Chief whip: ‘The PM will not have lied about any parties’
SHERWOOD MP and Government chief whip Mark Spencer has spoken out over staff parties which were said to have taken place last Christmas in Downing Street at a time when coronavirus restrictions were in place.
It is said around 40 people attended a party at 10 Downing Street on December 18 last year and leaked video footage then appeared to show Government officials joking about the alleged event just days later.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will now investigate the claims and Mr Spencer has now responded.
He told BBC Radio Nottingham: “I’m assured that everybody in that building played by the rules, and that’s why the Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to do a thorough investigation to find out and establish the facts.”
Mr Spencer said he himself did not go to any parties and went on to explain how the Prime Minister might not have been aware of what was happening elsewhere in the building.
“When you describe it as a house, it’s a department of government. This is a huge, huge building, literally with hundreds and hundreds of offices and rooms,” he said.
“No single person could account for what’s happening in those buildings – they are huge.”
He said the Prime Minister “had a miserable Christmas dealing with all of this and dealing with the coronavirus, as many people did in No.10. working day and night trying to solve the challenges the country was facing. I’m told they were not drinking alcohol and having parties while that was going on. The Prime Minister will not have lied about any parties.
“My understanding is that there was no party, but we need to investigate that. The Cabinet Secretary will investigate it and we will establish the facts.”