Boris Johnson’s plan to move on from the party row has been torpedoed after he was accused of celebrating his 56th birthday party during the first lockdown. It seems there was a cake, and collective singing indoors at a time when such activities were banned.
Remember, that’s when choirs were silent, pubs were shut and millions of lonely Britons were confined by government order. A time when Britons were effectively prohibited from meeting friends and relatives.
Number 10 has attempted to present previous gatherings as implicit “work events” (when there was no such thing within the rules). That will be trickier this time. It was a birthday party. Happy implicit work event to you, dear Prime Minister.
ITV News broke the latest news, saying the Prime Minister had a birthday bash in Downing Street, hosted by his wife Carrie Johnson, on 19 June 2020 despite coronavirus rules at the time forbidding social gatherings. Several days earlier, Johnson pleaded with the public “to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe”.
The PM was reportedly presented with a cake, as Carrie led up to 30 staff to sing a chorus of “Happy Birthday”. Among the attendees was Lulu Lytle, the interior designer behind the controversial recordation of the Number 11 flat.
The revelation adds to the list of illicit parties during the pandemic under investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray. Johnson, when commenting on the BYOB garden party on 20 May 2020, said “nobody told me” it was “against the rules”, despite him signing them off.
At the 19 June party, did he know it was his own birthday?
