Top aide questioned Boris Johnson’s plan to say ‘all COVID guidance was followed’ over partygate

Published

3 years ago

March 22, 2023

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Boris Johnson was warned against claiming that all COVID guidance had been followed at Downing Street lockdown gatherings but still issued a denial, according to new evidence published by MPs investigating whether he lied over partygate.

In written evidence from Martin Reynolds, the former principal private secretary to the then prime minister, he said he questioned whether it was “realistic” to make this claim, given the nature of the working environment in Number 10.

He said he asked Mr Johnson about the line proposed for PMQs on 7 December, adding: “He did not welcome the interruption but told me that he had received reassurances that the comms event was within the rules.

“I accepted this but questioned whether it was realistic to argue that all guidance had been followed at all times, given the nature of the working environment in Number 10.”

Politics live: More evidence published ahead of Johnson questioning

Mr Reynolds said Mr Johnson agreed to delete the reference to the guidance.

However, the then prime minister went on to tell the Commons the following day that “the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times”.

The evidence has been published ahead of Mr Johnson being questioned by the privileges committee this afternoon on whether he knowingly misled parliament over partygate denials.

The former PM has accepted he did mislead the House but said in a written defence published yesterday that his claims were made in “good faith” – and he was relying on the incorrect advice of his advisers.

However, evidence from senior Number 10 officials appears to dispute this.

In another section of the bundle published this morning, Mr Johnson’s communications chief at the time the partygate story broke denied ever telling him that COVID guidance was followed at all times.

In an interview with the Cabinet Office investigations team, Jack Doyle said it was “difficult to say” if social distancing was followed completely.

He said that “in relation to the events I attended I said I believed no rules were broken”.

Pressed whether he had ever told Mr Johnson “COVID guidance” was always followed in Downing Street, Mr Doyle said: “No.”

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case also said he did not give the PM these assurances and was not aware of anyone who did.

Johnson ‘had opportunity to shut partygate gatherings down’

The evidence also contained a statement from a Number 10 official who said Mr Johnson “had the opportunity” to shut the partygate gatherings down, but chose to join them instead.

The official, who has not been named in the documents, states the former prime minister was “either invited” to the events by special advisers, or “spotted them whilst walking up to his flat”.

The statement notes that the route Mr Johnson would take included walking down a corridor and looking “straight into the press room and vestibule” – both places where parties were held.

“He had the opportunity to shut them down, but joined in, made speeches, had a drink with staff,” the official’s statement continues.

“He could see what was happening and allowed the culture to continue.”

‘Comical PM thought May garden party was work event’

Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former top aide, also gave evidence saying it was “comical” Mr Johnson thought the garden party on 20 May 2020 was a work event.

He said Mr Johnson “certainly knew it was a drinks party because I told him”.

This event was the one Mr Reynolds sent an email around to people advising them to “bring your own booze!”

Lee Cain, the communications chief at the time of the event, said it was “clear” that this was “purely a social function” and “in breach of COVID guidance”.

His evidence said he could not remember if he personally had a conversation with the former PM about it, but stated that he told Mr Cummings about his concerns who “agreed it should not take place and said he would raise the issue with Martin and the prime minister”.

Watch coverage of Boris Johnson giving evidence to Privileges Committee on partygate live on Sky News from 2pm.

Mr Reynolds expressed regret at the invite in his evidence, stressing “the language used was totally inappropriate and gave a misleading impression of the nature of the event”.

“It was an event held because staff needed a morale boost after an extremely difficult period when all sorts of tensions had begun to surface and I hoped that being thanked by the PM and talking to each other might strengthen their sense of being part of one team,” he said.

“The event was not a party in any normal sense of the word.”

Ahead of the publication of the documents, a source close to the former prime minister said his team believe they are generally helpful to them.

But they have criticised the fact that not all of the evidence Mr Johnson wanted published has gone into the bundle.

All seven committee members, led by Labour veteran Harriet Harman but with a Tory majority, will use Mr Johnson’s appearance to determine if he deliberately misled the Commons when he told MPs no COVID rules or guidance had been broken.

On the eve of his appearance, the former prime minister repeated his denial that he had not done anything wrong and said he was looking forward to the hearing.

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Turkey urges US to act after accusing Israel of breaching Gaza ceasefire

Published

3 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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Turkey urges US to act after accusing Israel of breaching Gaza ceasefire

Turkey has urged the US to take action after accusing Israel of violating the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Washington and its allies should consider sanctions and halting arms sales to put pressure on Israel to abide by the agreement.

Turkey, a NATO member, joined ceasefire negotiations as a mediator, and increased its role following a meeting between Mr Erdogan and Donald Trump at the White House last month.

“The Hamas side is abiding by the ceasefire. In fact, it is openly stating its commitment to this. Israel, meanwhile, is continuing to violate the ceasefire,” Mr Erdogan told reporters.

“The international community, namely the United States, must do more to ensure Israel’s full compliance to the ceasefire and agreement,” he said.

Mr Erdogan was also asked about comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hinted that he would be opposed to any peacekeeping role for Turkish security forces in the Gaza Strip.

The Turkish president said talks on the issue were still underway, adding: “As this is a multi-faceted issue, there are comprehensive negotiations. We are ready to provide Gaza any form of support on this issue.”

Israel has accused Hamas of breaching the truce and previously said its recent military action in Gaza was designed to uphold the agreement.

