Dominic Cummings, who previously served as Boris Johnson’s Chief of Staff until he was sacked in November 2020, has tweeted that “there’s lots of pictures of the parties which will inevitably get out”. The former Government adviser also said that most of the public’s attention should be focused on a party which he claims took place in the Prime Minister’s flat last year on November 13th. The Express has more.
Johnson has already lost one senior member of staff over the ongoing Christmas party scandal, and is facing calls to sack others – as well as to resign himself. But his former aide insists that the worst is yet to come.
The Government is under fire over reports of numerous parties held in Downing Street and elsewhere late last year, despite official Covid rules.
Video footage of the Prime Minister’s then-Press Secretary, Allegra Stratton, joking about a Christmas party in December 2020, just days after it is said to have taken place, emerged earlier this week.
This footage, featuring remarks Stratton said she would regret “for the rest of my days”, led to her resignation.
If footage from after the event has produced such a significant backlash, Downing Street will be horrified by the prospect of footage emerging from the party itself – or from any other party, from that matter.
That footage will emerge is, according to Cummings, “inevitable”.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “There’s lots of pictures of the parties which will inevitably get out.
“And invite lists beyond Number 10, to other departments…”
Some, but not all of the parties which are believed to have taken place in November and December last year will now be subjected to an official investigation.
In a separate post on Thursday, Cummings said “[our] focus should be [on the] actual party in the Prime Minister’s flat on November 13th”.
The party – or ‘gathering’, as officials would prefer to put it – which has been at the centre of this week’s controversy took place on December 18th.
The BBC has reported that Jack Doyle, Director of Communications at Downing Street, is believed to have been in attendance at the party.
He is accused of having given out a number of light-hearted awards amid party games, food and drink in an event that went on past midnight.
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