British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied on Tuesday January 18 having been warned that a party contrary to anti-Covid rules would be organized in Downing Street in May 2020, as accused by his former adviser Dominic Cummings.
The Conservative leader, who had assured that he had not been informed of the organization of this party on May 20, 2020 in the midst of the first confinement, had apologized to the deputies after revelations in the press about his presence at this event, the one of the many parties that would have been organized in Downing Street during the confinements of the last two years.
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But Dominic Cummings, the influential mastermind behind the successful Brexit campaign, has accused Boris Johnson on social media of lying to Parliament by claiming he thought the party, which he attended for 25 minutes in the gardens of his official residence , was a business meeting.
He said he and another official had warned Boris Johnson ahead of the party, for which the Prime Minister's private secretary had sent around 100 invitations.
Several controversial parties
"
The Prime Minister was warned about these invitations, he knew it was a pot, he lied to Parliament
", wrote on his Twitter account the one who has regularly launched attacks against his former leader since his resignation in November. 2020. He added on his blog that Boris Johnson brushed aside his concerns, and be prepared to '
swear under oath
' like other witnesses.
A spokesman for the head of government denied. “
It is wrong to say that the Prime Minister had been warned in advance about this event
,” he retorted. He "
implicitly
" believed
it was a business meeting, he added, referring to the forthcoming findings of an internal investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray. Dominic Cummings himself had been singled out for violating anti-Covid rules in the spring of 2020 by traveling with his family in full confinement, which was prohibited.
Under pressure, Boris Johnson saw calls for resignation multiply even in his conservative camp.
Downing Street had also apologized to Queen Elizabeth II for two parties organized in April 2021 on the eve of the funeral of her husband, Prince Philip.
