No 10 apologises to Queen over parties on eve of Prince Philip funeral

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson says ‘it’s deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning’

Downing Street was forced to issue an unprecedented public apology to the Queen on Friday over parties held in No 10 on the eve of her husband’s funeral, amid mounting fury from grassroots Tories.

Conservative MPs will hold crisis talks over the weekend about how to respond to allegations of a party culture in Westminster while the rest of the country was in lockdown.

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How No 10’s alleged parties took place as UK Covid death toll rose – interactive

A timeline of alleged lockdown parties and UK deaths, what Covid rules were in place at the time and what Boris Johnson said

The UK government and the Conservative party have been rocked by a series of claims about staff parties held in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall. Some have argued the “partygate” scandal could ultimately topple the prime minister.

With more than 175,000 Covid deaths to date, the Guardian plots the UK death toll against dates on which the staff parties are alleged to have occurred, as well as previous controversies involving alleged breaches of lockdown rules and Johnson’s recent comments on the 2020 gatherings.

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Renewed calls for PM to resign over parties on eve of Philip funeral

Queen followed Covid rules at husband’s funeral, sitting alone in face mask away from rest of family

Further allegations of Downing Street parties taking place on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s socially distanced funeral have been met with widespread anger across the political spectrum, bookending a turbulent week for Boris Johnson, who is facing renewed calls to resign.

Prince Philip’s funeral took place in the private chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday 17 April, the day after two leaving dos were reportedly held at No 10 at a time when such mixing was banned. The Queen, in mourning black, wearing a face mask and sitting alone to maintain social distancing, became one of the defining images of the national lockdown.

Covid restrictions had a substantial impact on the proceedings, with the guest list trimmed from 800 to 30.

The Queen attended the funeral wearing a face mask and socially distanced from the rest of her family, who were seated in their respective household bubbles, at the service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Those in the funeral procession were required to put on face masks before entering the chapel.

Bottles of hand sanitiser featured alongside the traditional dressing of floral arrangements and family wreaths.

Original plans for military processions through London or Windsor were scrapped, with the royal family asking the public not to gather at the castle or other royal residences.

The choir was also limited to four singers, while the few guests were banned from singing in line with Covid regulations.

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Intoxicating, insidery and infuriating: everything I learned about Dominic Cummings from his £10-a-month blog

Since he left Downing Street, Boris Johnson’s former adviser has been setting out his worldview – and settling scores – on his Substack. Could it help us understand the most notorious man in British politics?

Who is the most interesting writer about politics in Britain today? No question, it’s Dominic Cummings. The Substack blog he started in June last year is not cheap – £10 a month for an erratic and irregular output via email – but it’s worth it. Whenever and whatever he does post, you can be sure it will contain plenty of extraordinary ideas, unexpected insights and eye-popping indiscretions. Cummings appears to have little or no filter on his thoughts, with the result that his writing offers as clear a view into the dark heart of contemporary politics as is available anywhere. He has no time for any of the usual pieties. What you get is a voracious intellect – Cummings is interested in everything from 19th-century German history to quantum physics – coupled with a tireless curiosity about anything that lies outside the conventional wisdom. It’s a revelation.

As Boris Johnson’s former right-hand man – and the architect of Brexit and the Tories’ 2019 election landslide – Cummings is nothing if not divisive. Since Johnson fired him in late 2020, Cummings has turned on the prime minister and made it his mission to force him out of office. If your enemy’s enemy is your friend, this makes it hard for many of Cummings’ former critics to know what to think of him now.

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Boris Johnson does not believe he broke Covid rules at party, says minister

Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis defends PM as he pulls out of public engagement in Lancashire

The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, has insisted the prime minister was “very, very sincere” when he apologised for attending an alcohol-fuelled gathering in the Downing Street garden, but did not believe he had broken the rules.

Boris Johnson told MPs on Wednesday he thought he was at a “work event” when he dropped into what his own principal private secretary had called “socially distanced drinks”.

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Senior backbench MP joins Scottish Tory leader in calling for Johnson to resign over No 10 lockdown party – live

William Wragg says Boris Johnson is damaging reputation of party as Douglas Ross calls for him to stand down after prime minister admits attending party

Another journalist who is very well plugged in to the thinking of Tory MPs is the Conservative Home editor Paul Goodman, a former MP himself. In what might be a rather ominous development for Johnson, Goodman devotes his main ConHome article this morning to discussing the process by which the Conservative party might go about replacing him (although he does not describe Johnson’s resignation as inevitable).

