UK’s Boris Johnson facing 2020 lockdown birthday bash allegation: report
Global News
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already facing investigation over two alleged government parties during COVID-19 lockdowns .
Britain’s Boris Johnson was fighting to shore up his premiership on Monday after his office said his birthday in 2020 was marked by a gathering in Downing Street, adding fuel to an investigation into government parties during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority in more than 30 years, is facing a raft of accusations that he and his staff partied during the worst pandemic for a century, as well as a complaint of racist discrimination in his party.
The new allegation comes just days before an official investigation by Cabinet Office official Sue Gray into the lockdown parties is due to be published later in the week.
ITV News said up to 30 people attended the June 2020 birthday event, during the first COVID-19 lockdown, in 10 Downing Street, Johnson’s central London office and residence.
Social gatherings indoors were banned at the time.
The prime minister was believed to have been presented with a cake while his wife led staff in a chorus of happy birthday, the ITV News report said.
Johnson’s office disputed that it was a party, telling ITV: “A group of staff working in No. 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the prime minister a happy birthday.”
“He was there for less than 10 minutes,” it said.