No 10 apologises to Palace over parties on eve of Duke’s funeral
Downing Street accused of making a mockery of rules by hosting leaving events while UK was in mourning
‘Stories and events planned for months were paused and people are annoyed that they were all acting diligently while these clowns were doing this’
DOWNING Street has apologised to Buckingham Palace over two parties held in apparent breach of lockdown rules on the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s socially distanced funeral.
Boris Johnson’s deputy official spokesman yesterday said it was “deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning”, but refused to elaborate on what happened at the gatherings on April 16 last year, as the Queen mourned the death of her husband of 73 years.
The spokesman would not comment on allegations reported in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, including suggestions that members of No 10 staff had danced to music in the basement and filled a suitcase with alcohol from a nearby Co-op, but said Mr Johnson had not been aware of the plans in advance.
Last night it was claimed that Mr Johnson encouraged regular “wine time Fridays” in Downing Street during the pandemic to help staff “let off steam”. Sources told The Telegraph that a drinks fridge was purchased to keep their beverages cool.
The Daily Mirror reported that staff used a suitcase to stock up on wine and beer from a local shop, which were then placed in the cooler.
No officials have yet been sacked in connection with the parties on the eve of the Duke’s funeral, which took place when indoor social mixing and gatherings of more than six people outdoors were banned.
The events were held to mark the departure of James Slack, Mr Johnson’s former director of communications, and a Downing Street photographer.
Mr Johnson last spoke to the Queen by telephone on Dec 15, the date of their last weekly audience, as recorded in the Court Circular. He is not expected to speak to her again for at least another three weeks, until after Accession Day, as is normal custom.
Ministers yesterday rallied around Mr Johnson amid widespread criticism from Tory MPS and opposition parties, but admitted that the story had the potential to damage his premiership further after a slew of allegations of alcohol-fuelled events at the heart of Government.
Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said she was “very, very concerned” about the reports, but that the country should “move on” because Mr Johnson had already apologised for his involvement in a separate event on May 20 2020.
“I 100 per cent support him to continue getting on with the job,” she said.
Damian Hinds, a Home Office minister, said that he had been “shocked” to read reports of two leaving parties in Downing Street but did not know about the evening because he had not been invited, while Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, said that the public “deserve the truth”, telling ITV last night that “these stories are terrible”.
All three ministers stressed the need to wait for the outcome of an inquiry by Sue Gray before they could comment further. It was confirmed yesterday that the April 16 events would be added to the growing roster of parties under investigation by Ms Gray, a former head of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office.
Separately, Mr Slack, who has since become deputy editor of The Sun newspaper, released an apology for his involvement in the events, saying that he apologised “unreservedly for the anger and hurt caused”.
Downing Street also faced internal criticism from civil servants who felt that No 10 had let down other government departments that had followed both the coronavirus regulations and the guidelines for the official period of mourning that followed the Duke’s death on April 9 last year.
The guidance stated that ministers attending public-facing events should wear a “dark coat, suit, or day dress”, as well as dark gloves and hats if needed.
Flags hung at half mast in Whitehall, while all government announcements during the mourning period required the express permission of Downing Street.
One civil service source said that “clowns” in No 10 had made a mockery of the rules by hosting the leaving parties. “It came around pretty quickly from No 10 – basically a pause on everything,” the source said.
“Stories and announcements planned for months were understandably paused. People get that, but they’re annoyed that they were all acting diligently while these clowns were doing this.”
Another source said that some No 10 staff had objected to the organising of a leaving party for Mr Slack because they were concerned it would constitute a breach of the Covid-19 regulations.
A source said: “Some of us told a senior colleague in private office that anything marking James’ leaving needed to wait until we were out of the roadmap; that even though he was a wonderful colleague and long-standing member of No 10, it was hard to justify and simply didn’t look good.”
The disclosures in The Telegraph yesterday piled pressure on Scotland Yard to open a formal criminal inquiry into rule-breaking by No 10 staff.
So far the Metropolitan Police has refused to do so, insisting it will wait for Ms Gray’s report, which is expected to conclude at the end of next week at the earliest.
Last night Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was urged to intervene amid concern that Scotland Yard’s handling of the crisis is damaging public confidence.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “Any investigation is an operational matter for the Met and it is not in the Mayor’s remit to direct police investigations.”