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said Boris Johnson should resign. He told BBC Breakfast:

Boris Johnson is now incapable of leading our country through this public health crisis - I actually think he is a threat to the health of the nation, because no-one will do anything he says because he has now shown to have been deceitful, so Boris Johnson must now resign ...

He said to parliament and to the country before Christmas when he was apologising that he didn’t know about the parties, and now we know he was at at least one of those parties.

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Furious Tories pile pressure on Boris Johnson over No 10 parties

Former ministers and MPs call on prime minister to fully address issue in Commons after latest revelation

Boris Johnson is facing intense pressure from senior Conservatives to publicly confess he attended a rule-breaking garden party in Downing Street, with the Scottish Tory leader suggesting the prime minister should resign if he broke Covid rules.

A string of Conservative MPs openly expressed anger and humiliation about the “bring your own booze” gathering for up to 40 people on 20 May 2020 after it emerged in a leaked email. Others called on him to come clean and apologise on Wednesday in the hope of stemming rising fury.

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UK Covid live: party revelations show PM has done ‘incalculable damage’ to trust in health measures, Labour says

Latest updates: health minister Edward Argar says he can understand why people are ‘upset and angry’ about reports

The Conservative mayor for the West Midlands, Andy Street, whose mother died of Covid last year, has said news of a party at Downing Street during the first lockdown is “pretty incredible” and that he is “very hungry” to find out what happened.

Speaking to BBC Radio West Midlands, Street said he was shocked when he read the news. He said:

When I saw this I thought, I can’t really believe this, if I’m honest. It was May 2020, a time when we were all restricted. My idea of going out was to walk along the canal with one friend, frankly, and I’m sure there’s lots of people in the West Midlands who have their own recollections of what they were doing in May 2020. So yes, it is very difficult to believe.

What we don’t know is whether the prime minister was there. I obviously can’t possibly comment on that, but that’s why the inquiry has got to come.

And I’m sure that when the inquiry finds out the facts, then the conclusions and the consequences will be acted upon.

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Health minister admits public will be ‘angry’ over No 10 lockdown party

Ed Argar says he understands public anger after email unearthed inviting staff to drinks in the garden

A health minister has admitted the public will be “upset and angry” at revelations that a senior official invited more than 100 Downing Street staff to a “bring your own booze” party during the first lockdown.

In a tacit acknowledgment of the strength of feeling at the latest revelations, Ed Argar said he had personally not attended any parties and had been aware of the regulations, “not least because I was a health minister who’d helped draw them up”.

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‘Funds for favours’: Geidt pressed to reopen investigation into PM’s flat

Emergence of ‘great exhibition’ messages seems to undermine ethics adviser’s finding, says Labour

Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser has been accused of failing to investigate a potential “funds for favours” scandal after the prime minister was cleared of rule-breaking over his Downing Street flat refurbishment.

Christopher Geidt shut his investigation without commenting on Johnson seeking funds for the works from a Conservative donor while promising to consider plans for a “great exhibition”. Expectations also faded that another inquiry, led by parliament’s standards commissioner Kathryn Stone, would go ahead.

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Dominic Cummings makes new claim of party in No 10 garden in lockdown

Former aide says he put in writing that event – five days after photographed gathering – should not happen

Boris Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings has alleged there was a lockdown-breaking party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 after an emailed invitation to “socially distanced drinks”.

Cummings, who left No 10 in November that year, said people were invited to the gathering by a senior Downing Street official who he said should have been removed from their job because of failings over Covid.

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Boris Johnson accused of corruption after ‘great exhibition’ text emerges

PM sought funds for flat refurb from Tory donor while promising to consider plans for mystery event

Boris Johnson has been accused of corruption after it emerged that he sought funds for his flat refurbishment from a Conservative donor while promising to consider plans for a mystery “great exhibition”.

The prime minister is facing fresh questions after newly published WhatsApp messages with the Tory peer David Brownlow show Johnson called parts of his Downing Street residence a “tip” and asked for “approvals” so his decor designer, Lulu Lytle, could “get on with it” in November 2020.

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Tory peer Michelle Mone secretly involved in PPE firm she referred to government

Exclusive: Leaked files suggest Mone and her husband were involved in business given £200m contracts

Leaked files appear to suggest the Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband, Douglas Barrowman, were secretly involved in a PPE business that was awarded more than £200m in government contracts after she referred it to the Cabinet Office.

Barrowman, an Isle of Man-based financier, may have played a central role in the business deal that enabled PPE Medpro to sell millions of masks and surgical gowns to the government at the start of the pandemic, documents suggest.

