Ruth Davidson fought back tears on live TV tonight as she accused Boris Johnson of 'degrading' politics.
14.01.2022 - 11:43 / dailyrecord.co.uk
The Prime Minister's former director of communications has apologised for the "anger and hurt" caused by a leaving party held in Downing Street the night before the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral.
James Slack, who last year left No 10 to become deputy editor-in-chief at The Sun, said the party on April 16 2021, "should not have happened at the time that it did".
Slack said in an emailed statement issued earlier today: "I wish to apologise unreservedly for the anger and hurt caused.
"This event should not have happened at the time that it did. I am deeply sorry, and take full responsibility."
But he said he could not comment further as the issue had been referred to senior official Sue Gray as part of her investigation.
The party was held the night before the Queen attended her husband's funeral wearing a face mask and socially distanced from her family at Windsor Castle, in line with Covid restrictions.
The Telegraph reported that advisers and civil servants gathered after work for two separate events on April 16 2021.
They were to mark the departures of Slack and one of the PM's personal photographers, the newspaper said.
The Telegraph cited a No 10 spokesperson as saying Johnson was not in Downing Street that day. He is said to have been at Chequers.
Security minister Damian Hinds has said he was "shocked" to read about the party, but that he is "not in a position to comment" because he was not there.
When asked about Slack's apology for the event on BBC Breakfast, he said: "Reading this story this morning, I was shocked.
"This was a particularly solemn time for our whole nation, as Her Majesty the Queen was mourning Prince Philip, and I was shocked by these allegations.
"I personally don't know more about them. This is
Ruth Davidson fought back tears on live TV tonight as she accused Boris Johnson of 'degrading' politics.
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Professor Green has taken aim at Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his new single ‘Dance Like A Tory’ – listen below.The London rapper – real name Stephen Manderson – released the satirical song today (January 27) in response to the recent parties scandal that’s engulfed Downing Street and led to calls for Johnson to resign.‘Dance Like A Tory’ is described as “a playful prod at the privileged politicians who believed that they’re too important to follow the very rules that they made”. It arrives with a tongue-in-cheek video in which Pro Green takes on the role of Johnson at a coronavirus press conference.“It’s popping off on Downing Street / My favourite restaurant just closed down / The doors to 338 are closed / While Number 10 gets down,” Green raps in the single.
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Boris Johnson has claimed that he wasn’t informed that a Downing Street garden gathering that’s been alleged to have been party was against COVID rules at the time.The Prime Minister said in a new interview that he “humbly apologises” to people for “misjudgements” that were made, but that he wouldn’t have attended the gathering on May 20, 2020, if he thought it broke the rules.He told Sky News today (January 18): “I’m saying categorically that nobody told me, nobody said this was something that was against the rules, doing something that wasn’t a work event because frankly, I can’t imagine why it would have gone ahead, or it would have been allowed to go ahead if it was against the rules.”"I carry full responsibility for what took place, but nobody said to me that this was an event that is against the rules."Boris Johnson recalls what he remembers about an alleged party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown.Latest: https://t.co/lE3sSg2vbt pic.twitter.com/k50uWKeYmD— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 18, 2022Under the rules that applied at the time of the alleged party, which dozens of Downing Street staff were invited to in an email sent by principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, people in England were subject to “not meeting up with any more than one person from outside your household” [via FullFact].The law in May 2020 said “no person may participate in a gathering in a public place of more than two people” unless it was for one of a number of stated reasons. These included when the gathering was “essential for work purposes” or “all the persons in the gathering are members of the same household”.
Boris Johnson – check it out below.For their latest release, the satirical duo repurposed Rage Against The Machine‘s 1991 protest anthem ‘Killing In The Name’ in response to recent allegations that Downing Street hosted various parties during lockdown.The clip begins with the PM asking the British public to “limit contact with other people” during a coronavirus press conference. “Now you do what I tell you,” Johnson adds over an instrumental of the classic Rage single.“As you comply, I socialise/ With cheese and wine, and forty guys/ From ‘Next slide please’ to wine and cheese/ The rules you see, don’t apply to me,” Johnson says in the style of the original track.
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