The government faced a furious backlash on Wednesday after a video emerged showing Downing Street aides joking about a Christmas party during Covid restrictions. Health Secretary Sajid Javid pulled out of scheduled broadcast interviews, and other ministers including the vaccines minister and justice secretary also declined to appear.
Conservative MPs expressed anger that No 10 had held a party, denied it, and then maintained that denial despite the footage obtained by ITV. Sir Roger Gale, a senior backbencher, warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that deliberately misleading the House of Commons would be a resignation matter. He told Sky News the incident was a 'Barnard Castle moment', referring to Dominic Cummings' lockdown trip.
Charles Walker, vice-chair of the 1922 Committee, compared the affair to the expenses scandal, saying it had left the government without authority to impose future restrictions. Former minister Tracey Crouch said she was 'fuming', adding that constituents' memories of lost loved ones were 'traumatised' by the revelation. Another MP, Anne Marie Morris, said it was 'clear' No 10 staff broke the rules they imposed on society.
The leaked video, shot on 22 December 2020, shows press secretary Allegra Stratton and an adviser joking about 'a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night' – 18 December, when multiple sources say a staff party took place in breach of strict Covid regulations. In the footage, Stratton laughingly says: 'This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.'
Dr Saleyha Ahsan, from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, described the video as 'a bullet to the chest' for families who lost loved ones. Conservative peer Baroness Warsi tweeted: 'Those that make the law must obey the law.'
