Call that a party? Warm fizz, hand sanitiser and a packet of crisps!

ALLIES of Boris Johnson have ridiculed claims that a picture showing him near a half-eaten packet of crisps and bottle of prosecco could be a ‘smoking gun’ on Partygate.

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Johnson was ambushed with what was described as a ‘new bombshell image’.

But its significance was immediately thrown into doubt as it was pointed out that it showed the PM at a virtual quiz first reported eight weeks ago.

Despite this, Scotland Yard last night said it would review the image as part of its probe into lockdownbusting parties in Whitehall.

Just after Mr Johnson stood up in the Commons, the Mirror published the photo online showing him stood next to a staff member wearing tinsel.

On the table in front of them appears to be an uncorked bottle of prosecco, an open bag of crisps and some hand sanitiser. The newspaper heralded it as a ‘new bombshell image’.

A few minutes later, Mr Johnson was challenged on the picture by Labour MPs, who appeared to be in cahoots.

Shadow peace minister Fabian Hamilton said the image appears to show ‘one of the Christmas parties he told us never happened’.

‘Will the Prime Minister be referring this party to the police as it is not one of the ones currently being investigated?’ he added.

Mr Johnson responded: ‘In what he has just said, I’m afraid he is completely in error.’ Challenged again by another Labour MP, Mr Johnson responded: ‘That event already has been submitted for investigation.’

Outside the chamber, when asked what was happening in the picture, the PM’s press secretary said: ‘We’ve talked about this one before, it is a virtual quiz.’

Tory backbenchers last night dismissed the significance of the picture. Former Cabinet minister David Jones said: ‘It is pretty reprehensible really that they should try to present a photo of an event that people were already of as a new smoking gun when it’s nothing of the sort.

‘It is quite clearly an attempt to stoke up further trouble for the Prime Minister when the issue in question was already known.’

A separate image of the quiz emerged in December but did not show any alcohol. Dominic Cummings, Mr John

‘Better pictures floating around’

son’s hostile former chief adviser, tweeted: ‘There’s waaaaay better pics than that floating around.’

Last night Scotland Yard said it was reconsidering its previous assessment over the event on December 15, 2020.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: ‘The MPS previously assessed this event and determined that on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation. That assessment is now being reviewed.’

London was under Tier 2 restrictions at the time, which prohibited social mixing between different households indoors.