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The Guardian view on levelling up: a flagship policy adrift and becalmed | Editorial

More mayors and a shake-up of local government will not be enough to rebalance the economy and heal the north-south divide

Two years after Boris Johnson made “levelling up” the lodestar of his new administration, the public still struggles to understand what the prime minister means by it. A new YouGov poll has found that half of those questioned either had no idea what the phrase signifies, or were not completely sure. The government’s flagship domestic policy resembles a ghost vessel drifting in a mist of Whitehall obfuscation and procrastination.

After a torrid period, Mr Johnson badly needs this to change in the new year. However fuzzy the follow-through, the political logic of his original pledge to level up England remains crystal clear: as it seeks to hold together the new electoral coalition forged in the 2019 “Brexit election”, improving the situation and prospects of voters in the north and Midlands is fundamental to the government’s hopes of re-election. The pots of money distributed piecemeal via the various levelling-up funds – described as a “drop in the ocean” by the Centre for Cities thinktank – will not cut it. Having promised to restore pride, regenerate places and deliver economic growth in the “red wall”, a convincing plan is urgently required to demonstrate how this will be done. The indications are that this will not be forthcoming, partly for fear of antagonising voters in the more prosperous south.

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Guidance v rules: which Covid measures work better?

Analysis: the Tories are arguing against further restrictions – but what do scientists think works best to prevent the spread of Covid?

They are questions that have cast a shadow over the festive season: will new Covid measures be needed, and if so, when and what form will they take?

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said peak admissions could be comparable with or even greater than previous highs without significant behaviour change or further interventions, but many Tory backbenchers have argued against legal restrictions, saying that the public should be trusted to make their own decisions on the risks they wish to take.

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Johnson’s pig-headed reign approaches its tragicomic climax | William Keegan

Events in the run-up to Christmas have conspired like twists in a novel to reveal the true character of Tory Brexiters

There was a moment last year when Boris Johnson was reported to have gone awol (absent without leave) from governing the country in order to work on a book about Shakespeare.

At the time, many commentators blamed his absence for a crucial delay in decision-making which contributed to thousands of avoidable, Covid-related deaths. Be that as it may, or was, he returned to the helm of state, brushed off many a criticism, and managed to persuade gullible members of the media and electorate that he possessed Teflon qualities and was invincible.

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Tory MPs warn Boris Johnson’s rivals to oppose tougher Covid new year rules

Leadership hopefuls told to block new limits in England as scientists model curbs on bars and cafes

Cabinet ministers vying to succeed Boris Johnson have been warned by Tory colleagues that they will damage their chances unless they stridently oppose further Covid measures in England, as MPs called for New Year’s Eve restrictions to be ruled out.

With ministers expected to meet as soon as Monday to discuss whether additional measures are needed to protect hospital capacity, several Conservatives said that they would be watching those emerging as leading contenders to replace Johnson should he step aside before the next election.

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No new Covid restrictions before Christmas, Boris Johnson confirms

Prime minister warns rapid spread of Omicron variant could mean curbs are imposed after 25 December

Christmas will go ahead without any curbs on socialising, Boris Johnson has confirmed, prompting warnings this could lead to tougher measures later despite tentative signs that cases have begun to plateau.

The prime minister said he understood that families across England needed certainty to press ahead with Christmas plans but warned curbs could still be imposed after 25 December because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

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UK government’s wait for Omicron evidence is a high-stakes gamble

Analysis: ‘incontrovertible evidence’ is a tall order and in the meantime the NHS risks being overwhelmed

At a long and difficult cabinet meeting on Monday, hawkish ministers demanded “incontrovertible evidence” that Omicron risks overwhelming the NHS to justify the cost of taking action, while on Tuesday Boris Johnson confirmed his view that there is insufficient evidence to justify new measures – yet.

While some clarity on the hospitalisation rate associated with the new variant should be available within a day or two, scientists have warned that getting the evidence ministers want may be “a tall order”. So why is it so hard to work out, and what does that mean for decision-making?

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Covid restrictions unlikely before Christmas but PM watching data ‘hour by hour’

Boris Johnson caught between scientific advisers and his sceptical cabinet over action on Omicron

New Covid restrictions are unlikely to be imposed before Christmas amid deep cabinet divisions but Boris Johnson warned further measures remain on the table, with data on the threat of Omicron monitored “hour by hour”.

The prime minister was accused of failing to follow scientists’ advice on the need for immediate restrictions while leaving millions of people and businesses in limbo after a two-hour cabinet meeting ended with no decision on Monday.

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