The pictures, obtained by ITV News as Westminster awaits the imminent publication of Sue Gray's report into the Partygate scandal, throw doubt on the prime minister's claim to the House of Commons that no party took place and no rules were broken in No 10. And they raise the question of why the Metropolitan Police did not fine the PM for taking part in the leaving party for former director of communications Lee Cain on 13 November 2020, when others were penalised for attending.
The images emerged amid growing chaos and tension at the heart of government over the Partygate scandal, with insiders describing the atmosphere in No 10 and the Cabinet Office as "daggers drawn". One Tory MP told The Independent that the images made clear that Mr Johnson had lied to parliament, making it likely that more letters of no confidence in his leadership would be written in the coming days.
Another senior Conservative said that their appearance as the Partygate scandal was coming to a head had "shifted it into a different gear".
Sir Roger Gale, the first Tory MP to declare no confidence in the PM in December last year, described the pictures - which show the PM apparently toasting Mr Cain with a plastic cup of sparkling wine in a room littered with alcohol bottles - as "damning". And Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: "These images will rightly make people across the country very angry. The prime minister must outline why he believes this behaviour was acceptable. To most, these pictures seem unjustifiable and wrong."
The toxic mood has been fuelled by expectations that Ms Gray's report will deliver a scathing verdict on leadership in No 10 and the Cabinet Office and reveal a drinking culture inside government. Insiders told The Independent that tensions in Downing Street had reached new heights yesterday, amid fallout from a furious row between No 10 and the Gray team over a meeting between the senior civil servant and Mr Johnson.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 24, 2022-Ausgabe von The Independent.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 24, 2022-Ausgabe von The Independent.
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