UK PM Boris Johnson under fire for leaked video of staff joking about lockdown Christmas party
- Downing Street on defensive after leaked video shows PM’s staff joking about alleged lockdown party in 2020
- At that time, London was under strict Covid restrictions and most indoor social gatherings were banned
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was under fire Wednesday after a video emerged of his senior aides joking about holding a Christmas party at Downing Street last year when social gatherings were banned under Covid rules.
The government has been accused repeatedly of hypocrisy over breaches of lockdown rules and in a major scandal health secretary Matt Hancock resigned in June after revelations that he broke coronavirus restrictions during an affair with an aide.
The video, obtained by broadcaster ITV News, shows Johnson’s then press secretary Allegra Stratton, adviser Ed Oldfied and other staff joking about “a fictional party” during a rehearsal press conference on December 22, with no media present.
In the leaked footage, Stratton is seen answering questions about a Downing Street Christmas party the previous Friday – when the alleged rule-breaking gathering took place.
“This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced,” she laughs over joking exchanges about “cheese and wine”.