Image source, UK Parliament

We have further reaction to reports that parties were held in Downing Street the day before Prince Philip's funeral. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey says the prime minister should “apologise personally to the Queen” and resign.

The gatherings took place on 16 April 2021 and went on until the early hours.

The PM's spokesman says it is "deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning".

Davey says Boris Johnson should take the opportunity to say sorry “to the Queen for the offence he's caused her and millions around the country mourning for loved ones”.

"Now is the time for Boris Johnson to finally do the right thing and admit he's no longer fit to lead the country”, he adds.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “do the decent thing and resign” following the disclosure that No 10 apologised to Buckingham Palace for parties held in Downing Street the night before Prince Philip's funeral.

"This shows just how seriously Boris Johnson has degraded the office of prime minister," Starmer says.

We've been reporting that No 10 has apologised to Buckingham Palace for two parties on the eve of the Duke of Edinbugh's funeral.

Boris Johnson was not at either party but earlier this week he personally apologised for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020.

Ahead of Prime Minister's Questions, he told MPs he had attended the gathering for 25 minutes and "believed implicitly that this was a work event".

He says in hindsight he should have sent everyone back inside and now offers his "heartfelt apologies". Here's that apology in full.

“It is his home, he is responsible for this and he shows no true understanding of just how angry people feel.”

Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry says Boris Johnson “should resign now” following reports of more lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Image source, PA Media

A spokesman for the prime minister says Boris Johnson has "recognised No 10 should be held to the highest standards and take responsibility for things we did not get right."

Asked why No 10 had apologised rather than Boris Johnson himself, the spokesman says: "Well, again, the prime minister said earlier misjudgments have been made and it's right people apologise, as the PM did earlier this week."

The spokesman says he can't prejudge the inquiry into Downing Street parties being led by Sue Gray, "but we acknowledge the significant public anger, it was regrettable this took place a time of national mourning."

Downing Street says it has apologised to Buckingham Palace following revelations that two parties were held the night before the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral.

A spokesman for Boris Johnson says it was "deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning".

Image source, Conservative Party

Andrew Bridgen has become the fifth Conservative MP this week to publicly call for the prime minister to go.

He had previously been a loyal supporter of the PM, backing him for the Tory leadership in 2019.

We reported earlier that he had told BBC Newsnight of his desire to see a new PM, but he has also written an article in the Telegraph explaining his view.

In the piece, Bridgen says Johnson's position has become "untenable" in the wake of revelations about lockdown parties held by Downing Street staff.

"I'm calling on the prime minister to stand down, there is time yet to do the right thing,” he writes.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, Sir Roger Gale, William Wragg and backbencher Caroline Nokes have also urged the PM to quit.

A minimum of 54 Conservative MPs must send letters to the Tory’s 1922 committee in order to trigger a leadership challenge.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, in non-party related news, the UK economy beat pre-Covid levels for the first time in November after recording stronger-than-expected growth.

The Office for National Statistics says gross domestic product expanded by 0.9% between October and November.

It says architects, retailers, couriers and accountants enjoyed “a bumper month”, while construction also recovered as raw materials became easier to get hold of.

Despite the good news, there is concern that growth has since slowed because of the spread of the Omicron variant and the introduction of Plan B measures.

Read more here.

We reported earlier that the foreign secretary has said it is time to "move on" after Boris Johnson's apology over the parties.

You can watch a clip from her interview below.

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The Metropolitan Police says there is “no change” to its position for investigating Downing Street parties amid fresh allegations of more events taking place.

No 10 staff held two leaving events the night before Prince Philip's funeral - at a time when Covid restrictions banned indoor mixing.

Scotland Yard says any investigation by the force would depend on evidence unearthed in the inquiry being carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray, which is expected as early as next week.

How safe is Johnson's position as PM?published at 11:16 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2022

11:16 GMT 14 January 2022

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

A leadership challenge doesn't feel imminent.

It's possible the Sue Gray report into the parties may yet be more of a damp squib than the ammunition for a Conservative coup.

But several MPs I spoke to were fearful that hers would not be the last word on "party-gate", and that more damaging revelations may appear - either from the PM's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings or elsewhere if Boris Johnson stays in post.

A former government adviser who straddled the May/Johnson years put it like this: "When something happens, it could happen quite quickly.

"Under Theresa May, there was a growing sense of inevitability - it feels a bit like that now."

Read more from Iain.

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Labour's deputy leader is calling on the prime minister to make a public statement on the latest party allegations - and then to resign.

Angela Rayner says: "Boris Johnson is yet again insulting the intelligence of the British people rather than just doing the decent thing and coming clean.

"So many people lost loved ones in unimaginably lonely circumstances, the denials and excuses from Downing Street are causing them further hurt.

"We have a prime minister up to his neck in scandals of his own making. He can no longer do his job but is so desperate to save his own skin he is looking for anyone else to blame. He can't keep hiding."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the UK, restrictions on large events and businesses in Wales brought in to tackle the Omicron variant will be scrapped in two weeks under new plans

Under the rules, events were limited to 50 people outdoors and 30 people indoors and nightclubs had to close.

First Minister Mark Drakeford, who will set out the plans at a news conference later, tells the BBC that Wales appears to have passed the peak of Omicron and cases are coming down “very rapidly”.

This means it is safe to “gradually and carefully lift the level of restrictions”, he says.

Read more about the changes here.

