British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing further questions over whether he breached COVID-19 laws after pictures emerged of him hosting a Christmas quiz in Downing Street while London was under tier 2 restrictions.
Johnson was pictured on a screen reading out questions while staff were sat behind computers and conferred on the answers, the Mirror newspaper reported.
At the time, London was under restrictions banning any social mixing between households.
“You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier,” official guidance stated.
A source told the newspaper that in one office there were four teams, each comprising six people.
Dozens of staff are understood to have signed up to participate in the quiz online, but at 6:30pm that day many decided to take part from No. 10 instead.
Teams from Johnson’s private office, the policy unit and press office were reportedly among those taking part.
The quiz occurred on Dec. 15 last year, three days before an alleged Christmas party at Downing Street that is being investigated by British Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Asked about the latest allegations, a No. 10 spokesperson said: “This was a virtual quiz. Downing Street staff were often required to be in the office to work on the pandemic response, so those who were in the office for work might have attended virtually from their desks.”
“The prime minister briefly took part virtually in a quiz to thank staff for their hard work throughout the year,” the spokesperson said.
Case is also investigating an alleged leaving party at No. 10 for an aide, Cleo Watson, on Nov. 27 last year and “thank you” drinks for staff working in then-British secretary of state for education Gavin Williamson’s department days later on Dec. 10.
Former chief adviser to the prime minister Dominic Cummings on Friday said that photographs could come to light proving such gatherings were held.
On the day that Cummings left his job in Downing Street in November last year, blaring music and aides chatting were heard in the No. 11 residence where Johnson lives with his wife, sources have said.
Separately, the Guardian was told that a “wine and pizza” party attended by Conservative advisers was held in Downing Street after a COVID-19 news conference during the first lockdown in spring last year.
No. 10 said that Johnson was in his apartment “solely with his family” on the evening in question, while the spokesperson denied knowledge of any gathering.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks