Downing Street staff held a birthday party for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020 despite Covid lockdown rules banning social contact indoors, according to a new report.
Ari Johnson helped organize his surprise No. 10 rally on the afternoon of June 19 that involved up to 30 people, ITV News reports.
She is said to have presented the Prime Minister with a cake and led the staff in a happy birthday choir, before attendees enjoyed a meal at a Marks & Spencer picnic.
A No 10 spokeswoman said a group of employees «gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the Prime Minister a happy birthday. There were less than ten minutes left».
ITV News also reported that friends of the family hosted an upstairs in the prime minister’s apartment later in that event – a claim that Number 10 denied.
«This is absolutely not true. In keeping with the rules at the time, the Prime Minister hosted a small number of family members outside that evening,» a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
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In June 2020, all social gatherings indoors were still prohibited under Covid laws.
Johnson had asked the public to continue to «show restraint and respect the rules» during a Covid press conference in the nine days before his birthday gathering.
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