Boris Johnson says nobody warned him against rule-breaking party

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied he was warned that a party in the garden of No 10 risked breaking coronavirus lockdown rules.

"Nobody warned me that it was against the rules," the PM said, adding: "I would have remembered that."

It comes as a former government adviser, Dominic Cummings, says he warned the prime minister at the time, and has accused him of lying to MPs (Members of Parliament) about it.

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings had worked closely together for years, but in November 2020 Mr Cummings left his job after reports of a falling out at Downing Street.

What was the party?

On the 20 May 2020 a party took place at the Prime Minister's 10 Downing Street home.

In an email invite sent to around a hundred Number 10 staff, the event was described as "socially distanced drinks".

At the time, coronavirus rules in England meant that people were not allowed to have parties and could only meet up outside with one other person who they didn't live with.

Mr Johnson admitted attending the party and last week, while speaking in front of other MPs at the Houses of Parliament, he offered a "heartfelt apology", adding that he "believed this was a work event", but said the gathering was "technically within the rules".

But many people are unhappy with Mr Johnson, who is facing calls - including some from his own political party - to step down from his job as prime minister.

Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson had worked together for several years

Dominic Cummings was still working in Downing Street at the time of the party in May 2020, and said in a blog post that the prime minister had been told that it would break Covid guidelines.

He added that he had warned Mr Johnson about the gathering but the PM had "waved it aside".

Two other former Downing Street officials told the BBC they remembered Mr Cummings telling them on that day he had advised the prime minister not to allow the drinks to go ahead.

Investigation into government parties

An investigation is currently going on into Covid rule breaking and lockdown get-togethers in Downing Street and government departments. A report into the investigation's findings is expected next week.

When asked about Dominic Cummings' accusations, the Prime Minister said: "I can tell you categorically that nobody said that this was something that was against the rules, that was in breach of the Covid rules."

He repeated the apology he made to MPs last week for "mistakes" made over the May 2020 event and insisted that he had believed it was a "work event".

Adding that he had said the same thing to those investigating Downing Street lockdown gatherings.

Asked if he would resign if he was found to have lied to MPs, Mr Johnson said: "Let's see what the report says."

Why is this serious?

Boris Johnson is already facing calls to resign over a drinks gathering he admitted to attending in May 2020

If what Dominic Cummings has said is true and the prime minister had been warned the event was against lockdown rules, then his previous explanation to Parliament that he thought the gathering was a "work event" and wasn't against Covid restrictions would turn out to have been untrue.

Under the rules that politicians are meant to follow, he would then be expected to resign.

Speaking to the BBC, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Mr Cummings's and Mr Johnson's versions of events are very different and that the prime minister and No. 10 had "made clear" he thought the drinks was a work event.

Asked whether any minister who lied to the House of Commons and failed to correct their remarks should resign, he replied: "Yes."

Deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, Angela Rayner, is amongst those calling for Boris Johnson to resign as PM.

When the prime minister was asked if he had lied to Parliament over the parties, Mr Johnson said: "No. I want to begin by repeating my apologies to everybody for the misjudgements that I've made, that we may have made in No 10 and beyond, whether in Downing Street or throughout the pandemic."

But in response to the latest news, the deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, Angela Rayner said: "Boris Johnson clearly knows it's the end of the road.

"He's the prime minister, he set the rules, he didn't need anyone to tell him that the party he attended broke them.

"If he had any respect for the British public, he would do the decent thing and resign."