The latest Downing Street party revelations mean the list of reported lockdown parties now includes:

15 May 2020: A photo, external showed the prime minister and his staff with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard in the Downing Street garden. When asked about it, Boris Johnson said, "those people were at work talking about work".

20 May: About 100 people were invited by email to "socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden this evening". Witnesses told the BBC the PM and his wife were among about 30 people who attended.

13 November: Sources told the BBC that Downing Street staff members attended a gathering with Carrie Johnson in the flat where she and the prime minister live. A spokesman for Mrs Johnson denies the party took place.

25 November: Treasury officials held a drinks party for around two dozen people in their office to celebrate Rishi Sunak’s spending review during lockdown last year, sources told The Times newspaper.

27 November: A leaving event was held for No 10 aide Cleo Watson, where people were drinking, and the PM made a speech, according to sources.

10 December: The Department for Education has confirmed it had an office gathering to thank staff for their work during the pandemic. It says drinks and snacks were brought by those who attended and no outside guests or support staff were invited.

14 December: The Conservative Party admitted an "unauthorised gathering" took place at its HQ in Westminster. It was held by the team of the party's London-mayoral candidate, Shaun Bailey, who has since stepped down as chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee.

15 December: Multiple sources have told the BBC there was a Christmas quiz for No 10 staff last year. A photo - published by the Sunday Mirror - shows Johnson taking part and sitting between two colleagues in No 10. Johnson has denied any wrongdoing.

16 December:The Department for Transport has apologised after confirming reports of a party in its offices, external, calling it "inappropriate" and an "error of judgment" by staff.

18 December: Downing Street originally denied a report by the the Daily Mirror that a party took place in Downing Street. However, a video obtained by ITV News showed the prime minister's then-press secretary Allegra Stratton, joking about reports of an event, saying: "This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced."

16 April 2021: Two leaving parties were held in No 10 on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. The Telegraph reports around 30 people were drinking alcohol and dancing until the early hours. The PM's then director of communications James Slack has apologised for the "anger and hurt" caused by his leaving event.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says "real mistakes" were made over gatherings held during lockdown at Downing Street but "we now need to move on".

She tells the BBC she was "very concerned" to hear reports of two leaving parties held on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in April 2021.

However, she says the prime minister has previously apologised for another drinks party he attended, adding: "I 100% support him to continue getting on with the job."

"I do think that we need to look at the overall position we're in as a country - the fact that he has delivered Brexit, that we are recovering from Covid," she adds.

"I think we now need to move on and talk about how we are going to sort out issues."

Image source, UK Parliament

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale says he has been calling for Boris Johnson to step down since it emerged that the PM's former senior aide, Dominic Cummings, travelled to Barnard Castle in Durham during the first national lockdown in spring 2020.

He says he does not hold the PM personally responsible for the Downing Street parties but for overseeing "a culture" of bending the rules.

Minds are now focused on taking "necessary action" with some MPs writing to the 1922 committee calling for a leadership contest, he says.

"I clearly don't know, and I shouldn't know, how many of my colleagues have put in letters - I'm not canvassing them or seeking support for what I have done myself - but I believe that there is some momentum which is growing."

After a sharp spike in cases, the number of new Covid infections appears to be decreasing across the UK.

However, case numbers remain high, with a further 109,133 reported on Thursday.

Hospital admissions, meanwhile, are now rising sharply. This is because there is a delay between people becoming infected and falling seriously ill.

The latest available data shows there are almost 20,000 people in hospital infected with Covid. Some of these people will be in hospital because of Covid, while others will be in hospital for other reasons and simply have tested positive when admitted.

While hospital admission trends tend to lag about two weeks behind case numbers, Covid deaths tend to lag even further behind hospital admissions.

Daily deaths within 28 days of a positive test are currently rising.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

The Speaker of the Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle has warned that he will treat any leaking of the official report of the investigation into the Downing Street parties as “a gross discourtesy to the House.”

He warns that any advanced briefing of the findings of the report being compiled by the senior civil servant Sue Gray would be entirely inappropriate.

He was responding to a point of order from the Lib Dem Chief Whip, Wendy Chamberlain, who says some stories in the press appeared to be leaks from the report, attempting to exonerate the PM before it has been presented to MPs.

Image source, PA Media

When two leaving parties were held in Downing Street on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in April 2021, rules at the time banned indoor mixing between different households.

The prime minister's former director of communications James Slack has apologised for the "anger and hurt" caused by his leaving event and acknowledged it "should not have happened".

A Downing Street spokeswoman says Slack "gave a farewell speech to thank each team for the work they had done to support him, both those who had to be in the office for work and on a screen for those working from home".

Another party reportedly took place on the same evening in the No 10 basement for one of the PM's personal photographers.

When asked about that event and whether drinking and dancing had taken place, she said No 10 had "nothing further to add".

The Daily Telegraph, external, which first reported the fresh party allegations, has more details about what allegedly happened at the events held on 16 April 2021.

The paper says staff were sent to a nearby shop with a suitcase, that was brought back "filled with bottles of wine".

During a basement gathering for one of the prime minister's personal photographers, sources claimed there was a "party atmosphere", with a laptop placed on a photocopier with "music blaring out".

The leaving party is then said to have joined with another for the PM's former director of communications, James Slack, in the No 10 garden, and continued past midnight.

Slack has since apologised for the "anger and hurt" he caused.

The PM was away from Downing Street at the time.