HOW BLOODY STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE?
Schapps claims PM ‘didn’t know’ booze-up was a party
WITHOUT even blushing, a Cabinet Minister claimed yesterday that Boris Johnson DIDN’T knlow he was at a party as he hoisted a glass in a roomful of people surrounded by bottles of booze.
Shameless Grant Shapps said on Tuesday he was “angry” to see the photographs but suggested the Prime Minister may not have been fined over the event because he left the leaving do “pretty quick”.
The Transport Secretary argued that Mr Johnson had only “popped down” to toast departing communications chief Lee Cain on November 13 2020.
Downing Street has declined to defend the scenes ahead of the publication of Sue Gray’s inquiry, which a No 10 source expects to be published today.
The leaving party took place just days after the PM had ordered England’s second national lockdown.
Mr Johnson, who the Transport Secretary claimed was “mortified” by the latest revelations, was facing fresh allegations that he lied to Parliament after ITV News published the images.
Scotland Yard was also facing calls to explain why Mr Johnson was not fined over that event when photos showed him, drink in hand, by a table strewn with food and wine bottles.
Banned
There were at least eight other people in the room at a time when people were banned from social mixing, other than to meet one person outside, and at least one individual has received a fine over an event on that date.
Mr Shapps pointed to Mr Johnson’s red ministerial box being present in the images as he claimed to Sky News the Prime Minister was “clearly not” partying.
“It looks to me like he goes down on his way out of the office and thanks the staff and raises a glass, and doesn’t in his mind recognise it as a party,” Mr Shapps said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan was among those calling for Scotland Yard to explain why Mr Johnson only received a single fine for breaching lockdown rules with his 56th birthday gathering.
He said “the police should explain why they reached their conclusions and provide that clarity” in order to command public confidence.