Relations between former allies Israel and Turkey hit new lows during the Gaza war, with Ankara accusing Mr Netanyahu’s government of committing genocide, an allegation Israel has repeatedly denied.

Speaking during a visit to Israel on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a planned international security force for Gaza would have to be made up of “countries that Israel’s comfortable with,” but declined to comment specifically on Turkey’s involvement.

Around 200 US troops are working alongside the Israeli military and delegations from other countries, planning the stabilisation and reconstruction of Gaza.

The US is seeking support from other allies, namely Gulf Arab nations, to build an international security force to be deployed to Gaza and train a Palestinian security force.

Mr Rubio said many nations had expressed interest, but decisions had yet to be made about the rules of engagement. He added that countries need to know what they were signing up for.

“Under what authority are they going to be operating? Who’s going to be in charge? What is their job?” said Mr Rubio.

The secretary of state also reiterated his earlier warning to Israel not to annex the occupied West Bank, land that Palestinians want for part of an independent state.

A bill applying Israeli law to the West Bank won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday.

“We don’t think it’s going to happen”, Mr Rubio said, adding that annexation “would also threaten this whole process”.

“If [annexation] were to happen, a lot of the countries that are involved in working on this probably aren’t going to want to be involved in this anymore. It’s a threat to the peace process and everybody knows it”, he added.

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US ramps up ‘drug boats’ operation by sending in aircraft carrier to region

Published

3 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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US ramps up 'drug boats' operation by sending in aircraft carrier to region

The US has announced it is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America as it ramps up an operation to target alleged drug smuggling boats.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the USS Gerald R Ford would be deployed to the region to “bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere”.

The vessel is the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier. It is currently deployed in the Mediterranean alongside three destroyers, and the group are expected to take around one week to make the journey.

There are already eight US Navy ships in the central and South American region, along with a nuclear-powered submarine, adding up to about 6,000 sailors and marines, according to officials.

It came as the US secretary of war claimed that six “narco-terrorists” had been killed in a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea overnight.

Pete Hegseth said his military had bombed a vessel which he claimed was operated by Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan gang designated a terror group by Washington in February.

Writing on X, he claimed that the boat was involved in “illicit narcotics smuggling” and was transiting along a “known narco-trafficking route” when it was struck during the night.

All six men on board the boat, which was in international waters, were killed and no US forces were harmed, he said.

Ten vessels have now been bombed in recent weeks, killing more than 40 people.

Mr Hegseth added: “If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat al Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

While he did not provide any evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs, he did share a 20-second video that appeared to show a boat being hit by a projectile before exploding.

Speaking during a White House press conference last week, Donald Trump argued that the campaign would help tackle the US’s opioid crisis.

“Every boat that we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives. So every time you see a boat, and you feel badly you say, ‘Wow, that’s rough’. It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 people,” he said.

On Thursday, appearing at a press conference with Mr Hegseth, Mr Trump said that it was necessary to kill the alleged smugglers, because if they were arrested they would only return to transport drugs “again and again and again”.

“They don’t fear that, they have no fear,” he told reporters.

The attacks at sea would soon be followed by operations on land against drug smuggling cartels, Mr Trump claimed.

“We’re going to kill them,” he added. “They’re going to be, like, dead.”

Some Democratic politicians have expressed concerns that the strikes risk dragging the US into a war with Venezuela because of their proximity to the South American country’s coast.

Others have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings that would not stand up in a court of law.

Jim Himes, a member of the House of Representatives, told CBS News earlier this month: “They are illegal killings because the notion that the United States – and this is what the administration says is their justification – is involved in an armed conflict with any drug dealers, any Venezuelan drug dealers, is ludicrous.”

He claimed that Congress had been told “nothing” about who was on the boats and how they were identified as a threat.

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Sanctions alone won’t force Putin to end Ukraine war

Published

5 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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Sanctions alone won't force Putin to end Ukraine war

Donald Trump has swung like a pendulum between favouring Russia and less often sympathising with Ukraine. This week he has tilted more toward Kyiv.

Leaders in the coalition of the willing meeting in London on Friday were keen to add momentum to that shift.

The US president has imposed sanctions on two leading Russian oil firms, doing what many had hoped America would do months ago.

European allies were quick to follow that lead. And some countries that have been trading Russian oil appear spooked enough to start backing away from doing so.

But analysts are warning against overstating the impact of all this.

Alexander Kolyandr, senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, told Sky News that sanctions won’t be enough on their own.

“There should be an understanding that sanctions alone would not force Putin to stop the war,” he said.

“So Ukraine should get more arms, Ukraine should get more support, and Ukraine should get more guarantees.”

There appears to have been progress on sending more long-range weapons to Ukraine.

It needs them to neutralise the threat of drones launched from miles behind Russia‘s border.

And possibly towards unfreezing Russia assets to use the proceeds to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, though some nations still oppose the idea.

But this week has seen an unusual level of alignment between the allies on both sides of the Atlantic. That will last as long as Trump does not change his mind.

The US president wants to broker an end to the war.

Putin will not be serious about negotiating for peace as long as he thinks he has a chance of victory.

“Putin and the Kremlin are pretty much sure that they are winning the war,” Mr Kolyandr told Sky News, “and that if they keep on pushing, Ukraine might collapse.

“And that’s why I don’t think that President Putin is ready to agree to any kind of compromise which would be acceptable for Ukraine or its European allies.”

It may take a lot more than sanctions on a handful of oil companies to persuade Putin it is not in his interest to continue this war.