Drinking, Fights, Vomiting: All In A Day's Work, Says PM

Boris Johnson insisted he was oblivious to a culture of excessive drinking and partying in Downing Street during lockdown despite a damning report laying bare a litany of rulebreaking behaviour at the heart of government.

- Heather Stewart, Rajeev Syal, Peter Walker, Aubrey Allegretti

Sue Gray's final report, published yesterday, set out details of 15 events where officials spilled red wine on the walls of No 10, vomited, got into a fight, used a karaoke machine and continued festivities until 4am when the country was subject to strict curbs on socialising.

But in a series of statements yesterday, the prime minister claimed he merely attended "work events" to boost morale, while a cabinet minister urged the public to "move on".

According to the long-awaited report by Gray, a senior civil servant, No 10 officials planned many of the events in detail, sometimes in the face of warnings against proceeding. Messages were revealed containing warnings to drunken staff to leave via the back entrance of Downing Street, apparently to avoid being photographed, and saying "we seem to have got away with" drinks gatherings.

As dozens of staff partied, Gray said there were "multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff", prompting an apology from Johnson. The report concluded: "Whatever the initial intent, what took place at many of these gatherings and the way in which they developed was not in line with Covid guidance at the time ... The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."

Chris Bryant, the chair of the House of Commons standards committee, said the prime minister had turned Downing Street into "a cesspit full of arrogant, entitled narcissists".