaking the law, has been flagged to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Messages reportedly show Carrie Johnson was told the Prime Minister was coming up to the flat, and she replied by saying she was already up there and implying she was with others.
At the time, gatherings of more than two people were illegal except for work purposes. Carrie Johnson has repeatedly denied having any professional involvement in the running of government.
An aide told the Times they had flagged the messages to both Sue Gray – who wrote an internal report on the partygate scandal – and the police but neither investigated.
Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, said: “This looks like yet another cover up and there are new questions the Prime Minister must answer about his involvement.
“The public deserve the truth about why the holding of a lockdown party in the Prime Minister’s flat on his own birthday has not been made public until now.
“The previously suppressed evidence about this unexamined event casts further doubt on the integrity of the investigation and raises new questions about potential misconduct in public office, which must now be subject to proper and genuinely independent scrutiny.”
A spokesperson for Carrie Johnson told the Times: “Sue Gray was aware of these exchanges as part of her exhaustive inquiry into alleged breaches.
“Staff were given ample opportunity to present evidence including these messages and all relevant information was passed to the Metropolitan Police for investigation.
“The lunchtime gathering in the cabinet room on 19 June 2020 was subsequently found to be in breach and a fixed penalty notice was issued to Mrs Johnson among others for which she apologised unreservedly and promptly paid the fine.”
