We've been hearing from a lot of people who missed out on time with loved ones - or time to grieve them - back in May 2020 when the Downing Street drinks party took place.

Leke Babalola from Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, was one of them. He says he was stopped from attending the funeral of his stepfather, who died with Covid - and is now feeling "absolutely furious" that Downing Street was not following the rules it had set.

"Many of us were actually prevented from attending the outdoor funeral at the graveyard due to the very rules that the government had set out at the time.

“I, along with a number of members of the family, were physically kept out at the gates."

While funerals were exempt from Covid regulations in place at the time which prohibited large gatherings, government guidance , externalthen stated the number of mourners at services should be "as low as possible" to ensure safe social distancing.

It was advised that only members of the person's household and close family members should attend.

Image source, HoC

• Minister Michael Ellis was in the Commons to reply to an urgent question about allegations of a party in No 10 in May 2020
• Opposition MPs heckled him, demanding to know why the prime minister was not in the Commons to answer questions himself
• Ellis said again that an investigation was ongoing, and that MPs should wait for it to report
• He promised that disciplinary action would be taken if the investigation - led by Sue Gray - uncovered wrongdoing

• And if evidence emerged of a potentially criminal offence, the matter would be referred to the Metropolitan Police, he said

• Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner warned the PM he could "run but he can't hide" from the allegations
• SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford urged Conservative MPs to force Boris Johnson out of office
• Asked if the PM would resign if he is found to have broken the rules, Ellis said he was not going anywhere
• DUP MP Jim Shannon was reduced to tears as he recalled how his mother-in-law had died alone during the coronavirus lockdown

As we've been hearing, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said that the prime minister's absence from the Commons spoke volumes.

Rayner said Paymaster General Michael Ellis was hiding behind the investigation into what happened, when she asked if Boris Johnson knew about it and attended.

Ellis said it was "not routine" for a PM to answer urgent questions, but would be at PMQs on Wednesday, adding that he had confidence in Johnson's honour and integrity.

Image source, House of Commons

Back to the urgent question in the Commons on the Downing Street drinks party, and the DUP MP Jim Shannon breaks down in tears as he recalls his mother-in-law had "died alone" with Covid.

He said more than 3,000 people in Northern Ireland who followed the rules had died during the pandemic but is overcome with emotion and struggles to ask his full question.

Paymaster General Michael Ellis says he is very sorry for Shannon's loss, adding: "He's asking me if the results of the investigation will be made public, and they will be."

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that more than half of Europe's population will have been infected with the Omicron variant within six to eight weeks.

The WHO's regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri Kluge, told a news conference the projection was based on the seven million new cases reported across Europe in the first week of 2022.

Dr Kluge said that figure had more than doubled over a two-week period.

But the WHO's senior emergency officer, Dr Catherine Smallwood, said Covid was still a long way from being described as endemic - a situation where the variant would be particularly prevalent in Europe.

Image source, Reuters

While MPs have been discussing the Downing Street drinks party in the Commons, new school attendance figures have been released.

Schools are facing challenges as the new term gets under way, and the latest statistics show one in 12 teachers was absent from England's classrooms during the first week after the Christmas break.

Some 8.6% of teachers and school leaders were absent - and 4.9% were absent because of Covid, up from 3% on 16 December.

Several schools have told the BBC they can't find temporary staff to cover.

Teacher absences were slightly higher in primary schools than in secondaries, where face masks are now required by pupils in class.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi says he is making contingency plans for rising rates of staff absence.

Reality Check

Away from the Commons, Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has been defending the 20 May 2020 drinks party in the Downing Street garden.

“Some people might have felt that it was actually quite lawful to go from these confined offices into a confined garden,” he told the BBC News channel.

What did the law at the time say?

The law said, external that “no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse”, with the reasonable excuses including travelling for the purposes of work.

It also said that no gatherings of more than two people were allowed in public unless “the gathering is essential for work purposes”.

The law did not provide leeway for social gatherings with people you work with.

Indeed, the government guidance, external at the time was clear that you should “reduce the number of people you spend time with in a work setting” including by “splitting people into smaller, contained teams”.

And it said, external you could meet one person from another household outdoors as long as you stayed two metres away from them. It's clear that any party, with dozens of people, would have breached these guidelines.

You can read more about the rules at the time here.

Image source, PA Media

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw asks whether Boris Johnson will resign if it is found he had broken the law.

Michael Ellis says: "It’s an entirely hypothetical position," adding that "the prime minister is going nowhere.... The prime minister retains the confidence of the people of this country."

Ellis says Bradshaw "seeks to draw me into making a supposition about the result of any inquiry".

But in an apparent supposition about the result of the inquiry, Ellis then says the PM will not be going anywhere.

Plaid Cymru's Hywel Williams cites a survey that found the health of those with dementia deteriorated during the lockdown due to the lack of social contact.

"Given that," he asks if it would be "unforgivable" for the prime minister "to obfuscate, to joke about or to lie about" parties in No 10.

"We will await the result of the investigation," replies the minister.

Conservative MP Suzanne Webb acknowledges that this is "an important matter" but suggests MPs' time would be "better spent" debating how we can "build back better and level up".

The minister agrees and says the government is focused on improving lives of people in the country.

