Ms Stratton then noted “this is recorded”, adding: “This fictional party was a business meeting … and it was not socially distanced.” “Is cheese and wine all right? It was a business meeting,” Ms Stratton replied, to laughter in the room. Ms Stratton asked “what’s the answer” and staff in the press room appeared to suggest ideas, with one saying “it wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine”. “Would the Prime Minister condone having a Christmas party?” he asked.
Ms Stratton replied “I went home” before appearing to consider what the correct answer should be.ĭuring the rehearsal, filmed as part of a subsequently-abandoned plan for Ms Stratton to lead televised press briefings, Mr Oldfield pressed her for an answer. Mr Oldfield asked her: “I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night, do you recognise those reports?” The footage obtained by ITV News showed Ms Stratton answering questions at a mock press conference on December 22 about a Downing Street Christmas party the previous Friday – the date of the alleged rule-breaking gathering. On Tuesday, Downing Street again insisted there was no Christmas party and coronavirus rules had been followed at all times.īut Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Mr Johnson to “come clean and apologise”, adding that for aides “to lie and to laugh about those lies is shameful”.
The Prime Minister’s then press secretary Allegra Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, were filmed joking about a “fictional” party in December 2020. Senior aides to Boris Johnson joked about a Downing Street Christmas party just days after staff are alleged to have held a festive gathering in breach of lockdown rules.
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