Boris Johnson: Birthday party for Prime Minister sparks more anger

The stories about parties in Downing Street during lockdown are causing real problems for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and they won't go away.

Now, Downing Street has admitted staff came together inside No 10 - where the PM lives and works in London - during the first Covid lockdown to celebrate his birthday.

ITV News reported that up to 30 people attended the June 2020 event, sang Happy Birthday and were served cake.

A spokesperson for Mr Johnson said staff had "gathered briefly" to "wish the prime minister a happy birthday", adding that he had been there "for less than 10 minutes".

Boris Johnson gave a "heartfelt apology" earlier this month after reports that he had attended a garden party in May 2020 but said he believed it was a work event

It comes as an investigation continues into what has been happening with parties in Downing Street and elsewhere in government. The prime minister has asked everyone to wait for the outcome of that, which is expected later this week.

But a number of politicians, including some from Mr Johnson's Conservative party, have spoken of their anger over this latest news and have called for him to quit his job.

What is said to have happened at the birthday party?

Boris Johnson was pictured in the Cabinet Room on the day he took office in July 2019

ITV News said the birthday event had taken place in the Cabinet Room inside 10 Downing Street just after 2pm on 19 June 2020.

It had been arranged as a surprise for Mr Johnson by his then fiancee, Carrie Symonds, after he returned from an official trip to a school in Hertfordshire.

Rules at the time banned most indoor gatherings involving more than two people.

Environment Secretary George Eustice denied ITV's claim that 30 people had gathered in the Cabinet Room.

He said the number of staff present was "closer to 10" and it "was literally just a birthday cake brought in at the end of the day".

What has been the reaction to this?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds up a birthday cake as he visits a primary school in Hertfordshire, a few hours before he received another cake in Downing Street

Sir Keir Starmer - the leader of Mr Johnson's rivals, the Labour Party - once again called for Boris Johnson to stand down from his job, saying: "The prime minister is a national distraction and he's got to go".

Members of Mr Johnson's own Conservative Party also criticised the latest birthday party reports.

Former chairwoman Baroness Warsi told the BBC it was time for Mr Johnson to "think long and hard about what is in the best interest of this country".

"The question he should be asking himself every morning is, 'Is me staying in office allowing me to run this office in a way in which is making the country better, or am I a distraction?'" she added.

But the PM did receive some support from his friends. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said in a tweet: "So, when people in an office buy a cake in the middle of the afternoon for someone else they are working in the office with and stop for 10 minutes to sing happy birthday and then go back to their desks, this is now called a party?"