MP: Johnson didn’t break rules
BORIS Johnson and wife Carrie were allowed to have a friend over for Christmas last year because she was in their ‘childcare bubble’, according to a cabinet member.
The Prime Minister has been accused of breaching tier four lockdown rules in force in London by having their friend Nimco Ali with them on Christmas Day.
Days before last Christmas the Government implanted the toughest restrictions in the south east of England, making it illegal to mix with anyone not in your household while indoors, in order to prevent the spread of Covid.
Speculation into whether Mr and Mrs Johnson broke lockdown rules followed a report in Harper’s Magazine, which claimed Ms Ali “spent Christmas with the couple at No 10 despite pandemic restrictions on holiday gatherings”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has refused to confirm to whether Mr Johnson and his wife were joined by a friend, Ms Ali, in No 10 on December 25.
But cabinet minister and Berwickupon-Tweed MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan
has now insisted that Boris Johnson having family friend Nimco Ali to form a “childcare bubble” over Christmas last year was “absolutely the right thing to do”.
The international trade secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I understand that Nimco is the Prime Minister’s son’s godmother and, knowing how many friends of mine and so many of us over the last 18 months managed as best we could with the childcare challenges, family and friends
stepped up, people changed homes to be able to look after and support.
“I have no doubt at all the Prime Minister and Mrs Johnson followed the rules and they had the kind support of Nimco to support them in what was a really tough time for them.
“It’s hard enough for the rest of us, when you’re having to run a country as well and have the challenges of difficult pregnancies, having a supportive friend to be there in your bubble is absolutely the right thing
to do. It was a childcare bubble and Nimco was there to help support and look after Wilf whilst the challenges of being the Prime Minister and his wife... I have every confidence they did not break the rules.
“I have absolutely no doubt Carrie and the Prime Minister were very precise and very clear, and Nimco is a passionate and adoring godmother and I know will have done everything in her power to support them as a family.”
Both the Prime Minister and Carrie Johnson have denied breaching any lockdown rules.
Ms Ali is understood to have stayed with the Johnsons, under the “bubble” arrangements, which allowed friends or family to provide informal childcare – the couple’s son Wilfred was eight months old at the time.
Ms Ali is a close friend of Mrs Johnson’s since 2017. They met when Mrs Johnson was running Lord Goldsmith’s campaign to become MP for Richmond Park.
Ms Ali is a campaigner on issues including tackling female genital mutilation. She is an independent government adviser on tackling violence against women and girls.
She has also insisted that the three “I did not break any rules”.
The “childcare bubble” rules were open to anyone living in a household with a child aged under 14, allowing friends or family from one other household to provide help looking after the child.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and Mrs Johnson have followed the coronavirus rules at all times.”
He added: “The rules made clear you can continue to use a childcare bubble on Christmas itself, including in a tier four area.
“The Prime Minister and Mrs Johnson adhered to those rules at all times.”