Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has told the PM to “stop lying” and “come clean” about the “bring your own booze” event reportedly held on 20 May 2020.
Accusing the PM of “deflections and distractions”, the Labour leader called on Mr Johnson to be honest with the British public about the event which Sky News understands both the PM and his then fiancée attended.
“Boris Johnson, your deflections and distractions are absurd. Not only did you know about the parties in Downing Street, you attended them. Stop lying to the British public. It’s time to finally come clean,” Sir Keir said.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has granted Labour an urgent question on the garden party allegations, which is due to take place at around 12:30pm.
Earlier on Tuesday, Health minister Ed Argar told Kay Burley he “can understand why people are angry” about the new allegations.
Mr Argar said it is “absolutely right” that Sue Gray – the senior civil servant leading an inquiry into multiple allegations of COVID rule-breaking in Downing Street and other government buildings – looks into the matter.
He added: “I don’t know what did or didn’t happen.”
Downing Street garden party allegations
Asked several times whether if 40 people – including the PM and his wife – had gathered in the Downing Street garden it would have been against the government’s own coronavirus rules, Mr Argar did not explicitly answer the question.
In spring 2020, when the event allegedly took place, outdoor group gatherings were banned in England.
Mr Argar told Sky News it is “not appropriate” to comment on what Sue Gray “may or may not conclude” in her investigation of the Downing Street party allegations, but that if wrongdoing is found, “appropriate disciplinary action” should follow.
Hannah Brady, a spokeswoman for COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said it made her “sick” to think No 10 staff “partied” in the days after her father’s death.
Put to him that the families of those who have died during the coronavirus pandemic are furious at the latest revelations in the Number 10 “partygate” row, the health minister told Sky News: “We’ve lost 150,230 people to this disease, so I can understand with these allegations that people will be upset and angry”.
Source: Skynews
