Sunak, Raab and Gove quick to deny being at garden party

Cabinet ministers distance themselves from Tory leader after apology over Downing Street gathering

THREE Cabinet ministers have denied attending the Downing Street garden party on May 20 2020, as they sought to distance themselves from the scandal in the wake of Boris Johnson’s apology.

Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove all said they had not attended the gathering, which is the subject of a propriety and ethics investigation and has the potential to turn Mr Johnson’s own MPS against him.

The Prime Minister’s apology to the country from the Commons Despatch Box yesterday raised more questions than it answered in some quarters, after he claimed he “implicitly” thought it was a work event and described the garden as an “extension of the office”.

His spokesman later added that Mr Johnson had not received a now-infamous email from Martin Reynolds, his principal private secretary, inviting Downing Street staff to “make the most of the lovely weather” by holding a drinks party – while the rest of the country was in lockdown.

But while Mr Johnson had admitted attending the party to thank staff for their work on the pandemic, his spokesman refused to reveal whether he had consumed alcohol or brought alcohol with him – as Mr Reynolds’ email had instructed – or who else attended.

Simon Hoare, a Conservative MP, suggested the gathering had been held to mark the return of Mr Johnson after his illness with the virus and to thank Mr Raab for standing in for him.

However, a spokesman for the Justice Secretary said the allegation was “categorically untrue” and that Mr Raab had not attended the event.

Asked whether he had attended, Mr Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, said he had been giving a statement to the Commons about the Northern Ireland Protocol. His spokesman later said he had not attended the party.

A spokesman for Mr Sunak said he did not go to the gathering either, despite it taking place in his garden.

It is understood that during the first Covid lockdown in early 2020, few Downing Street staff worked from the office, except those who were crucial to the Government’s pandemic response.

Last night, it was alleged that two of Carrie Johnson’s friends, Josh Grimstone and Henry Newman, also attended the party.

Both were special advisers to Mr Gove. Neither of the men, nor Mr Johnson’s press secretary, responded to a request for comment about their attendance.

Questions were raised yesterday about Mr Johnson’s own defence for attending the gathering, with Dominic Cummings – his former chief adviser – tweeting that the Prime Minister knew it was “social not work” and was “no way ‘technically within rules’”.

Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister and coronavirus regulations expert, said the statement was “carefully worded and obviously lawyered”.

“The only relevant word in the workplace guidance at the time was ‘meeting’ because that’s all that the guidance anticipated would happen at work, and it discouraged gatherings,” he said. “There is no reference to social events/ alcohol because the Government probably assumed that was a given.”

Mr Johnson’s explanation for his attendance at the party was also crossexamined by Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader and a former director of public prosecutions, who said the Prime Minister had broken both the regulations and the ministerial code.

He told the Commons: “We’ve got the Prime Minister attending Downing Street parties – a clear breach of the rules.

“We’ve got the Prime Minister putting forward a series of ridiculous denials which he knows are untrue – a clear breach of the ministerial code.”