What should happen if a Conservative MP is found to have flouted a Covid law, asks Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

“It is not for me to pass judgement or pass sentence,” replies the minister adding “the natural order of justice is that an investigation takes place before there is a judge, jury and executioner”.

Labour’s Angela Eagle suggests it would be faster if Sue Gray were to investigate the days there weren’t parties.

"What is there to wait for?" she asks, adding: "The PM should come here now, fess up and tell us what happened."

Ellis reiterates that the government will wait for the investigation to conclude.

Image source, PA Media

The SNP leader in Westminster Ian Blackford accuses the minster of seeking to hide behind the investigation.

He asks if Sue Gray - the civil servant carrying out the inquiry - was invited to the party on 20 May 2020 - and whether or not she attended.

"This is a PM who has lost his moral authority," he says and suggests that if Boris Johnson will not resign then Conservative MPs should "force him to leave".

Ellis replies that "in this country the same rules apply to everyone - that is why there is an investigation in progress".

He adds that Sue Gray is "a person of integrity and upstanding".

Image source, PA Media

Minister Michael Ellis says his "heart goes out" to those who have suffered loss from the pandemic.

He adds that the investigation is being "conducted by someone who is a paragon of independence and integrity" - a reference to civil servant Sue Gray.

The prime minister was affected by coronavirus and he takes this very seriously, he adds.

He also insists that he has confidence in the prime minister's "integrity and honour".

Angela Rayner goes on to highlight the pressures on the NHS during the pandemic.

She cites the case of a man called John who emailed her about finding his long-term partner dead on the bathroom floor of their home on the day of the drinks event. He had been unable to summon a GP and she died from a blood clot.

Labour's deputy leader also recalls that 181 NHS staff and 131 social care staff had died from Covid by 20 May 2020.

"Many people made huge personal sacrifices," she says.

She demands Ellis confirm whether the PM gave permission for the drinks event to go ahead, had consulted the chief medical officer about it and whether he believed it was keeping to Covid rules.

Image source, House of Commons

Labour's deputy leader says it is "incredibly disappointing but not unsurprising" that the prime minister is not answering the question himself.

His "absence speaks volumes", Angela Rayner adds. "The public have already drawn their own conclusions."

She accuses the PM of hiding behind civil servant Sue Gray's investigation, adding there is no need for an investigation to the central question of whether the prime minister attended the 20 May event.

Image source, UK Parliament

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner gets to her feet to ask the minister to make a statement on reports of an event held in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020.

Minister Michael Ellis replies that he has apologised "unreservedly for the upset these allegations have caused".

There is quite a lot of noise in the Commons with Labour MPs asking where the prime minister is.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle urges them to be quiet saying - "He's got a tough job as it is, let's not make it harder."

Ellis continues that an investigation into allegations are ongoing and that the government will publish the findings.

He confirms that the probe will cover allegations relating to 15 and 20 May 2020 and that action will be taken if wrongdoing is uncovered.

He also says the investigation may be paused if the Met Police decide to investigate.

Image source, Kay Naylor

We've been hearing from more bereaved families left upset by the Downing Street drinks party claims. Kay Naylor in Wiltshire says the party allegations have made her angry, as it appears rules were ignored while her mother was "isolated" in a care home.

During the first lockdown, Kay was only able to talk to her elderly mother through a window. Later, her mother was moved upstairs, meaning all they could do was wave to each other – including on her mum's 100th birthday.

Her mother's health deteriorated and she was taken to hospital in September 2020 and died alone in November, says Kay.

"She was so upset during the whole lockdown believing her family had abandoned her," Kays says. Before then, her mother had had a visitor every day.

"It makes me so upset and angry that our so-called leader was ignoring the rules we were following."

At around 12:30 GMT we're expecting government minister Michael Ellis to reply to an urgent question in the House of Commons from Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner about the allegation of a drinks party in No 10 during the first lockdown.

Asked why Boris Johnson wouldn't be taking questions himself, a Downing Street spokesperson says it is "not uncommon" for ministers to answer questions in the Commons.

MPs will also have a chance to put questions on the subject to Ellis.

Image source, Getty Images

The prime minister's principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, has the full confidence of Boris Johnson, No 10 says.

Speaking after the email emerged suggesting Reynolds invited more than 100 Downing Street employees to a gathering during Covid restrictions, the prime minister's official spokesman says he "continues in his role".

Johnson has refused to say whether he attended the 20 May 2020 gathering in the Downing Street garden.

And Downing Street did not respond to questions from reporters on whether the prime minister followed a "bring your own booze" stipulation on the email invitation.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has defended the Downing Street party on the basis that "people weren't mixing" with "outsiders" - but said if people were invited who hadn't been in the office "that would be very, very serious indeed".

Fabricant told BBC News: "The difference with funerals [and] marriage ceremonies...is that you're meeting outsiders.

"This isn't involving outsiders; it is a secure area" - meaning that it consisted of "the people that have been on top of each other in pokey offices in Downing Street," he said.

Former Labour home secretary Jacqui Smith was one of many people who replied to an earlier tweet, external from Fabricant, defending the government.

Smith, who worked for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust during the first lockdown, said no-one there would have dreamt of organising such a party.