Pressure piling on Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson over a lockdown-breaking Christmas Party at Downing Street was compounded as it emerged his press chief attended the gathering.
Mr Johnson’s authority has been dealt a serious blow by the scandal which has so far resulted in one resignation amid a continuing investigation.
It coincides with a potential rebellion from dozens of his MPs over tougher Covid-19 restrictions, as well as a row over the funding of refurbishment at his Downing Street flat.
It was claimed on Thursday night that Jack Doyle, the Conservative prime minister’s director of communications, attended the bash on December 18 when Covid restrictions prohibited social gatherings.
He is said to have made a speech to as many as 30 members of the press team and handed out gifts at the party, where food and drink was served.
Revellers partied into the early hours of the morning, according to the BBC.
The latest development in the Number 10 party saga piles more pressure on Mr Johnson to provide answers to questions which have been asked since the story broke last week.
Mr Johnson had repeatedly denied any party took place in Downing Street, saying coronavirus guidelines are followed at all times. But after a leaked video showed his then press secretary joking about the celebrations he said he was “furious” and “sickened”, and ordered his cabinet secretary to investigate the matter.
Allegra Stratton, his former press secretary turned spokeswoman for Cop26, tearfully apologised to the British public for laughing about social distancing rules and resigned from the post on Wednesday.
The scandal surrounding the refurbishment of Mr Johnson’s 11 Downing Street flat is proving to be another thorn in his side and on Thursday the Conservative Party was fined £17,800 for breaking the rules on reporting donations.
The penalty levied by the Electoral Commission came after an internal investigation conducted by Lord Geidt, the prime minister’s standards adviser, into the matter.
Lord Geidt was reportedly on the verge of resigning on Thursday night amid concerns he had been misled by Mr Johnson. The Telegraph said he was planning to quit if Mr Johnson failed to satisfactorily explain why he did not share vital evidence with him when he investigated the donations earlier this year.
A recent YouGov poll conducted for The Times showed backing for the Conservatives had plummeted to its lowest level in almost a year as voters grow ever more frustrated with the ruling party.
The poll showed support was down by three points to 33 per cent — the lowest rate recorded since January. Labour was up four points at 37 per cent.
Former Conservative MP Gavin Barwell, now known as Lord Barwell, who served as ex-prime minister Theresa May’s chief of staff, warned that any defence claiming Number 10 parties were merely weekly staff gatherings with some cheese and wine thrown in would probably “struggle as an explanation” for rule-breaking.
“It might have been possible if the government’s immediate reaction to the allegation had been to set out exactly what happened and use that defence,” he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Lord Barwell said there is “genuine anger” among the public over the “hugely toxic” allegations.
He said he found it “very distressing” that his mother had to spend Christmas Day alone due to Covid restrictions and said the party suggested there were “different rules for the people making the rules than the rest of us”.
Mr Johnson announced England would be moving to “Plan B” Covid restrictions late on Wednesday, a move which critics dismissed as a distraction tactic.
Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, vice chairwoman of the 1922 committee, said she had serious concerns over the new set of measures. The latest round of rules mean face masks will be required in some indoor public places, people will have to work from home if possible, and vaccine passports will be required at large events.
She said the mood in parliament is “not good” and that it was “not easy to listen to” the health secretary lay out the rules.
“I’m yet to see how the facts stack up,” Ms Ghani told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We’re asking people to take action which in my constituency of East Sussex will have a huge impact, not only on the economy but that means people’s livelihoods, but I’m also anxious what that means to people’s access to other health care.
She said she fears the government has failed to take into account the impact the new curbs could have on people’s mental and physical health and their jobs.
If Mr Johnson fails to get enough votes from MPs in his own party, he will have to rely on support from the opposition Labour Party to get his Plan B measures through parliament.
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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HWJN
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
RESULT
Liverpool 4 Southampton 0
Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')
Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
