United Kingdom: Christmas party insurance. Boris Johnson in the midst of criticism

Information about the alleged infringement by Johnson And – and twice – the Covid restrictions were first announced on Wednesday by the Daily Mirror. According to the newspaper, on November 27 last year, while a second shutdown was in progress, Johnson was due to give a speech at a major retirement party for one of his top aides.

Then at the official staff birthday party Downing Street The Prime Minister had to agree to make it informal – without his participation. It was due to take place on December 18, four days after Level 3 restrictions were introduced in London, meaning people were not allowed to meet people outside their families and a so-called support bubble.

The Daily Mirror reports were the main topic of Wednesday’s weekly session of Parliamentary Questions for the Prime Minister. When opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer asked whether such a party had really been made, Johnson to reply: What I can say is that at No. 10 (Downing Street 10 – the residence of the British Prime Minister) all instructions were fully followed.

“Does the Prime Minister really expect the state to believe that while people were forbidden to see their loved ones at Christmas last year, it was acceptable for him and his friends to have a liquor party in Downing Street?” Starmer asked. Johnson was accused of hypocrisy for ignoring the rules he ordered the rest of the country to obey, and of seeing the public as “idiots”.

keep pressing Johnson He tried to downplay it by saying that the current guidelines are more important than going back to what happened a year ago. He urged people not to cancel their holiday parties this year despite the emergence of the Omikron variant, to take a booster dose of vaccines and follow the new guidelines for wearing masks on public transport and in stores.