Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab defended his boss on Monday, saying a photograph of a backyard gathering that included Boris Johnson was “not a party.”
The photograph – from May 2020 – was taken at a time when the British public was advised to not meet a couple of member of one other family whereas outdoors.
Claims that Johnson and his employees broke social-distancing guidelines by holding events in Downing Street and different authorities departments final November and December had already garnered detrimental headlines for Johnson.
What does the photograph present?
A leaked photograph on the entrance web page of The Guardian exhibits Johnson and greater than a dozen others at their Downing Street residence in the course of the lockdown.
The Prime Minister and his spouse, Carrie, who seem like holding their new child son, will be seen with two others on the desk with cheese and wine.
Guardian@BorisJohnsonAnd staff seen in quantity 10 occasion in lockdown #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/KEMXFbtAzY
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 19, 2021
Another desk with 4 individuals is pictured close by, whereas a big group ingesting on the garden will be seen within the background.
The newspaper reported that 19 individuals had been current and there have been “spirits and pizza inside and outside the building”.
What had been the principles?
Asked simply two days earlier than the gathering how individuals ought to behave in outside locations comparable to parks, Johnson mentioned they need to meet at most one different individual from only one dwelling.
“If you want to meet someone from outside your home, it should be you and that other person as a couple and you should follow social distancing while there,” he mentioned.
“And so it should basically be one on one, but with social distancing rules keeping 2 meters apart.”
Number 10 denies the claims
Downing Street denied that there was a celebration and mentioned the image confirmed “a staff meeting after the number 10 press conference”.
“Downing Street uses that garden as a workplace,” Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab advised Times Radio. “It’s not against the rules.”
“It’s clearly not a social gathering, because you had people in work suits, who were working in the meeting,” Raab mentioned.
turbulent occasions for johnson
The opposition Labor Party mentioned the image was proof that Johnson and his employees didn’t take the sanctions severely.
“Ask yourself, is this a work meeting going on? Or is it a social event? And I think the answer is pretty clear,” mentioned Labor chief Keir Starmer.
Johnson has additionally confronted rebel together with his Conservative Party, together with his personal lawmakers voting final week in opposition to harder measures to cease the unfold of Omicron.
Britain’s high Brexit negotiator David Frost resigned on Sunday attributable to disillusionment with new pandemic restrictions.
After a shock defeat in Friday’s by-election, the Conservatives misplaced a parliamentary seat that had been protected for many years.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid advised lawmakers final week that the Omron model was spreading so rapidly it had the potential to overwhelm the nation’s hospitals.
Javid mentioned it highlighted the necessity to strengthen coronavirus restrictions and speed up the supply of booster vaccine pictures.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
