No. 10 Was ‘Oasis of Normality’ Where COVID Rules Were Not Enforced, Partygate Probe Told

A photograph obtained by ITV News of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a leaving party in Downing Street, London, on Nov. 13. 2020. ITV/PA Media

No. 10 Downing Street was an “oasis of normality” where COVID-19 rules went ignored while staff were warned to watch out for cameras outside, an official told MPs investigating the Partygate scandal.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeatedly told the House of Commons that lockdown rules had been “followed at all times” in Downing Street.

But in its final report on the Partygate scandal, published on Thursday, the Commons Privileges Committee said Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over lockdown-breaching parties held during the pandemic.

Boris Johnson giving evidence to the Privileges Committee at the House of Commons, London, on March 22, 2023. House of Commons/UK Parliament via PA Media

In written evidence to the committee, a Downing Street official said “Wine Time Fridays” and birthday parties continued while the rest of the country faced harsh restrictions on socialising.

The official—whose name was redacted—wrote, “During the pandemic, No. 10, despite setting the rules to the country, was slow to enforce any rules in the building.”

But security urged staff to be “mindful” of potential scrutiny outside the building, urging them to follow guidance when they left, the official said.

“No. 10 was like an island oasis of normality. Operational notes were sent out from the security team to be mindful of the cameras outside the door, not to go out in groups and to social distance. It was all pantomime,” the statement reads.

“Birthday parties, leaving parties and end-of-week gatherings all continued as normal. Those responsible for the leadership of No. 10 failed to keep it a safe space and should have set rules from the start that these gatherings should not continue.”

‘No Remorse’

Responding to the report, the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) campaign group said Johnson “should never be allowed to stand for any form of public office again.”

David Garfinkel, spokesman for CBFFJ, said: “This is another grim reminder that whilst families like mine were saying goodbye to our loved ones over Zoom, the same prime minister that failed us so badly in the first place was breaking his own rules so he could have a party and a laugh.

“Johnson has shown no remorse. Instead he lied to our faces when he told us that he’d done ‘all he could’ to protect our loved ones.

“He lied again when he said the rules hadn’t been broken in No. 10, and he’s lied ever since when he’s denied it again and again.

“It’s an utter tragedy that Johnson was in charge when the pandemic struck and he should never be allowed to stand for any form of public office again.

“His fall from grace must serve as a lesson to other politicians to act with honesty and to serve the public as a whole—that is the only positive that can come from this.”

‘Patently Absurd’

But Johnson denied he had lied, and instead accused the Privileges Committee of lying.

In a statement issued after the publication of the report, he said: “I believed that these events were lawful. I believed that my participation was lawful, and required by my job.”

He added: “So when on Dec. 1, 2021, I told the House of Commons that ‘the guidance was followed completely’ [in No. 10] I meant it. It wasn’t just what I thought: it’s what we all thought—that we were following the rules and following the guidance completely—notwithstanding the difficulties of maintaining social distancing at all times.

“The committee now says that I deliberately misled the House, and at the moment I spoke I was consciously concealing from the House my knowledge of illicit events.

“This is rubbish. It is a lie. In order to reach this deranged conclusion, the committee is obliged to say a series of things that are patently absurd, or contradicted by the facts.”

PA Media contributed to this report.