Politics
downing street

New Downing Street ‘bring-your-own-booze party’ revealed and people are furious

New Downing Street ‘bring-your-own-booze party’ revealed and people are furious

A new leaked email shows Downing Street staff were invited to a ‘bring-your-own-booze’ event in the Number 10 garden at the height of lockdown - “to make the most of the lovely weather”.

The email, obtained by ITV News, was sent by Boris Johnson’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds to more than 100 employees in May 2020 as the nation was stuck under unprecedented restrictions.

In it, he wrote: “Hi all, after what has been an incredibly busy period it would be nice to make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks in the No10 garden this evening.

“Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!”

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Dozens of staff - including aides, speechwriters and advisors - are understood to have gathered in the garden that evening, snacking on picnic food and having drinks.

Among those in attendance, according to ITV News, were the prime minister and his wife Carrie.

The May 20th party was first mentioned in a newsletter sent out by Dominic Cummings on Friday, and is separate to a now infamous gathering captured on camera which took place five days earlier on May 15th. Downing Street had insisted that the event was a work meeting.

The latest event is one of many suspicious gatherings that have taken place during the pandemic.

People were, understandably, furious at the latest revelation.

One person neatly summed up the reality across the nation, outside of the Downing Street garden walls:

Another flagged the rough time the Queen endured, strictly following the rules at her husband’s funeral:

Entire family traditions were altered across the UK - but life went on as normal, it appears, in Downing Street:

If this stands up, there’s only one person to blame, said one Twitter user:

It’s beside the point, but arranging something like this on email seems ... quite silly?

Exasperated voters are no longer sure if there’s anything that would get Johnson to quit:

Political rivals demanded the PM “come clean”:

One person flagged a video in which he appeared to smile or smirk while being questioned about it all:

One person joked that he’s too stingy to turn up with something from the off-licence:

There were plenty of memes too:

Others said it was pretty cheap to expect staff to supply their own booze for a work gathering:

A politician in Wales said with a leaked email to hand, we can probably skip the inquiry this time:

The likely spin operation around the revelation was predicted by one Twitter user. Number 10 ought to sign them up:

The political fray in becoming a circus, observed John Sweeney:

In all the excitement, Laurence Fox tweeted something that didn’t quite resemble English:

Some are braced for a lukewarm response from the opposition leader:

Days after the alleged party, he acknowledged that people were staying ‘vigilant’:

A doctor pointed out the jaw-dropping level of death that the UK saw that day:

The always vocal Gary Neville gave his thoughts on what will happen over the next few days as a result:

To be honest, the simplest tweets are always the best at summing up a political crisis:

A source also told The Independent there were “more parties” which would come to light if Sue Gray - the official currently investigating Downing Street gatherings during the pandemic - “gets the info she ought to get”.

However, they added that it was “deeply wrong” that officials would “get the blame” when their actions were sanctioned by the Prime Minister.

“He was there for them [parties]. He encouraged people to drink and drank himself. And it was a clear untruth for Number 10 to suggest that there was nothing that could be described as parties,” they said. “It was shocking that they even tried to claim that.”

Indy100 has contacted Downing Street for comment.

boris johnsondowning street
The Conversation (0)